Spring Break Project: Transformation

The Project

A week without school and work (and with a husband finally getting over his 10 days of strep and the flu, an incredibly unfortunate combination) we took on what we thought would be a 3 day project: repainting the dining room. It has been untouched since we moved in, 5+ years ago.
It was:
Too loud. Too bright. Too patterned. Too dated. Not our style. Well past time for a change.

We found many unexpected troubles, like far more cracking and chipping paint than we thought we had, and a very unfortunate, unrelated (but impacting) sewer issue, which deserves its own blog.
So we chipped. And chipped. And scraped. And scraped. And scraped. And scraped some more.
Then we sanded, and sanded, and sanded. Then we stepped out from behind our masks, goggles and gloves, got a fresh breath of air, then we sanded some more.
Finally it was time to prime. We covered the room and a hallway (and oh so many built-ins, windows, trim, notches and doors) with a soothing bath of white.After a previous bad experience stripping wallpaper (okay, who really has a GOOD experience stripping wallpaper) we made the controversial decision to paint over it. I know, I know, its a no-no. But knowing the quality of plaster underneath, we decided a few seams of paper was better than the re-plastering job we knew we'd have once we got to the bottom of it all.

Finally, after far more than 3 days, with only a few breaks for food, sleep, quick re-supply trips to the store, and a politics fix, we were painting. It was a mess. But finally we were seeing progress.
Two, and sometimes three, coats of paint later. We were done.
Well, we're almost done.
A few more pieces of trim need to get a final coat. Those pesky (but oh so character-filled) decorative windows also need one more round with a paint brush.
But we are mostly done. And satisfied. And tired. And achy.
But there's nothing like the satisfaction of seeing progress - completion - difference - change - transformation - to prove it was worth it.
We were able to purge the room of many things we don't need (or at least don't have room for now) and will use the room more as an office/music room than a dining room. (Our breakfast nook works quite well for our family -- another house/time will allow for dinner parties. For now backyard BBQs and eating and drinking on every available table chair and floor spot in the house will have to do for our guests.)
A final note: I couldn't help myself from peeling back the carpet in a corner and was relieved to find the same hardwood floors I once fell in love with, in a corner of our living room. They're there. And splattered with paint from a previous careless improvement project. That's the one BIG project left (or at least the last big one I have my heart set on): refinishing the hardwood floors. I'll let my back stop aching from this one, before I start to put a timetable on that.