One of the things I love about home decorating is that it’s changeable. Whether it’s a change in season, a change of style or tastes, or a complete makeover of a room. You can even change out pieces of furniture or makeover the same piece of furniture. The options are endless and you can always revise something you don’t like.
Our dining room was one of the larger projects we’ve tackled over the past year (here, and here) but with so much going on, after getting the “big” stuff done, we never quite got to 100% done. Once the floors were in, we built our table and benches. We soon after replaced the light fixture and put the new rug in place. I found a vintage buffet like I had been wanting and we moved that in and then we just stopped.
I felt like I got the room so far and then wasn’t sure how to finish it. That’s my challenge with any room that I try to “Finish”. I get the big things in place, but when it comes to the finishing touches I go completely blank or at least look around and realize I don’t have accessories and don’t know what to buy either.
After toying around with what to do most of the summer, I finally decided to move the large piece of art that hung over the couch in the family room to the large blank wall in the dining room. That helped, but then I felt like I needed to do something with the buffet.
The buffet that I found on the Facebook Market was in overall good shape but some of the wood veneer was chipped off and beginning to peel in other places. It was also way to red – orange for the room so while it was the style I wanted, it didn’t quite work. After debating on whether to leave it natural or paint it, I decided to jump in with some chalk paint. I went with white to keep it consistent with the colors in the dining room.
When the white was done, the buffet looked really nice but it just blended in to the walls to much. My next step was to try my hand at adding dark wax to give it more of a distressed look. After some trial and error, I finally finished the distressing. I admit maybe I didn’t do a good job but I’m just not that into distressed furniture for my own home so after sitting with it for a week or so, I decided the look just wasn’t right.
After a brief visit with my mom, I showed her the piece and even though she admitted she would have left the natural wood, I should think about a light gray. I liked the idea so I found a lovely, light, warm gray chalk paint and got to repainting the entire piece again. During the painting process, some areas of white showed through and I liked that look so I made sure to allow that to happen across the entire piece.
The final result took on an almost “stone” kind of look but subtle and the pale, warm gray was the perfect compliment to the other colors going on in the room. Once I knew I was satisfied, I applied clear wax over the entire piece and put the original hardware back on. The final result is absolute perfection but now I need to figure out how to style the top.
While I’m beginning to realize the reason why our home never feels finished is because I don’t really know how to finish a space. I get so far and then get completely lost. I’m determined to “finish” the dining room and feel like this with project complete, I’m one step closer.
IF you feel like you never quite “finish” your home décor, don’t’ feel discouraged. I think it’s safe to assume we all feel this way on some level. The key is to never be afraid to try something because even if you end up not liking it, there is always something else to try. While I had the paint my buffet twice, the end result ended up being better than I imagined so you never know what can happen.
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