Also on tap for next weekend is painting the dining room. I bought a gallon of trim paint that matches the existing trim to paint out the lower third of the wall to mimic wainscoting. Above the chair rail I'll be using Farrow & Ball's Drawing Room Blue. I can't wait to see how it turns out.
On Saturday morning while I was at a bridal shower, Dave was nice enough to install the sconces I bought to replace the cheap-looking brushed nickel ones the house came with. Here they are in the master bath -- basic, but pretty, and certainly a better match to the bronze faucets and shower door than the brushed nickel ones.
The major project we undertook this past weekend though was painting my study. While the footprint of the room is relatively small, the soaring ceilings meant that we had an awful lot of square footage to cover -- and on a 14' ladder to boot! I'm so thankful that this is the tallest room we'll be tackling in the near future as it's definitely nerve racking to be up painting that high. In the end though, I'm really pleased with the result: it's exactly what I had in my mind and the dark walls really emphasize the height of the room. I also absolutely love the way the color looks through the french doors (which are on your immediate left as you walk in the house). Once we paint the dining room blue, I think the rich colors will balance each other and be a great contrast with the neutral hallway.
Some friendly advice though: painting a room deep eggplant [I used Benjamin Moore's Purple Lotus] is just like painting a room red. You'll need at least two coats to get the saturated look you're after. We didn't prim first (the paint was brand new after all), but it probably would've saved us a bit of time touching up at the end. For the first time I also sprang for low VOC paint and I will say it made a huge difference as far as smell went. The paint is virtually odorless and what little scent it does have is actually quite pleasant. While that may or may not have long-lasting impacts on my health, it obviously made it much more pleasant to paint in a confined space for hours on end.
Before I left for vacation I ordered this chandelier from ZGallerie (which is currently on back order). I can't wait to get it in so I can install it and see how it looks in the space. Not only should it up the "glam factor", but it will provide substantially more light than that undersized flushmount.
The next few weekends will largely be taken up with painting, installing hardware, waiting on various deliveries/installs and, of course packing (which I have yet to start -- yikes!). If I seem a little distracted between now and D-day [August 15], you'll know the reason and I hope that you'll forgive me.
