Dining Room Phase 1

You'll recall that before our dining room looked like this:


It was tan, just like every other room in the house. I'm not anti-tan, but we're having a khaki overload in here! We need some variety. Too bad we did the exact opposite of variety for our first move: we decided to continue the color from the kitchen into the dining room. Because we live in a tri-level house, you can see both hallways (upstairs and downstairs), the kitchen, and dining room while standing in either room on the main level. We felt like extending the color would create continuity in the kitchen and dining area.


So step one, we painted the walls with Glidden Wood Smoke. It took two gallons to cover the kitchen and dining walls. We also painted the shelf and doors (not currently installed) for the closet white while we're at it. We used America's Finest semi-gloss white (aka cheap trim paint, also the brand we used for the flat ceiling paitn in our kitchen). We want to use the same kind of paint for the trim throughout the house, again for continuity.

We desperately needed to add some depth to the dining room. Before we selected Wood Smoke, we immediately eyed Behr's Deep Garnet. It's a bold burgundy color. We absolutely loved it! Every time we considered other options, this color kept creeping back into the picture. We couldn't resist. Unfortunately, we thought the color was too dark to paint the entire room Deep Garnet. I didn't want the room to feel tiny with such a dark color enveloping it. Instead, we opted for an accent wall.

We used Behr Ultra Premium Plus Paint and Primer in one. This paint is incredible. We didn't need to use a primer despite this massively dark paint. It went on with even coverage in just two coats! I'm definitely impressed; however, I wasn't impressed with the price tag $35/gallon. If we had to purchase a tinted primer base the project would have been just as expensive if we used a low grade paint (like America's Finest) due to the millions of coats it would have required. Instead, I spent the $35 and my back/arms thank me.

I love the rich, saturated color and the wall really pops next to that semi-gloss casing on the door and window.

Of course, I didn't do it all by myself. Tim is the master roller, while I focus on cutting in trim, corners, and ceilings. I use a flat pad dipped in paint to create a nice line. I first dip a brush in paint and then apply the paint to the pad. Then, I take the pad along the ceiling and a nice long stroke. I give this method a B- rating. It was much easier than applying painters tape around the room, but I didn't get the crisp line like I did in the corner between the Deep Garnet and Wood Smoke above.

And the baby Monk...

... loves helping! Yes, she's always in the middle of whatever project we have going on. In this instance, she pawed at the door handle (her potty signal), then plopped her paws back on the carpet. We weren't too concened because we knew that carpet was hitting the curb soon. More details on that in a future post!

Now, about that Behr Deep Garnet... I bought a quart because the staff at Home Depot said it would be enough for our one wall. Unfortunately, Tim may have mismeasured that wall, so we actually needed a bit more paint. Also, the Behr Ultra Premium Plus paint and primer in one is extremely thick. It coats the wall like pasteurized cheese product slicks on your burger. I ended up buying an additional gallon thinking that a second quart wouldn't be enough. Wrong. Now, I have more than 3/4 gallon left, so I'm dreaming of projects to use this leftover ($35) paint. Any ideas?

Stay tuned for more Dinig Room projects, including that flooring!