A Medallion, a Door Knob and a Paint Color

I buy a lot of my office supplies from Ebay so at the end of each month I get an e-mail from them that I have X number of Ebay Bucks to spend.  I usually use the bonus dollars to buy something like a little McCoy planter or as a credit toward a larger purchase.  I mean free money is free money.

With last month's Ebay Bucks I decided to buy a little plaster ceiling medallion.  Totally free including the shipping.

I've had real issues with the dining room ceiling.  The paint and/or plaster on one end of the dining room was peeling severely when I bought the house.  I thought it might be calcimite which I've read horror stories about on the internet.  But, refusing to accept I might have calcamite, I decided to scrape all the peelings and use joint compound to fill the holes.

The ceiling in the same area was also really discolored.  Whenever I would use joint compound on the holes, the discoloration would migrate and leave a urine-colored circle around each area that was wet.  I tried a latex primer to no avail.  It would look good for a month or so and the discoloration seemed to start bleeding back through the primer.

To add to my ceiling misery, the plaster around the box for the light was just a mess and I just couldn't get it to look good.

So I tricked a friend into helping me install the medallion.  It came with a metal ring that screws right in to the box so it wasn't necessary to glue it right to the ceiling.  I caulked around the edges but if I want to take it down at some point, it should be pretty easy.  And then I did a coat of that nasty, oil-based KILZ to block the discoloration.  I typically like the smell of things like gasoline and airplane glue (and I'm particuarly fond of magic markers) but I'm still a little disoriented from all the VOCs in the KILZ.  I think it will do the job once and for all though.  The ceiling looks great.

Here you can see the edge of ceiling and wall blur at a misty horizon.  I'm also really liking my choice of oil-rubbed bronze hardware.  I love the contrast of it against the White River paint.  The hardware isn't a perfect match with the spray paint I put on the hinges but it's pretty good.

The door know is white porcelain with an oil-rubbed bronze backplate.



I think this room is crying out for a little purple.

I was just starting to load things back into the room and try a little artwork on the wall when I decided I wasn't 100 percent happy with the paint color.  I painted the walls and trim the same color and what looks great in the living room looked just a little too dirty in the dining room.  Why does that happen?  In the living room, the paint is broken up by the burlap-colored drapes and in there dining room, there's larger expanses of the same color and it's just not perfect.

So even though White River is the lightest shade on that particular page of the BM fan deck, I went and asked for a 50% version of the same color.  I think the woman actually tsked at me.

In the photo above, I've just done above and around the closet door.  The 50% is a very subtle difference but I'm liking it 100% more. 

It acutally shows a little better at night.  The lighter wall color really provides a better reference for the oyster/mushroomy color of the door and trim.

So here's the view from the dining room into the bathroom foyer.  It's about a foot larger than it was before.  The bathroom door is on the left.  The gnome door to the basement is on the right.  And the hidden window is under the sheetrock between the two.  I can't wait to get that restored but, alas, I am broke for now.  I'll have some time to make some decisions on the bathroom finishes and fixtures.  I want something really special for the sink.  A bathroom easel maybe?  No, I guess not. I'm thinking something with wheels for sure.  My peeps are on the hunt.

Here's a picture of the front staircase when I bought the house.  You can see down the hall how dark and tight that space was.

And this is what that looks like now.  That window will really bring in some much needed light.

I'll shut up for a while.  I have a friend coming in to town so I'm putting away the paint brushes for a few days but I have more visitors coming in early June so I'd like to get going on the guest bedroom soon.