our dining room {& panel tutorial}

Remember the 'stay-cation' we took ages ago? {You know, the time when we allotted to start and finish all our house projects?} Well we rolled over some of those projects to our everyday life {doesn't it always happen that way?} Anyway, we've just completed the dining room and I'm so excited to share it! 

{that is- finished minus the decor, curtains, and lighting... next on the agenda}

{I should say long before... this photo was taken when we first moved to the house four years ago}

And here it is now:

{Remember it is still in need of curtains, decor, and quarter round... oh and light switches and outlet covers of course}

But you get the idea...

Here's how we did it: 

First made a line around the room for where to place the boards. I was painfully talked out of making my rail much higher. {Marriage is about compromise, remember} But I am still VERY happy with how it turned out. 

We cut boards as we went using our handy dandy mitre saw we got for Christmas. {Actually Ben got it for Christmas even though I asked for it. He wanted books, but this is way more practical, right?...}

We used little plastic anchors for boards that didn't have a stud behind them {otherwise they would have pulled away from the wall}

The wider boards on top and bottom are 1x4's and the vertical boards are 1x2's

Note too that we took out the existing trim and replaced it with the 1x4.

Filled holes...

Then sanded like crazy! Oh and I forgot to include pictures of the caulking {We lined between the wood and wall with caulk}



And then slapped on some paint... then realized it was the wrong color and tried again.

Despite my initial choosing of gray for our color on the walls, we went with a steel blue instead. {Gray ended up being too close to the living room color and the kitchen floor color when it was on the walls}.

I love it. Totally transformed from the cookie-cutter dining room it once was.

PS... I'm thinking of making some bright curtain panels for the window and door in white and yellow... has anyone seen any amazing fabric I should know about?