Success with Chateau kitchen

 Finally I pulled it all together today! I'm very pleased with the results and have a sense of satisfaction. 

I knew I had to spray paint the new arches, and went on the hunt for low-odor spray paint, as it's 30 degrees here in Chicago. I landed on PintyPaint  (comes from Spain) - I researched it and wanted to buy local, so I could work on this week while I'm off from work. Turns out JoAnn carries it so I scooped up 2 cans and started. At first, it seemed a bit strong, but I opened the windows a crack and had the fan on. It's dry enough in 30 minutes to do another layer.  I got a nice soft white that is matte. 3 coats and it was perfect. 

Hanging the  Ray Storey chandeliers was a challenge, I had to ensure the length of chain was the same for both, and I scrounged my old jewelry and patiently attached them. Needed to drill a bit up in the peak to ensure I could feed the wire through to the exterior roof. 

Gluing the Sue Cook corbels, the custom arches and the Unique Miniatures trim...all coming together. It's been a long time coming and I've invested lots of time (and money) into this room, and I'm happy it's done. 

Chateau Kitchen Update

It felt like the countertops on the cabinets were too similar a repeat, and more grey than I liked. I touched them up and they are warmer looking. This is how the countertops looked - this corner one was more obvious with the repeat than the others but I toned it down and stippled some beiges and creams.

I finally decided on the neutral wallpaper and got that installed. I have been working on the ceiling beams and its clear that what is throwing me off is one side where the ceiling starts is higher than the other. I've attached the ceiling more permanently and fixed the spot where the wall met the ceiling - so that entire wall is now the same surface. 

The embossed border I bought is also now up, and I had to add a strip of wood on the side that opens to make both wall heights the same. And I framed out the window! 

The ceiling beams have an arch, and I won't go into all the challenges I faced doing it. Let's just say that balsa wood was the way to go - soft enough to trace and cut an arch of sorts. I'm in the process of painting them, and may need to fiddle a bit with them to get at least the right side to snug up to the ceiling. 

The ceiling lights I selected are Ray Storey - I got this one for the 2nd floor landing, but it's much larger than I expected, so I got a 2nd one and will be hanging them in the kitchen. 

Chateau 2nd floor wallpaper

 I bit the bullet and wallpapered the 2 bedrooms on the 2nd floor. And put sconces in the hall!

Master bedroom

I've been wanting to use this weird brown/purple pattern paper from Itsy Bitsy Mini for a couple of years. You know how you just get attached to a paper and can't let it go?? 

It's proving hard to photograph to capture the color I see in real life. 

Guest Bedroom

This blue Brodnax paper is also one I love, and have kept for a few years. Its lovely, though I'm still trying to decide if I keep it. The house so far has no blues - so I'm still sitting with it. 

Hall

Before papering the guest bedroom, I decided to add sconces in the hall - a spur-of-the-moment decision. I had these Clare Bell sconces that I chose not to use in LR, and am very pleased with the results. The ceiling pendant I think I'm going to use here is on order - a Ray Storey pendant.