Slowly, Very Slowly, But Surely...

Seriously, I had thought the dining room would have been done by now. But it isn't, and that is okay. I'm not going anywhere...

The most recent challenge has been to remove paint from this brass fixture. After my scraping method proved to be too time consuming, research suggested a blow dryer would do the trick, melting the paint. Okay, that didn't work. I don't know what kind of blow dryer would get the paint that hot, but if I had one I wouldn't be showing my hair anywhere in public!

So I've moved on to the next possibility, Smart Strip by Peel Away. I chose this product because of the below claims:

Smart Strip™ by Peel Away® Paint Stripper is user friendly and does not contain methylene chloride, caustic or toxic chemicals. Smart Strip™ by Peel Away Paint Remover will NOT Burn Hands. Water based paint stripping formula. 100% biodegradable paint stripping product. Works wonders on painted brick, all kinds of wood products, metals, stone, plaster, concrete, fiberglass and much more! Great for Acrylic Paint, Latex Paint, Lead Based Paint, Oil Based Paint, Shellac, Stains, Urethane and Water Based Paints. AMAZING RESULTS.

Okay, we'll see. A quart is on its way to my home, as are the below brass bobesches! LOVE! They should be here the first of next week.

As should the grasscloth wallpaper, which I ordered the first week of January!!

And another order has been placed for nail head trim, so I can eventually finish the bench redesign, after the first order arrived bringing me the wrong style.

So if you are ever discouraged, wondering "why isn't this room just falling into place?", remember my dining room!

In the meantime, while all this waiting is going on, I had fun giving Max a long overdue haircut. He does NOT like getting his hair cut, I can beg and beg only to be refused. But the other evening he asked, "can I get my hair cut before my first baseball game?" Sure, why not now? This picture doesn't show it, but I cut off inches! Then everyone got a good laugh (including Max) at his "Man Sweater". Yikes...