The Room of Many Colors

The room we now use as a dining room has undergone a number of changes over the years. When we moved into our house almost five years ago, we used the dining room as the classroom. The boys were almost four and five and completing pre-school and Kindergarten. I divided the room into sections and set up a center in each area. I painted a picture on the wall above each center that depicted the subject area of study and the coloring coding of that center.

This is our pre-school/Kindergarten classroom. The lines on the floor were made with different-colored electrical tape, and furniture was turned to divide off areas. There was a meeting area and a center for math, reading, science, social studies and music.

The electrical tape on the floor established the color-coding. You can see in this picture how I extended this to the paintings, the storage baskets and the trim work in the room.

This is a close-up of the painting in the science center. I chose to use a lot of green in it because that was our color code for science. There are also signs on the wall which have instructions for the center and a Bible verse that directs our goals for the study of science. I had these in each center.

This blurry but cute little guy is a four-year-old Wilbur enjoying the Social Studies center.

As the boys got older, our classroom needs changed, and we moved school to another room. We decided to use the dining room for its actual purpose... eating. I painted over the art work. Yes, I did cry and got a little sick to my stomach. I painted the room the first time with plain, old white. After some time, the ceiling, covered in tiles, began to sag. There was no water damage; it was a product of age. I am not sure what kind of tiles they were or what they are called, but they were hung with an adhesive that was losing its stickiness.

We tried to find replacement tiles but couldn't, so I had another one of those "What Was I Thinking?!?!" moments and decided to paint the ceiling a dark color with the hope of camouflaging the sagging tiles. I chose really dark grey for the ceiling and a lighter grey for the walls. I also covered over the old, worn-out linoleum with peel-and-stick tiles. The tiles on the floor did not match the over-all grey theme of the room, and they lost their stick after a year and started sliding and chipping... not good.

A Grey Room with a Brown Floor!

The Saggy Ceiling

The final remodel of the room of many colors is now complete. Tonight we ate dinner at our table for the first time in weeks. I enjoyed the new floor, ceiling, ceiling fan, windows and peach-colored walls. I am a peachy girl, after all! Most of all, I enjoyed eating with my dh and our olive plants gathered round about our table. To celebrate the completion of one more room, I made our favorite meal... a "breakfast dinner" of pancakes, sausage and scrambled eggs.

View of Dining Room from the Kitchen

I framed and hung the boys' art work on either side of the wreath.

A New Sag-free Ceiling!

Happy Men Enjoying Their "Breakfast Dinner"!