Faux Rustic Wood in our Living Room and Dining Room

Hi All!

Sorry to be gone for so long!  I have been writing a lot lately as well as working on our master bedroom.

I've scraped the popcorn off our ceilings in the master bedroom and I have the walls painted.  I'll give you all the details of that when the bedroom is done.  I still have several things to do and was held up waiting for a tool I needed.

So while I waited, I worked on a few small projects. I repainted the shutters in our living room and dining room.  If you remember, they were a French blue.

I also painted the trim above the windows and this support beam that goes across this room, making them look like old rustic wood.  I used two color of brown paint - a tan and a chocolate - and a nifty roller I got from Amazon that creates a wood grain.

I hadn't planned on taking pictures today but the sun came out for the first time in weeks and so I ran around quickly and got a few shots.  I didn't notice until I was done that I have some boards sitting in the window.  I'm planning on cutting some pieces and covering up the wide, white moulding between the windows.  They can't be painted. 

Here's a close-up of the paint treatment on the board over the dining room patio door.  It had been a white semi-gloss.

I first gave it a coat of tan with a brush, then brushed a chocolate brown over that going all in one direction giving it the look of wood grain.  I adjusted the amount of dark brown to get the color I wanted.  When it was dry, I rolled the wood grain paint roller in the dark brown and rolled it down the length of the board. You can see where the roller lifted the paint off in place and exposed the white underneath.  That actually caused it to look more realistic - like the board was salvage.

I did the same process with the overhead "beam."  This support beam is covered in dry wall.

I did the same two tones of paint on the shutters, leaving the blue to show in some areas.

I have always wanted rustic beams in our family room and living room.  For now, we have just one!

I'm in love with all my blue and white again and picked up a few new pieces at HomeGoods.  My daughter has decided she likes turquoise better than the blue and white so we've been trading some pieces.

I love the little bit of rustic feel this gives to our living room now.

That's my favorite thing about French Country - the mix between the elegant and the rustic.

Well, the wind and snow are howling outside.  I'm going to go work on my bedroom ceiling some more.  I hope you're having a wonderful day!

love and blessings~

"He makes the winds His messengers, Flaming fire His ministers." Psalm 104:4

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