I found this picture the other day.  We were as Anne Shirley of Green Gables fame would say,” in the depths of despair”.  T and I walked to the school to vote in the primaries and then on to our incomplete house.  11 at this time was unfinished and there seemed no end in site.  Water was coming into the house. The roof was not on yet and there were no windows installed.  It was cold, dank and no workers had shown up that day.

T is emailing the builder here. Sorry T, I know you like your anonymity but, I needed a picture today.
I digress, my main objective in this post it to show the difference between the before and the after.
Before there was a porch that had it’s original stone colonnade and exterior stucco finish.  This room was enclosed about twenty years ago by a former owner.  The columns were painted several times over the years and I insisted that they be stripped and indeed they were.  It may have taken close to two weeks of hard, messy work but the result was wonderful.
To our surprise the windows in the porch were made of mahogany.  I was ecstatic. They must be stripped and stained right?  Well, they were indeed stripped but because the wood was not properly primed, white paint had penetrated the wood and made it virtually impossible to have an even color when stained.
Much ado about nothing, yes, but all was not lost.  I decided to paint them once again in a dark color.  I got the aged columns.  That was enough for me as you can see in the “after” picture.
Now lets talk about the floor.  What you see in the first photo is the original terra cotta tile flooring for the space.   I did not like it and wanted it to go away.  This was not popular in some quarters (T did not approve) but proved very popular to the designers on the project. It was rather brash in color and distracting to what was an otherwise monotone flooring of the first floor.
They made the call to use a concrete paint and primer and then had a clear dark stain to allow the tiles to have more visual depth.
I love the end result.
The ceiling was coffered, chandelier installed and furniture installed.  The perfect dining room was created!
I am now awaiting our first Thanksgiving at 11.  Dreams can come true, even for an orphan red topped house on the corner of Bonita and La Prado in the little bastion of Hollywood.  I can’t wait!