Hello again, welcome back to my renovation diary of The Shack.  There’s so much work still to be done in our little mountain house vacation home.  I’m glad you’re here to follow along with me!

Last time we discussed the paint colors I chose, based on some bright colors I want to use in my furnishings and decor, particularly those in the area rug I found on sale.  As part of that discussion, I mentioned I’m planning to use Milk Paint on all the trim.  This will give the newly installed baseboards, casing and other trim a chalky, matte finish and will even raise the grain a little, giving the trim a more rustic feel suitable for a mountain house.

Milk paint comes in powdered form. You just add water and mix it up, then paint it on. You can play around with consistency, but in general milk paint is much thinner than regular paint. I find it almost always takes two coats, and once applied, it is super chalky. On unfinished wood, the water in the paint will bring up the grain and give a rustic feel. This is a look I’m hoping to achieve with all the wood trim in The Shack. I think the matte finish and rustic texture will be really great for a mountain house!

In addition to replacing all the trim, one of the first projects we want to tackle is the ugly cottage cheese, or popcorn if you prefer, ceiling above the dining area.

Before:  There’s a nice large window in this dining area.  In this image, you can see the ugly painted ‘shell’ casing and baseboards, along with the yucky pop-corn, or cottage cheese if you prefer, ceiling, which has a stained wood trim around it.  Actually the previously homeowners installed chair-rail molding around this part of the ceiling…weird.

We toyed with trying to scrape the texture off the ceiling, and even thought of ripping out all the drywall from up there–partly because the ceiling here slopes a little and is irregular with how it meets the ceiling under the upstairs hallway.  But I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to add some rustic interest to the dining area.  The ceiling in this area is one of the first things you see upon entering The Shack through the sunroom, so it’s the perfect spot to do something fun.

I found this Pinterest image of a lovely rustic dining area…and the layout is even similar to the one at The Shack, with the french doors and window. I decided the most efficient way to remove the ‘popcorn’ and add interest to the ceiling was to cover it up with a plank ceiling. We can apply the wood planks directly on top of the badly stippled ceiling. I love the wood table in this image, and the hardwood floor.  I can just imagine something similar to this at The Shack, can’t you?    By the way, you can visit this image on Pinterest by clicking the link below.

Next time I’ll share more about covering up that ugly ceiling at The Shack. Until then, make sure to like Robinson Interiors on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter, and DO stay tuned for future updates on The Shack!

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