For the first 7 1/2 years, we used the original dining room as a den and decorated it in steampunk style.

Mike built the steampunk lights himself.

While we enjoyed the room quite a bit, we both tired of the steampunk motif.

I'm not sure how or when it happened, but we both decided we really wanted a formal dining room, in addition to the lounge dining, for fancier entertaining.

So, in December of 2023, we took it all down and began trolling Facebook Marketplace for dining room furniture.

We found this incredible Montalbano Italian Baroque dining set in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Mike negotiated a terrific price and, just after Christmas, we headed up to the UP.

The set included an astonishingly well built table, 8 chairs, a china cabinet, and a buffet. All of it was hand painted and signed by the artist.

Because the furniture already was exquisitely painted, we decided to completely change the look and feel of the room. No more dark walls!

We had a lot of leftover Pink Ground paint in the basement, so we stirred it up and painted the room in one evening. Finally, that pastel Murano would look like it belonged in the room.

We left the ceiling gold. Of course.

The new-to-us dining furniture is monstrously heavy, and thus we had to shore up the floor in the basement for extra support.

We left the taxidermy to offset the sweetness of the furniture.

No one was happier with the new arrangement than the dog.

In addition to purchasing the furniture, we also bought two stunning candelabra and a beautiful chime clock. All of this was being housed in a church, along with a large collection of European furniture which a very nice gentleman and his caretaker were selling. For those of you who know the UP, you know how unexpected this find is.

After using the room for a few months, I got started on a wall mural. By this time, I'd already painted the ceiling murals in the attic, so I was becoming adept at painting a couple flower styles using the one stroke technique. I dug my paints out of the basement and went to work.

The furniture was far too heavy for Mike and I to move ourselves, plus I had it loaded with dishes. So, I decided I'd just paint around the furniture lol cringe.

I even painted around the shape of the mirror lol.

Here's how it started. I wanted vines coming down from the ceiling, as I thought this would look better than plants moving upward since I intended finally to put that plate rail to use.

I sketched the hummingbirds based on whatever I could find online as an inspiration, then painted within the sketch. The flowers I just painted without sketching first.