House Tour- Room 3

I saw Big Fish once in my life.  I don't know why I only saw it once-- I loved it tons when I watched it.  It's so artsy fartsy and whimsical and beautiful and I remember at some points just holding my breath watching certain scenes.  I forgot a lot of it (a LOT of it), but one scene has stuck with me forever....it's this one:

...and ever since I saw it, I wanted the light fixtures in my dining area to look just like it.  I LOOOOOOVE exposed bulbs (LOVE THEM), and originally thought they would make a dining room feel so cozy, relaxed, and lovely.  When I moved into my new place, my dining room looked like THIS:

I was going to string the lights and paint the walls a sand color.  Then I got an idea...what if-- WHAT IF?!-- I left the walls as they were and painted the ceilings a dark blue?  You know, make it feel like you're eating outside every evening!  I googled it every which way I could word it trying to find a painted dark blue ceiling.  Nothing. Nada.  Zip.  This was strictly a mental vision, and it could have been a big hit or a big miss. 

Fortunately, I had a-MAZ-ing help from some friends who actually LIKE painting trim and ceilings!  AND-- BONUS-- I found out there are lightbulb adapter things that you can screw into the lightbulb fixture and then you can actually plug things into it, thus still using the lightswitch to turn them on and off (do you like my technical terms?...)!  So here's the *after* if you're looking OUT-- Cam and Sarah painted the back of the built-ins the same color as the ceiling, and I tell you what>> it makes the room pop.  I also hung some sheer white curtains to bring an airy feel into the room:

See that art?  It's allll Seth :)  I bought a display from IKEA, and we've been adding his school/church art to it, rotating it out as new stuff comes in.  He loves how all of his recent projects are out for everyone to see, and I love how it adds some Sethtacular flair to our eating area.  Here's how it looks currently:

Here's the view if you look UP:

I tried so so so so hard to capture how awesome it looks at night, but taking the flash off and not using a tripod is not a recipe for success....so this is how I imagine the room would look if you were standing here and the house suddenly started trembling:

I promise you the pictures just don't do this room justice.  Truly, I love sitting at the kitchen table and just admiring this room.  I love everything about it.  I added a floor lamp to one side of the room to add additional light if we need it, but for dinners or late night conversations, this is just perfection.  Exactly what I was hoping to achieve with this room. :)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!