Dining Room Refresh

I've been planning to repaint the dining room for a while now. The first time around I used flat paint which shows every scuff and smear.  After five years of wear and tear the walls were looking a little worn.  Despite my best efforts I couldn't get the walls clean.  So I decided to repaint with satin paint.  And now that I'm four months pregnant seemed like the best time to paint, haha!  I figured I'd better get it done before I start working on the nursery!!  :)

So after a pow wow with my sister about paint colors (she painted her bedroom and bathroom a beautiful green that I love) I went off to Lowe's to get some new green paint.  It's barely different from the original color (Bayou Shade by Olympic).  The new color is a bit darker and has a bit more yellow in it.  It's called Jekyll Crane Cottage Green by Valspar.

I blasted through the project in one day by prepping the room a week ahead of time.  I cleaned the room from top to bottom and even washed my drapes and the rods, too.  They were filthy.  I think all the spiders that don't live in the garage live behind the drapes in the dining room.  Ick!  I vacuumed the ceiling and walls and trim before starting to paint, too.  No more cat fur and spiderwebs!

I rolled on the first coat, did the trim work against the ceiling and the baseboards, and then rolled a second coat.  I only did one coat on the trim because I am lazy and they tell pregnant people not to climb ladders. ;) It looks good anyway!

Here is the result:

I took these photos with my new Canon Rebel that Michael got me for Christmas.  I'm still learning how to use it, but it's really nice! :)

I decided to ditch the burgundy accents I've had in here for the past eight years and go for something lighter and brighter and more akin to the rest of the house... blue.  :)

Since I got new curtains in the living room (reveal coming soon) I thought I might try the white linen ones in the dining room for a while and see how I liked them.  The cream floral curtains were nice, but these go with the rest of the house better.  I'd really like to make some new drapes for this room that are a bit less "white."  But that will have to wait until after the baby's room is done!  :)

And while I was at it, I stole a bunch of accessories and artwork from the den.  This print was my new addition to the den last year, but we have since put a TV in front of it so it needed a new home.  It's certainly more inviting than the two little dinky art prints I had on this wall before.  

I think it looks really nice with the paint color and it flows with the adjacent living room color scheme as well.  

I'm really enjoying the fresh new look and since we just got a snowstorm, everything outside is bright, bright, bright.  Makes for good photos! ;)

Here is a final look at the before and after transformation (in which you can't even tell I've painted, haha!)

                     Before:                                                                      After:

I'll be back soon with an update in the living room!  Stay tuned!

Pink Spring Tablescape

It is another beautiful Spring day today!  All the pretty blooms have inspired me to create a table setting for a Springtime celebration.

I started with my grandmother’s pink rose china that she recently gifted me.  My grandmother Sarah Elizabeth “Lib” is my namesake, and besides a name, we share a love of pink roses!  She bought this beautiful china over 50 years ago.  It was her “fancy china” that she’d pull out anytime they had company for dinner.  I’ve always admired the delicate pink rose pattern, and Granny promised that one day she would pass it down to me.  So this year while we were visiting her at Easter, she let me pack up her beloved china and bring it home! :) 

I layered all the cute bowls and set the table for tea, as well.  Then I added my pink glassware that I received as a wedding gift.  The delicate footed glasses are perfect!  The embroidered white napkins I borrowed from my Mama.  I folded those up with my metal dragonfly napkin rings.  How appropriate for Spring! :)

The centerpiece is a bunch of pink silk flowers (can’t wait for my real peonies!) in my crystal basket vase that I got at an antique store.  I paired that with my crystal candlesticks and a couple of smaller crystal vases. 

Over on the flatware cabinet I put a trio of candlesticks that my Mama gave me for my birthday.  They match the paint color in here so perfectly!  They have flowers, butterflies and bees painted on them.  So sweet. :)  The little bunny is another springtime touch. :) (Thanks Andi!)

Now I’m ready for a Mother’s Day brunch! :)

In the meantime, I have weeds to pull and flowers to plant.  Have a Happy Spring Weekend!

New Year, New Centerpiece

Since all the Christmas decorations have come down, I’ve been rearranging and reaccessorizing all the blank spaces in our home.  First up was the dining room.  I filled my antique toolbox (previously seen here and here) with a bunch of cream and green flowers and set it on the table as our centerpiece.  I’m so happy to have it where I can see it daily.  It wasn’t getting as much face time in the den.  It’s so cute and everyone who sees it loves it! :)  Thanks Mama for sharing your antique find with me! (Don’t worry, she has one, too.)

The centerpiece is flanked by my fancy crystal candlesticks and a couple of green candles.  I love the juxtaposition of crystal with the aged wood.  It makes me smile… and also makes me wonder if I’m gifted just a little bit? ;)  

The rest of the room got an update with more green accessories.  The peacock plates went back up over the flatware cabinet.  The top of the cabinet is decorated with some black metal accents in the form of an iron urn with a vase inside and a wire basket (got on clearance!) filled with rolled-up napkins. 

The cabinet across the room was refilled with crystal glasses after our big New Year’s dinner and the lower shelf decorated with a crystal bowl full of green apple candles.  I keep trying to get rid of these silly things, but they are so cute that I can’t part with them.  :) 

Speaking of New Year’s, here’s a look at the table setting from our dinner party!  I got a new red tablecloth (on after holiday clearance!) for the occasion, and I love it!

The dining room wasn’t the only room that got a spruce after the holidays… I added some new accessories in the living room, too.  (Truthfully almost all the rooms got updated, but I’m only sharing the good stuff.) ;)  The accent cabinet is now sporting a special addition!

I was at Target after Christmas checking out the holiday clearance and I walked past this darling bird in the Valentine’s section.  After finding some wrapping paper and Christmas cards on clearance, I had to go back to the Valentine’s aisle and snatch up this little guy, too.  I thought he was a deal for only $3!  And you all know how I love birds (and butterflies, lol).

He makes me smile!  And it doesn’t hurt that he’s hanging out in front of a special photo of me and my sister (posing together in our wedding dresses, in the back of my Mama’s truck).  Double smile!

Hope your new year is off to a great start… I haven’t been exercising like I should, but I have finally trained Riley to walk a loop in our neighborhood each morning!  Hooray!  And we’ve been hard at work on the number 1 project of 2012… our fancy new office desk.  Hopefully it will be finished in a week or so and I’ll be back for the big reveal!

Stay tuned!

Christmas Tablescape in Red and Gold

The Christmas Tour continues in the dining room!     

The dining room got its traditional Christmas treatment with swirly gold and red placemats and runner.  Each place is set with red metallic chargers and Lenox Holiday china. 

I took the silver platter from my autumn centerpiece and filled it with real trimmings from my tree, cedar sprigs, glittery sprays and my beloved glitter poinsettias.  Every year it’s a delight to discover those flowers in the Christmas boxes, followed closely by the excitement of finding a special place to display them.  (They always end up in the dining room... hehe) 

I love my holiday china and table linens.  This year I put the red napkin on the outside and the swirly one on the inside for more contrast.  While looking over my past Christmas photos, I decided that I have been doing it wrong for the past two years.  Yes, I sit and think about this stuff… it’s serious business. :)

 

The chandelier got its Christmas spruce (get it, spruce? hehe) with greenery, pinecones, glitter sprigs and gold snowflakes. 

Over in the corner on the cherry cabinet I put the cute little china bowl of Christmas goodness.  I pulled it out of the box just like this!  It was hiding out in the master suite last year, but I thought it deserved some face time in the main house. :)

And I draped a red scarf over the chair to cozy up the corner a bit more.  Several years ago, I fell in love with this scarf from Victoria’s Secret and bought a clearance sweater just so I could get the scarf “free with sweater purchase”.  That is love, I tell you.  I have since worn the sweater and scarf each once.  The chair has worn it several times, though.  :)  The scarf, not the sweater… although that would be interesting.

And in the other corner, my Christmas birdcage perches on the flatware cabinet.  This year I filled my birdcage with greenery and a real nest!  I found the nest in the driveway this summer and I’ve been saving it for my tiny golden bird. :)  I think she likes it.

 

To finish the room, I brought out a couple of wreaths for the deck doors.  I added some real tree trimmings and a beautiful red and gold bow.  I love them so much that I made a similar one for the front door.  Stay tuned for that!

Operation: Paint the Dining Room

Operation: Paint the House has been underway for a while now.  And since I am on a painting kick, I figured I might as well use up the leftover paint from the bathroom project.  It was the perfect shade to coordinate with our dining room decor!  You may remember the color, it’s called Bayou Shade by Valspar.  It’s slightly more sage than I wanted for the bathroom, unfortunately, but luckily it looks great in here where there’s a lot more light.  Just enough to bring out the yellow undertones for my overly critical discerning eye. ;)

After taping up a sample and getting “approval” from the powers that be, I began the prep work in the dining room.  Spackling the holes, (damn thumbtacks that I have to use during holiday decorating… curse you!) caulking the baseboards (yay caulk gun!) and rolling the first coat happened on the first day.  Then today I did a second coat on the walls and repainted all the trim with semi-gloss white.  Whew, painting is tiresome!  Too bad we are barely halfway done with Operation: Paint the House.  :/

Okay, onwards with the reveal!

You may remember my dining room from this Spring, back before the cushion makeover.  It was sporting cream walls that just blended in with all the other rooms in the house.  Literally.  Except the office, they were all this color.  BLAH.

Presto! Color Change-o!

   

And from a different angle:

        

I love the new color.  It gives the room a bit more dimension and the white trim really pops against the green.  And the new cream cushions (which I was a bit ambivalent about) look so nice with the new contrasting wall color.  I think the old brown leather ones would really be too dark in the new green room.  So with one more room completed, that brings our total for Operation: Paint the House up to six!  Garage, Laundry Room, Guest Room, Guest Bath, Den, and Dining Room.  Still remaining are the Office (totally needs work), Master Suite (at least have colors planned), Kitchen (clueless!), and Living Room/Foyer (won’t be happening for a while due to scaffolding issues in the great tall foyer).  Much to do, much to do. :) 

The funny thing is that I’m developing a pattern with paint colors (and decor in general as I’m sure you’ve noticed).  So far, I’ve used white and blue each once, yellow and green twice (and the same shade, too!)  Can you tell I hate picking paint colors?  It’s too much pressure! :)  I always freak out when I start to paint with a new color, thinking its too dark or too bright or too blue-ish or too something.  And then as it starts to dry, I compare the wet color to the actual color and I continue to fret and second guess my choice.  Then a miraculous thing always happens—I go away and when I come back, the paint is just perfect… all dry and uniform in color.  That “wet color” is no longer taunting me with “I-am-so-much-fresher-and-lighter-and-better” looks.  I just can’t be friends with wet paint.  :)

Well, this brings us to the end of the big dining room reveal.  Thanks for coming along for the paint saga story. :)  Here’s your parting glance:

I’ll be back with the story of the squeaky clean house, as well as an update in the guest bath! 

Come again soon…

A Surprise Reveal! (in the dining room)

 

How do you like my new patriotic Independence Day centerpiece?  Just a splash of red, white and blue to get us into the spirit of the Fourth of July! 

What’s that? You noticed something weird about that first picture?  Oh, there are no cushions on the seats?  Whoops!  hehe  That’s because I removed them and piled them on the couch. 

 

 

  

Why would I do that do you ask?   Hmmm… that’s a good question.  Well it’s cuz I had to take them to the upholstery shop to be recovered.

Just kidding… as if!  My Mama and I recovered them with fun new fabric today!  SURPRISE!  I was ready for something a little lighter than black leather.  Plus, Bandit had done in a couple of the cushions with his devil claws.  We selected a textured chenille fabric in an ivory damask pattern that I hope will hide all future evil kitty scratch marks.  Plus it goes well with our cream curtains and trim.

Here’s the new fabric:

        

Now here’s a look at the BEFORE… black leather be gone!

And AFTER, lovely and light:

 What do you think?  You like the new look? 

Think it means that we need to paint the walls for more contrast?  Yeah, me too. :)

P.S.  Don’t you love the new look of the blog?  I updated with some fancy new blogger features.  I love the tabs!  Thank you Illustrious Blogger People for hearing my pleas.  I promise to stop bad-mouthing you behind your back now. O:)

Edited to add:  Gah!  This post looks terrible in Reader!  Oh well! :)