Shabby Chair Love
I love the shabby chic look. I just do. I always have. But, Tony isn’t a huge fan, and our house has stayed away from it for the most part. However, when I saw this chair on Flickr, I just couldn’t help but love it. It isn’t just a shabby white chair, look at the large curved back! “Unique Chair,” by Jaci Berkopec:
Have a great weekend!
Thrifted and Rearranged
We have been busy busy. It all started with a quick stop at the D.A.V. (Disabled American Veteran’s) thrift store. I happened upon a cute little vintage typewriter table for $3.95! I love the metal industrial look, so I couldn’t resist. It was just a bit dirty and scratched, so we painted her white. With one more coat and a small black swirl on top (this weekend) this beauty will sit next to the door to the backyard in the dining room. It is on wheels and easily movable, so it will serve as an outdoor drink table as well. We have been searching for something to go outdoors while enjoying grilling or the bonfire, and nothing seems pretty but built for the outdoors. This way we can just bring the little table in when we aren’t out there. Here she is:
While I was there I also spotted an antique, claw foot, drop leaf table. Hmmm… We got to thinking. We have been wanting a bigger table for the dining room and decided to try moving the red table to the kitchen. After giving the rooms some rearranging we fell in love. Here’s the kitchen:
It feels so nice and cozy in there now. We even sat here yesterday morning and had coffee together. So, after giving the new arrangement a night we decided it was a keeper. I headed back to the D.A.V. and snatched up the dining table. We got a great deal, but it does need some work. I removed some scuffs, but there are scratches. We are probably going to cover it with a table cloth until we get some other projects finished and then start stripping and refinishing it. We are thinking of staining it either a lighter brown to match the maple bar or black like the desk that is still in progress. I am still hung up on my mis-matched chairs, and am in the process of adding a few different styled ones, so although it doesn’t match perfectly right now it will when we get done! Bonus: I found out that the table expands for adding leaves! Although it didn’t have the originals with it we can make some for it to have big family meals here! 🙂 Here’s the dining room:
Well, what do you think? Any suggestions or ideas? Its always a work in progress, but it’s getting there! Oh, and Romeo the camera hog says hi, too.
Antique Treasures
My grandmother just sent me a box of antique jewelry and doodads! I was so excited last night to rummage through all of the sentimental pieces. I’m not sure what I am going to do with all of it, but I have some creative ideas going. Here is a peak at the goods:
The island covered in all the treasures.
I really loved this little tray. My grandma said it was very old. I thought it might look cute in the bathroom when we get in refinished.
A gorgeous cameo and some really pretty crystals.
Another cameo and a very old pin and rings.
Two old jewelry boxes and a sweet locket.
This box was special because my uncle made all of these turqoise and jade rings and pieces. His sign is a paw print and is engraved on the back of each piece.
Exciting huh? I will let you all know what I do with some of the pieces… I can feel the creative juices flowing…
Sweet Little Details
I really believe that it’s the little details in a home that make your space special. Ok, that sounds cheesy. But, it is true. We have made some major repairs, spend lots of money, and in the end it’s the little projects worth a few bucks that make me so proud of our home. I have been excited for days about the new towel bar we hung in the bathroom. This is not only a convenience, but looks so much better than having the towel laying on the sink all the time- and, it only cost me about $3!
So, last night while finishing up the living room curtains we also hung up some coffee mugs in the kitchen. I bought a few new red mugs at Wal Mart for $2 apiece. I got a few cup hooks, and viola! Instant face-lift for the kitchen space. I love my bird of paradise mugs, but these look much more updated and will go great once we finishing the painting of the cabinets. Tony actually hung a separate board under the cabinet so that the screws for the hooks wouldn’t go all the way through. He also had to slightly open up the cup hooks, as the mug handles were a bit wider than standard ones. All in all I think they look great and will be awesome in the new kitchen too!
I know I said that I would be starting to work on the cabinet painting last week, but I got a bit lazy. I really am going to work on it this week, so check back for updates and tips on the cabinet painting!
More Curtains!
Last night we finished hanging curtains in the living room. I am so excited to not have these flowery old lady curtains any more:
I really wish I would have remembered to take specific before shots of these. They even had poufy, paper-stuffed valences!
I’m not too sure about the new curtains we chose, so I need your opinions and suggestions. They are, no doubt, better than the before, but not exactly what we had in mind. We wanted to stay inexpensive for right now, so we got these at WalMart (no Ikea near us!). We originally picked a charcoal color, but when we got home we realized that the packages we grabbed were all black! They do need some steaming, but here they are:
I think it is a huge improvement, but it still feels a little off. Tony likes the blinds on one window (this is the previous family’s doing- not mine!) but, I think the small window should have sheers as well so the two match. What do you think?
Either way, these are much more our taste, style, and colors, and best of all- no foofy grandma curtains! 🙂
Oh, and I realize that we really need a rod that is meant to be showing, but we aren’t going to spend the money on a custom length one right now. So, the white bar has to stay and we just have to deal with it for a little while!
Chair Love Some More
This weeks chair love comes early! I spotted this beauty on Apartment Therapy earlier in the week. The picture is of the store front of the Pico Modern Furniture shop. What a pretty place! And, great taste in chairs, I might add.
The shop is described as unique and unusual. I love it already! And, I want the chair! 🙂
I’ve Been Spotted!
I just had to mention that I noticed I was spotted by Apartment Therapy! The other day they noted on their sister site, The Kitchn, the post of our kitchen island. It was featured as one of their delicious links. We are so excited to have inspired some one! Thank you Apartment Therapy!
Kitchen Inspiration
We are currently preparing to do a bit of kitchen renovation in our house. While I have a pretty clear picture in my head of what I would like to do I have also been scouring the blog world for some inspiration and creative ideas. We are trying to do this on a very tiny budget, so I am also searching ideas in that area. Today on Apartment Therapy I found one of my favorite kitchen pictures.
I just love the little swinging door. It reminds me of old western saloon doors. I am wanting one for our kitchen. I’m just not sure that every kitchen could pull this off. Maybe that will have to go on my “someday” dream list. For now we are thinking more basic remodel in the kitchen. I would like to sand and paint all of the dark wood cabinetry a glossy white. The cabinets are outdated and mismatched. This will also allow us to fill the holes from the old hardware and add new pulls. These are the pulls I am thinking of, bin pulls:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_wmc3cgAjw0k/SHeOWPk3S3I/AAAAAAAAAOc/sp4juB_wHwA/s400/IMG_6026_bin%2Bpull.jpg&imgrefurl=http://theletteredcottage.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.html&h=266&w=400&sz=12&tbnid=1nyLQKGa76QSAM::&tbnh=82&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddresser%2Bwith%2Bbin%2Bpulls%2Bpicture&hl=en&usg=__noAFFwDt8FmB3VYpI7taTYFlhEQ=&ei=zCHRSb_kJMSInAfzwbhq&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=4&ct=image&cd=1
I have also been reading that it is possible to safely paint laminate countertops. Since paint is a much cheaper alternative to replacing the countertops at this point I would like to paint these black. Here is inspiration for a black and white kitchen with warm hardwood floors:
Little Bit Of Chair Love
I found this cute chair the other day on Design*Sponge in Jack and Lulu’s home sneak peak. The curvy lines on this chair match the bech seat I was loving the other day! The picture isn’t directly of the chair, but it’s right in front of the mirror here:
I want it for my bedroom! 🙂
Mini Bar Makes More Progress
I think the mini bar project is almost done (the mini bar we made out of a re-purposed vintage TV armoire). We are going to leave the wood as-is, at least until we see what it looks like next to the black desk (which is still in progress). We are planning on changing out the handles, but haven’t found the perfect Hollywood Regency looking pair yet. Yesterday we got the mirror for the back and the glass for the bottom cut and installed. We also hung a stemware rack under the top and I lined the drawer with some fabulous material. I would like to find a very simple mountable wine rack to hang under the top on the other side, so if you have one of those to recommend…! So, here it is, looking gorgeous!
Make Mine Eclectic 
