If you give a girl a curvy chair, she'll want a settee to go with it..

Have you ever had something, whether it be a piece of furniture, lamp, vase or painting, that makes you want to re-do an entire room to make it work in that space?

Well that's how I feel about this chair I just re-finished.

I bought it in a set of seven; dining table, 4 chairs and two arm chairs. The table is missing the leaf so I was going to paint just four chairs to go with it and do the two arm chairs separate, since they can be used any where.

But then I realized how nice it would be to have this look in my Dining Room. It would play off the colors in my hutch.

So now I'm thinking I'll paint two of the chairs without arms, and the other one with arms all the same color. I will also paint the table (probably off white not blue)

Then one day I will get something like this:

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 ..

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 To have something like this:
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 A little different than the last picture of my Dining Room I shared in the Fall

Currently, my Dining Room has no table or chairs but it does have wood floors instead of carpet!
Progress I tell you!


By the way, I added a "House Tour"  Page - Every Room is a work in progress but at least it gives you a little taste of my style

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Kitchen Details

When I revealed my Kitchen yesterday I promised details, so here we go. 

Let's just start with my favorite GW find (that's Good Will not George Washington for you non addicts out there)

Aqua Dog bowls. Seriously. So me. Or so my dogs?  Where did they originally come from, I have no clue, but they are fantastic. Since I have two dogs I put their food in these and keep their mismatched water bowls hidden. 

The curtains are from IKEA. I don't think they still carry them, but don't quote me on that. 

The metal urn(?) came from a thrift store for a couple dollars and the blue vintage mason jar is full of silverware from my grandparents.

The wood shelf I painted aqua and lined with gray wood grain wrapping paper. I like personal touches in every room, so it became a good place for small framed photos.

This area is full of vintage and thrifty finds.

The vintage scale is from ETSY. You can find them in most antique shops as well but this one was in perfect condition (the pointer was intact when I bought it. It made it 60 years but broke after a week in my house.. go figure.)

The yellow metal basket is my newest addition. GW. 99cents. Another vintage mason jar (yard sale I think) and the tray has migrated through out my house. More about it here.

These mugs are the closest thing to a collection I've developed. 

There used to be a sign at my work that said "I drink coffee in the morning because I need it, and wine in the evening because I deserve it." Change the wine to beer and on many days it's perfect for me.

This bull hook is so fun to hang aprons on

This little dish caddy was for sale at my shop but it was there for several months without selling, so I brought it home. I didn't think I would like it so much but I do! It was black before I painted it.

Now back to painting furniture..I just finished a couple client pieces that I hope to share soon.

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My Kitchen!

My post yesterday gave you a glimpse into my Kitchen, so today I'm going to give you the tour. But in order to appreciate it for what it is today, let me show you where it started two years ago.

BEFORE

MLS Picures

The next pictures are a month or two after closing

PROGRESS

New appliances and some blue paint were pretty much all that was done, but it made a big difference.

BEFORE

This corner area was pretty awkward. It was intended for a table/eat-in Kitchen area but with the island it would have been too crowded. And with out the island there would be a big, dance- floor- style, open space.


Fast forward to today..

More Progress

I loveee the new floors. I bought the bar height table and chairs from a friend rather than an island because my daughter and I aren't exactly going to have our meals in a Dining Room. The height still allows for the extra prep/work space like an island would.

 I really want to remove the piece of wood that's above the sink, "connecting" the two cabinets, but there is a light up there and I don't know how to go about removing all that... I will figure it one day soon though and hopefully add a small pendant light instead.


 It would also have been nice if the upper cabinets extended to the ceiling, but I don't think it's worth replacing them (even if that were an option financially.)

Since the right corner is "supposed" to be where a table goes, there was a light fixture there that I replaced with a lantern.

As for the rest of that area, it is now the perfect spot for my "pantry."

The Kitchen does have a small closet, but I quickly found it to be too cramped for constant use. 

Plus I needed a place for the garbage can to hide. Food + Garbage does NOT = Roommates.

See how little the door is? Ok, so maybe I'm just showing you so I can show the cute apple artwork done by my daughter. Oh, and the worlds best maid-of -honer gift from my sister's wedding.. the bottle opener/ cap catcher hanging on the wall. 

I put it to good use.

 

Other improvements I'd like to make = new counter tops and a back splash. 

 And can't you just see a big, white farm house sink? I do love my Kitchen in its current state though. 

 Light, pretty and just the right size for what I need.

Tomorrow I'll show some more thrifty details floating around the room.

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Vacation

I just got back from a little vacation to visit my family in New York. Sorry I've been MIA but it was a surprise for my mom, so I couldn't risk sharing it on here :)

It was nice to see my family and my best friend Shannon who I miss so much already! The best part was traveling with my daughter though. She said "you're not going to work the WHOLE time, that's AWESOME!"

My parents still live in the house I was born in, so watching my daughter play there with her cousins is pretty great, and of course it makes me miss Summer as a kid.

As soon as we got back I went on a search for furniture. 

So far I've painted this little nightstand that I found.

 

It's narrow, making it great for small spaces (like this corner in my Dining Room)

 You can also see the cute, ceramic plate hanging on the wall that I picked up at Good Will too :)

Detail

 And that was my attempt at getting a full shot of the nightstand. This is also my official Kitchen "sneak peak."

The nightstand is for sale for only $49 if you're in the Atlanta area!

One for me, One for you.

The right side of my fireplace hasn't looked right to me since my Living Room re-do and I think I have finally found a better piece of furntiure to go there.

I was thinking a bookshelf but my dear sweet boxer likes to help him self to books.

Hard to stay mad at that face!

Back to the book shelf.. the one I found has re-purposed windows for doors.

 Book eating problem solved.

I really love the chippy back

When I bought it, it was all the light blue that you see on the inside shelves. Very pretty, but not against my light blue walls, so I just painted the outside and bottom shelf darker. I may paint over the rest of the light blue too, but I haven't decided.

I also re-finished a new piece to sell.

It's made by Ethan Allen and the top is one long drawer and it's just two drawers on the right (more practical for storage than 4 narrow drawers I think.) Inside the faux shutter door is a shelf.

Here it is waiting for its new home!

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