Kitchen Happy Dance

It rained Saturday so here's how we spent our indoor time.

Despite the fact that we're left with some fairly big wall repair and bigger repair issues with the granite wall tiles, I'm just so darn happy.

I won't be able to make much progress on this during the week as construction activities require my {super sweet} DIY hubby.  For the next couple of weeks this project will be weekends only so we can both work on it.

In the meantime I'll be planning the finishing touches for our mini kitchen re-do and continuing to work in the dining room.

So what did you do this weekend?  Any guesses what's going to happen on our kitchen wall?

Happy Monday,

Robin

It's Coming Together

A small fabric update put a big smile on my face.

Industrial welded metal barstools + modern toile{ish} fabric = pretty

These barstools are in the extended dining room area.  You see, the room we're using as our dining room is 28 feet long {remember, this is not the original dining room in our house}.  Since we rarely {never} hold banquets, this room also houses other functions ... more on that later.  Part of the challenge of using this room as a dining area is visually making all the functions flow and make sense together in one space. And of course, all the furnishings are things we already own and have pulled from other spaces.

Those barstools used to look like this ...

I like this much better ...

I'm sure you're looking at the white fabric thinking ... barstools ... stains ... is she crazy?  Often, yes.  This time, we'll see.  My friend at the fabric store told me to search for a product called ForceField Fabric Protector ... if you have a Hobby Lobby or Hancock Fabric store in your town you may be able to find it there ;)

I followed the directions (for once) and treated the fabric OUTSIDE and allowed to dry.  Then I tested.

Oops a red wine spill {hate wasting any wine but I did have to test the repellency of the fabric}.  And look at it puddle on the surface of the fabric and not be absorbed.

Blot with towel.  Yippee :)

Note: the paper towel with wine on it looks to be casting a redish shadow on the fabric.  In fact, the wine after sitting for several minutes blotted up fully with the most gentle touch of the paper towel.  

--------------------------

On other dining room progress, the weather goddess smiled upon me yesterday and provided a wonderful day for outside furniture painting and drying.  Yep, the now white dresser is curing in the garage as I write and will move back inside tonight.

And the weather deity also are offering the perfect Saturday forecast: rain (sorry to anyone in Richmond who wanted a sunny Saturday).  Why am I doing a happy dance about rain?  Yard work and tennis cancelled so hubby said Saturday would be a great day to start working on our small kitchen redo.  You might recall I said I had a few issues in the kitchen I needed to address ... I think we'll get started on that this weekend.

What great plans weekend plans do you have?  Anyone else updating a dining room or starting a kitchen de/construction project?

Happy Friday!

Robin

Slow but Steady: Dining Room Progress

How was your weekend ... lots of fun activities or did you make great progress on a project?  Or perhaps fun for you is making progress on a project :)

We had lovely weather Saturday and caught up on some (much needed) yard work.  The weather really surprised us with lower temps and no rain and I was even able to return to painting furniture outside!

So I was finally able to make progress on the Henry Link Bali Hai dresser that is moving to the dining room (it's been almost 6 weeks since I painted the dresser, *sigh*, he's just been sitting in the dining room waiting for the next coat of paint).

Here's how the dresser recently looked:

And here's a progress shot after Saturday (rained Sunday, wasn't able to finish, but I do have hopes for this week):

There's nothing wrong with the color display on your monitor.  Out with the Royal Blue dresser plan even though it was move than half finished (oh the wasted hours).  The dresser is being repainted high gloss White.  Fresher, lighter, more versatile, think this opens us many more options for accessories.

----------------------

So, I typically curse project delays.  Once I start anything I tend to want it done 5 minutes before it was started. I. can. be. impatient.  I've even used a hair dryer to speed the drying time of paint so I could apply a second coat sooner.  I know others have done this too, it can't just be me.

This time there wasn't any way around the project delay.  Oil-based paint means I must take the furniture outside for painting (I know, I must try ASCP).  But after I primed and had applied 2 coats of blue paint to the dresser the temps soar above 100 and the humidity was super high.  And then a lot of rainy days set in.  Outdoors painting had to take a break.

But I continued to work in the dining room during the painting delay and I feel it worked to my advantage having a bit more time to flesh out a plan.  I'm adding a few fabrics to the room:

And we changed the rug in the dining room (you can read how we made created the striped rug here) ... the dresser I'm painting will go under the large wall mirror:

And once those changes happened I realized the dresser needed to be white.  So glad for the loooonnnnggg delay cause I so wouldn't want to have to fully repaint that piece only a month later.

For now I'm keeping the small bachelor's chest Royal Blue, cause it's a good pop of color where its positioned in the room, I like it, and I certainly don't want everything to be matchy-matchy.  Here's that cute little chest ... in the above photo the chest would be just out of camera range in the bottom left corner:

So that's whats happening here.  Maybe I'll have the sewing done by the time the rain leaves the area and I can finish painting, a girl can dream!

To see my progress on the other side of this room, click here.

What will you be working on this week?  Grabbing a few more days of sun?  Getting the kids ready to return to school?  Any home improvement projects underway?  Reading a good book?  Whatever it is I hope you have a great time.

Happy Monday all,

Robin

A Collection, A Cabinet, and A Question about Furniture Refinishing

Until about an hour ago I was seriously thinking about selling this ...

,,, now I'm seriously thinking about keeping it.

It all started when I read Kelly's {Eclectically Vintage} post this morning that ended with a question: "what do you collect?"

I commented "anything with an elephant motif" and then my mind started doing cartwheels ... {to myself} ... yeah, but they're all tucked away in boxes and drawers because most are too small to work into your decor ... I really should at least bring them together into one box / place ... DUH!

I'll go into the back story about this cabinet later but I really could use your advise: to my nose, which is highly sensitive to any odor be it fragrance or other, there's a musty old wood smell that I believe is from the back of the cabinet which is rough, raw?, old wood.  (This piece has been in my family for at least 6o+ years).

Any suggestions how to remove the odor from raw exposed wood or at least seal it so I don't smell it?

Do you have anything with an elephant motif?  Any elephant objects?  Any old stinking pieces of furniture you have saved in the past?  You won't believe my elephant "collection" from a big huge item to the smallest teeny pachyderm ... I guess I have to post about them soon!

Happy Friday everyone,

Robin

Decorating while Dreaming

{Creating two very different designs with a single "carpet"}

And option A is the winner:)  If you're wondering how a single carpet can offer two {or even more} looks, read on!

-------------------------------

This weekend during breakfast hubby recognized the glazed expression on my face.

"Um, what are you looking at?"

"Nothing. {pause} OK, the carpet in the dining room."

Heavy sigh from him.  Maybe even a groan.

Then I say, "In my dream last night the dining room was different and I wonder if it would work."

Now hubby is interested cause he has said before when I dream about decor:
(1) he knows until we try it in the house I won't get it out of my system, and
(2) typically, that's where my interesting ideas come from.

Before breakfast was finished David was crawling around the dining room measuring.

(me) "What do you think?"

(he)  "We've got to try it"

Don't have a full room before picture but here you can see the mis-mash we started with ... the old carpet (dark tan and medium blue), Beaver's ottoman, and drapes that are no longer:

It took us a whooping 30 minutes to "create" two new dining room rug options!

First try; yes the colors fit the room, but the design seems incomplete, almost as if you tried to make a border rug but didn't have enough black for the ends (which is true).

I thought a checkerboard pattern a la' the lovely classic black & white marble floors might be cool, but once again, not enough black to make it happen.  But then we saw how the numbers worked in our favor ... and here's the winner:

Oh the magic of modular anything ... a change-on-a-whim decorator's dream.

In this case the modular is FLOR carpet tiles.  And here's where I should note ... I haven't been asked to write this post and I'm not being compensated in any way what-so-ever for talking about this (this isn't a monetized blog).  I'm just talking about something that's worked for us and you might like to know about.

So yes, in addition to the tan and blue carpet tiles we originally had in the dining room, I also have a small stash of additional tiles including some black.

The stash was purchase two years ago before we moved back home after our fire at the incredible close-out price of less than $2 per tile.  It was a random collection of tile colors but at that price I couldn't afford to pass up it up even though I assumed I wouldn't be able to use them all, and wasn't even certain how I would use any of them, because we weren't living at home and hadn't yet learned what items were salvageable from the fire.

So two years ago that's how the tan and blue originally landed in the dining room.  We had the correct number of them.  Wanted to use them.  Needed carpeting for that area.

Last winter I made an additional purchase through FLOR's online clearance storefront of "dusty turquoise" carpet tiles for our den.  Those dusty turquoise tiles have moved from the den and joined the black tiles and that's how we "made" a new carpet.

But wait ... the den will be the recipient of the medium blue tiles kicked out of the dining room ... couldn't do that with standard carpeting, at least not this easily, there's where modular really adds value to the process. We recently made some furniture changes in the now office / den and those blue tiles are perfect in there.

The tan carpet tiles head to storage for now.

The black & white & soft grey / blue color scheme is one I believe can work for our modern dining style with classic accent elements.  The dusty turquoise is just a tad deeper in tone than our wall color; the wall color is BM Spring Mint and the color morphs between soft gray - soft gray / blue as the natural light changes during the day.  The wall color to me is a classic swedish blue.

So Mr Beaver's ottoman has already been recovered using a very cleanable and durable outdoor Sunbrella fabric.  The "new" drapes were purchased from Crate & Barrel last year during their Black Friday sale (day after Thanksgiving).

Whenever I can finish painting the chest that will be placed under the mirror and perhaps make a few other tweaks and bring in accessories with pops of color, I can hopefully post a full (and finished?) dining room reveal.  And folks, this wasn't even on my game plan / score card as of three days ago!

Here's one more look; for perspective, Beaver's ottoman is just out of sight and would be in the lower right corner of this shot.

So do you dream about decor?  Or do you plan everything on paper?  Search pinterest for inspiration?  I'd love to hear what gets you going on a home decor project and how you figure out the details.  And of course I'd love to know what you think about our 30 minute no-additional-cost rug.  Do you think the dining area is heading in the right direction?

Till next time,

Robin

Eclectic & Vintage

Hi all ... Mr. Beaver is improving and making great progress!  

Thanks so much for your sweet messages of concern.

He's doing so much better that I'm working on something in the house today rather than sitting around and staring at him ... yay!!!! on both accounts.

Pics soon!

For a special treat why don't you head over to visit with Kelly at Eclectically Vintage.



Kelly is all about vintage with a modern twist and she's a lover of unique art.  She has quite a flair for creating an artistic display using very simple items ... look at this gorgeous art installation in her dining room:

Source: eclecticallyvintage.com via Robin on Pinterest

I still can't believe this gorgeous-ness started with ... nope, you're just going to have to visit to find out.

Thanks for dropping in and now you need to hurry over to Kelly's.

Have a great weekend,

Robin

Under the Crape Myrtle Tree

Just dropping in to say a quick hi ... been a little over a week since I posted.

Mr. Beaver has been having a real hard time of it but I'm happy to report that in the past 24 hours we've seen real improvement.  He's far from 100% but I can finally hold him again without his squeals of pain and he will take short walks strolls go outside briefly on a leash.

We've been sitting here in our backyard lots, enjoying the huge canopy of the Crape Mrytle tree and escaping the blazing sun ...

I love the bark of a Crape Mrytle, so smooth and the mottled colors resemble an animal hide ...

At one point a cloud appeared then quickly passed, and in that split second there was some amazing light reaching through the canopy ...

And then ...

It was a moment for me for sure.  Just wanted to share.

Enjoy your day and make it a good one!

Robin