Stenciling Project Sneak Peek! and a New Mirror

Just thought I would share what I'm working on today real quick, I'm super excited to finish it!!!! and so far so good:)

I have been wanting a venetian style mirror for a while now and I finally found one I could afford last week at HomeGoods (my happy place:).  It was on clearance for $115 and I really didn't want to pay that cuz well I'm super frugal aka super cheap but I knew I wouldn't find another one for that price anytime soon!   I purchased it after walking away from it about 3 times and the hubz hung it for me on our entry wall this past weekend.   Today I got started with my stenciling project for that wall and I like it so far.   I chose a damask stencil that mimics the shape of the mirror, I'll give full details when I finish it and post a photo of the full wall reveal, crossing my fingers I can finish it tomorrow sometime... wish me luck:)

More Dining Room Inspiration

Well guys I think I've made up my mind and the more I stare at my turquoise chair the more I dislike it....I either will be painting them white or not using them at all, stay tuned really soon to see what I figure out:)  Until then I found this photo and love this room, I mean I just love it, with some pops of aqua blue or turquoise I'd say it would be my perfect room!

Splurge & Steal Woven Placemats

2 blog posts in one day! I know crazy lady right:)  I couldn't help myself, I just had to share my newest purchase that makes me so happy and all for just $10!...

So I'd been wanting some woven chargers/placemats for a while and I had seen these from Pottery Barn and really loved them but....

At $18 PER charger there was no way that was going to happen, I mean really Pottery Barn...geez

So a few days ago I was in Wal Mart for spray paint and lo and behold, I just love saying that, don't you?    I stumbled upon these beauties for $2.50 a piece!

I only purchased 4 of them but I'll definately be going back for 4 more to complete my Easter Table, speaking of which here is a sneak peak of my Easter table settings for the tablescape I'm working on which I will post later on this week:)

Turquoise Dining Chairs - Part 1

The other day I showed you the dining chairs I planned to paint turquoise and well I started on them and ended up painting 2 of them in Rustoleums Lagoon which I love the color of but I'm just not sure I love the final project...

I decided to upholster them in the fabric I used for my curtains since it's what I had on hand and I actually love the fabric against the bright turquoise/teal.   The problem is I'm just not sure I can live with 4 of these in my dining room...  My mother came over yesterday and saw the first completed chair and loved it, even told my sister about how pretty it was so of course that made me feel great:)  I'm just not loving it... I may end up going back to my original plan and seeing what that looks like or I may just paint all 4 chairs and then decide.  Am I crazy? Do you flip flop on decor ideas like I do?

Be Still My Heart!!!!

This is what I thought when I laid my eyes on this image today and I just had to share!

Ted Yarwood design for Canadian House & Home

After viewing my dining room photo over and over and then looking at my future plans for the room something just didn't feel/look right.  I just think that the chairs in there now are too square for the curvy lines of the table and china cabinet.   So using the photo above as my motivation I started to think about painting these chairs that I purchased back in November of last year a shade of turquoise or aqua blue

When I purchased the chairs above I really liked them even though I knew they would need a lot of work and I decided I just didn't want to put in the work and so they sat in my basement, and sat and sat... you get the picture

When I saw that amazing photo of the turquoise chairs against the green table I just fell in love!  I really love color but I also love the photo's of white spaces I see all over blogland...  In the end I think my love for color is going to end up winning because today on a whim I  started the process of painting all 4 chairs a bright turquoise!  I can't wait to share the final project with you next week!!!

Cute Little Bird Coasters

I purchased these from Pier 1 a little while ago, I thought they were so cute! plus at $10 for 4 I was sold:)   I had planned to just hang them on the wall but now I want to do something a bit more interesting but have no clue what!!! Help me with ideas please....

My Cottage Dining Room - A Work in Progress

So this is how our dining room currently looks which I feel pretty good about but it is still very much a work in progress. 

Our table was purchased at a consignment store for only $75 and I love it but it is really dinged up and while my husband would rather sand it and stain it I really want to paint it white to match our china cabinet.
 

I love our floors but I was recently informed by my husband that he will be pulling them up and redoing them after reading that they will last longer if they are staggered....

So on my to do list for this room is:

- make or purchase white or off white slipcovers for the dining   chairs
- purchase a new chandelier
- paint the dining room table white to match the china cabinet
- figure out what to hang on the walls

I couldn't find any photo's of what it looked like when we moved in but just picture dirty beige carpet, a ceiling fan from the 1970's and ugly wallpaper that covered even worse panneling!!! I've still got some work to do before it really looks like my inspiration dining room and I seriously hate my tiny dining room window but for now it works for us:) Thanks for reading!

My Dining Room Inspiration

Generally when I see a photo of a room I'm inspired by online I right-click it and save it!  I've saved  so many images I like but these 3 are the top dining room's that inspire me.   I think these are true to where I want my dining room to go, although of course me being me I'll be adding some pops of color to the white.  I really wanted to take some photo's of my dining room and share them with you today but our weather today in Northern VA has been rainy and dark so I think I'll wait until a sunnier day to share my progress...

I love this room by Holly at Life In the Fun Lane!  www.inthefunlane.com

I just love the contrast of the white table against the linen colored slipcovered chairs and the dark flooring.  We just started installing dark stained bamboo flooring in our dining room that looks very similar in color.

Not sure where I found this one, wish I would have saved it with a name or something, but this room is just stunning in my opinion.   Again I love the contrast of white against the dark floors..

I just love this dining  room of blogger Deb of Cappuccino Cottage http://cappuccinocottage.blogspot.com, I'm actually steering toward painting my table white like hers!

So there you have it! My dining room inspiration:) Can't wait to share what I'm doing with mine.  Thanks so much for all your comments and suggestions too!

I Think I'm In Love...

Today the little man and I went to Chuck E. Cheese for our SAHM meetup group which I'm loving since I actually get adult interaction during the day!  While there my mom called and asked if I'd be willing to take her to the hardware store and of course I said yes, I rarely turn my mom down:)  She no longer drives since her cataracts have gotten so bad but she is hoping to have surgery this summer so she can get her license back.  We went to her Lowes and I of course had to take a stroll down the chandelier aisle, by the way I really appreciate all your comments about the one I posted yesterday.  I like it but don't love it and why pay that much for something you don't love, right?  So while in Lowes I saw this amazing chandelier which pretty much stopped me in my tracks (sorry for the crappy photo's).  The price also stopped me in my tracks ($299) but guys I really LOVE this one!!!!! This could be the one, I mean I won't be purchasing it right away because the price is a bit much but maybe eventually....  What do you ladies think?

Decisions, decisions...

I'm not sold yet but I really like this chandelier my husband discovered and snapped a quick photo of at Lowes a while ago!  He knows how much I like sparkle, although I really want something with crystals I really do like it, not love but like, hmmm....

What do you think?  Be honest, I realize this is not everyones style but I am going for a cottage feel in my home... If I had to label my style I  would call it clean and colorful cottage if that makes any sense.  I really like cottage but I don't like too much frill such as doilies everywhere and ruffles on everything and typically cottage style is lots of white which I love to but I also love color!  This week I'm also going to share a photo of my dining room and how the reno in there is coming along:)  As always thanks so much for your comments!

Fresh Magnolia Leaf Wreath and a Revelation About Me

Last weekend my niece and I collected a few branches from my mother's massive magnolia tree, the one I actually climbed as a child:) My niece loves anything crafty and has been my helper and my only craft partner since the rest of my family and friends don't really like crafting like I do, she's wonderful! I had decided to make a simple magnolia wreath for my kitchen with the leaves and I actually collected so many that I called my mom today to ask if she wanted me to make her one as well, her response was "yes I'll take it!". It took me maybe two hours but that was with interruptions by my 2 year old so if I had been making it non-stop it probably would have taken only an hour. So here it is! I just love it:) This one is going to my mom's house today to hang on her front door, I'm curious to see how long it will stay green...

Okay and now for my revelation! This has been something that has taken me quite a while to figure out but today as I was assembling the wreath it just kind of came to me that it makes total sense... I love flowers and I love making floral arrangements and wreaths, in fact I used to have a wreath business but when my father passed away last year I sort of went into a depression and didn't have the motivation to make it grow. What I have discovered about myself lately is that I love design but I adore flowers and anything to do with them, I would do it for free, and gladly play with flowers all day as a career.. So I guess my next step is getting some formal training in the art of floral design. There are some local classes I can take but also some online classes that I've seen that I'm thinking of taking. Anyway I just wanted to share with you my revelation that sometimes it takes a while to come to the conclusion of what you really want to be when you grow up.. I mean I'm 35 people! I grew up knowing a lot about flowers because my mother is a big gardener but I didn't love flowers until I was much older. Anyway I just had to share and let you know that I may start another blog devoted entirely to floral arranging since this little blog is supposed to be about decor and I'm not sure if you guys really want to read about my little arrangements and wreaths but please let me know if that is of interest to you! As always thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment, I truly appreciate it.