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!!!

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!

Dreaming of...China Patterns

I have always loved fine China, my mother's Blue Danube was proudly displayed in her china cabinet when I was growing up and of course all holiday meals were served on it. I guess it's just natural that one of the first things I thought of when we moved into our first home 3 months ago was finding a china cabinet and a china pattern.   My wonderful mother had previously told me to find a china cabinet under $500 (probably a used one) and she would purchase it for us as a house warming gift.  I've previously posted about how much I love my white shabby chic china cabinet that we found at On a Whim Antiques in Lucketts, VA!  Now I really need some china to go in it. I had been searching high and low for something I loved and then I found it! It was white and turquoise, simple and elegant and it had a scalloped edge (something I love) and made by Lenox, a company my mother assured me made quality china.  Then I found out that it was discontinued:( total disappointment.  I still plan on calling the Lenox/Kate Spade China company to see why.   Last Friday while in Macy's trying to find another china pattern that wasn't discontinued I spotted these pieces on a clearance rack.

I was super excited and thought I might get lucky and find more pieces at other stores but no luck, after doing a computer check the sales associate was only able to find 1 or 2 more dinner plates and they were all out of state... Well at least I got a great deal on the pieces I was able to find.  I paid $13 for $120 worth of Lenox/Kate Spade china

So I was back to the drawing board. I really wanted something that was elegant but not to stodgy, something that would fit in with shabby chic decor and coordinate with the Gwinnett lane pattern I love so much and hope to find little by little.   I really like Chirp by Lenox (pictured below) but one of my close friends thinks it's too casual. I think it would work with the Gwinnett Lane pieces though and I love the little bird...

 I also sort of like Gilded Tapestry, again made by Lenox but not so crazy about all the brown.  Do you collect China? if so is your pattern current or discontinued?

New Etsy Pillows & An Update

If some of you may remember I recently took the plunge and purchased two of these beautiful chairs from Pier 1 a little over a month ago.

I loved these chairs so much that I would just gaze lovingly at them whenever I passed them, yep I've got problems, I think I spend way too much time in my house!  So after owning the chairs for two weeks I noticed one of them started creaking everytime I sat in it.  This wasn't a little creaking noise either, my husband and I both noticed it and I got a bit scared, if these chairs started creaking after two weeks then I just didn't think they were strong enough to stand up to the every day abuse that my family of 3 sons and a messy husband could put them through.  I contemplated for a long time and even though about keeping them and just putting one of them in our bedroom since surely it wouldn't get sat on much in there...  Well after plunking down $400 for both chairs my frugal self caved and decided it wasn't worth the worry to have the beauty and returned the chairs.   I started searching anywhere and everywhere for the fabric so I could possibly have some curtains or pillows made out of my beloved pattern but it seemed like the pattern had either been discontinued or was sold out everywhere.  Joanne's had it on their website but were no longer carrying it.  One day I happened to be searching etsy for pillow covers and came across this!

Seriously I couldn't contain my excitement, I promptly contacted the seller and asked if she possibly had enough fabric to make me 3 more and she said she could order more! The seller was Christina and her shop is called The Seam, you can check her out here http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheSeam.  Christina was super easy to work with, really communicated during the process and did quick and great work, I highly recommend her! 

So maybe a few days afer receiving my pillow covers from Christina I stumbled upon these dining room slipcovers on the Pier 1 website!

You know I was super excited right?  I guess I'd never connected this slipcover to the chairs I loved because they have a different name....So I decided I wouldn't get my hopes up until I saw them in person.  So last night I had a couple hours of time to myself and I'd been wanting to go to Pier 1 anyway to look at dishes for Thanksgiving dinner (I'm hosting it this year) so I killed two birds with one stone:)  The slipcover in person was beautiful but I'm not sure they will fit my existing dining chairs which is okay since I really do need to purchase two more dining chairs anyway and Pier 1 has a chair that they make specifically for this slipcover.  Okay enough of my rambling, I just had to share my excitement with someone and well... my husband just doesn't get it!

So Excited and I Can't Hide It!!!

Yep I'm quoting lyrics from the pointer sisters cuz I'm a big dork! but seriously I am... Today I found these chairs on Craigslist and I'm super excited to say the least

I have been casually looking for some french inspired dining chairs for a while now, not really seriously looking since I do have dining chairs but I don't love them you know, but these I love! I love the price even better, they are $100 for the set of 4 and since they look to be in great shape I can't wait to see them tomorrow.  The only thing I'd have to spend a bit extra doing is painting them If I decide to do that and switching out the fabric on the seats... I'll post again once I pick them up, wish me luck they are everything I hope they are:)  Have a great night, I know I'll be dreaming of chairs tonight....