NEW PAINTED DINING ROOM CHAIRS

Although you have already seen these chairs in a couple of my previous posts featuring the new dining room wall colors this past summer see here and my fall vignettes see here, I thought I would create a post just for them...especially with the holidays coming up .


Anyway, here is our dining room set prior to the transformation. It is a basic, solid oak table that has several leaves which is ideal for family get togethers.

The day I painted my kitchen mantle, 

I grabbed one the of the dining armchairs and gave him a quick coat as well. I loved the way he looked and immediately placed him in the hearth area where he popped against the brick back ground.

So late in August, I dragged all six of the the armless chairs out to the garage and proceeded to clean, sand, wipe, paint, sand some more, and finished them off with two coats of polyurethene.

..trying to hide the doggie gnaws and bites....

and here too....

Here's the culprit....caught napping....and she only chewed when she was a puppy ....thank goodness!
So here you can see the end result. I like how the black chairs "ground" the space. 

Now I still have the armchair to paint before Thanksgiving!!

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Hugs,

Mandy

Linking to:

http://www.thegirlcreative.com/

http://modvintagelife.blogspot.com/

http://houseinroses.blogspot.com/

http://becolorful.typepad.com/

http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/

http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/

http://dittledattle.blogspot.com/

http://projectqueen.org/

http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/

http://athomewithk.blogspot.com/

http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/

http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com/

http://www.tipjunkie.com/

http://mommahenscoop.com/

http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/

http://verymerryvintagestyle.blogspot.com/

http://bluecricketdesign.blogspot.com/

http://mygirlishwhims.blogspot.com/

http://theshadyporch.blogspot.com/

http://lbratina.blogspot.com/

http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com/

http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/

http://frommyfrontporchtoyours.blogspot.com/

MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL....

MIRROR, MIRROR, ON THE WALL.....

I was able to profit from a Decorator's "Going out of business sale" which I blogged about yesterday here and bought some really good STUFF for very little money. I used some of them in the dining room here and thought I would share them with you today.

Picked up this star burst mirror for $25 ...

and hung it in the dining room

Oh and while I'm in this area, I switched out the summer Guy Buffet plates see here to the Tuscany collection 

I also got this large cloche for....$5!!

I bought two of these twig topiary for $4 ea

And a bag of 8 pumpkin balls for $1.

And on the dining table I filled one of the two sets of rectangle baskets (each set had 2 baskets for $5!) with some fall decor and placed it on my new burlap and muslin table runner, perfect!

Let me tell you about the runner. Sonya from Sonya Hamilton Interiors Beyond the Screen Door Designs.  made it for me. Her items are gorgeous quality and so affordable! This is the third item I have purchased from her. Check out her blog where you will find more of her great work for sale!

:

A final view,


I will be showing you more of my finds in my next post....

Hugs for now,

Mandy

I am linking to:

Marty at a Table Top Tuesdays

At Home with K

Mandy at Sugar Bee Crafts

NEW FRESH DINING ROOM

My dining used to be painted a dark brick red. I really liked it. 

      As we all do, I have enjoyed personalizing my home with various paint colors and techniques over the years, and the results were warm, colorful and at times practical (I faux painted the hallways when the kids were younger and it was great at hiding a zillion finger prints and marks etc. and the paint I used was easily wiped clean). But now with us trying to sell this monster home it was time rethink each room and space. 

I had already painted the sun room and kitchen a nice creamy neutral color (here's a peek but more on that later) and loved how it "cleaned" up and simplified the rooms. 

See the faux with the stenciling and see the neutral paint starting to cover it up? 

So I went ahead and used the same color down the hallways (hopefully the boys now all teenagers won't be quite as destructive.....!) but I didn't want to paint the red dining room walls that same color as I felt that that would be just too blah and boring...

so I picked out this brownish/taupe color from Sherwin Williams that was a tone darker than the inserts on the living room picture wall.

Before

After

Note that I did not put the tapestry back nor the drapes. This also helped "open" things up. I swapped the two sideboards around too because the wall looked huge and bare! 

The alcove before

The alcove after

I then decorated and painted the dining chairs (more on those in a separate post) and voila!

Clean, simple, up to date....I really like it!

I would love to hear your feedback on this so go ahead and leave me a comment, negative or positive...:)

Hugs,
Mandy

Linking to:

http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/

http://houseinroses.blogspot.com/

LEATHER AND STUDS!

Recently I had a paint fest weekend where I painted 6 chairs, a small chest of drawers, a desk and refinished our kitchen table....crazy...

Here's a little guy who was never one of my favorites, I didn't like the wood finish for a start. Even though it 's a desk it's really too small for anyone to sit at comfortably so it really is a more decorative piece than useful one. 

Before

I sanded and painted it with some paint I picked up in the "mistake" aisle at Menards. I would describe the color as putty/taupe. Then I aged it by sanding the edges etc and rubbing on some dark stain. 

Let's take a closer look at the top:

Here's the before:

 Here's the after. See the added studs?

I also added studs to the front of the drawers and painted the hairdware

See that "architectural" element between the two pictures?  

Here's a close up:

Anyone know what it is? I think it's so curvy, rusty and cool!

Hope you like the desk, I think it turned out well.


Hugs, Mandy

I am linking this post to:

http://cottageinstincts.blogspot.com/

http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/

http://becolorful.typepad.com/

http://athomewithk.blogspot.com

http://missmustardseed.blogspot.com/

END OF SUMMER DINING ROOM VIGNETTES

THEY'RE GROWING....!

I am so excited about this project.....

Gorgeous last summer.....yanked out of window boxes and  laid to rest in the basement hanging from a closet rod.....potted last month.....they looked like this.....

And this..... not too promising are they?

But given some plant food, a little watering, a western exposure and 3 weeks later......

Woo-hoo!!!! 

Needless to say, I am very proud of my accomplishment!!!! I have never winterized anything before, so for a first this is awesome!!!

So roll on warm days cos I am soooooo looking forward to planting these beauties out in my window boxes!!!!

Hugs for now,

Mandy

I have joined the following parties:

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com