Dining Room Redo – The Details

Thank you all for the nice comments about my dining room.  I have to say this was the first time I have ever been apprehensive about a blog post.  I truly was nervous!  So many of you loved the chairs next to the buffet in their original orange velvet, I was not sure what the reaction was going to be when I revealed I had recovered them in gray.  So needless to say I am thrilled so many of you left such encouraging and wonderful comments.  Now on to the details!

If you have been a long time follower, you probably know this room is a collection of furnishings which has evolved over time.  The buffet and six chairs (which I painted white and recovered in blue velvet for this redo) where bought from the Salvation Army.  Along with a table which is now in the basement, I paid $150 for all 9 pieces. The large cabinet is an antique store find. It is made of two pieces and I was told it was taken from a local real estate office.  I could not believe my luck when I found it a couple of years ago as it is the perfect fit for the wall on which it resides.

The table is made by Henredon and is a Craigslist purchase.  The chairs which matched this table are now around the kitchen table.  I used a vintage grainsack with blue stripes for a runner to add more texture to the room as well as lighten up the table. An ivy topiary from Lowes adds a much needed bit of green.

The mirror above the buffet is by Uttermost and the pair of alabaster lamps is an Ebay purchase.  Above the duo of vintage 1950’s chairs hang a pair of paintings by Jennifer Lanne.  Jennifer’s work has been featured in Country Living magazine as well as several other publications.  I have several of her paintings scattered about my house, as she is a favorite local artist of mine.

While most of the items in the room are older, there are a few newer pieces as well.  The rug is by Madeline Weinrib and the gray silk curtains I made from fabric purchased at Calico Corners.  The clock between the windows is new but is a bargain floor model from Ethan Allen which I painted.

Finally there is the pair of now gray French chairs with the ikat pillows which I made by repurposing the old fabric on the dining room chairs. In regards to my decision to recover the chairs, in the end it just came down to the fact that the orange was just not me.   It truly was a struggle to decide what to do – leave them alone or recover – but in the end I am so happy with how the room looks now so it was the right choice for me.

Thanks for following this transformation.  I would like to say this room is finished but as you know I have a hard time leaving things alone.  I am sure a little while from now I will be adding or replacing something. For now, however, I am just going to enjoy the room the way it is!

My Dining Room Redo In Pictures

Christmas House Tour 2011

Christmas has always been my favorite time to decorate.  In years past I have had lots of hours to spend getting my home ready for the holidays – decorating, baking gingerbread houses, crafting, etc.  Things were a little different in 2011, as we were blessed with the celebration of my in-laws 50^th wedding anniversary over Thanksgiving and my Etsy store had its best year ever.  Thank you!

So needless to say, I just did not have time to do all decorating and blogging like I have done in the past.  Rather than dwell on all the things I could not get done and go on and on about how crazy my life has been over the past two months, I decided to celebrate the season and invite you into my home just as it is!  So welcome to my home for the holidays!

I kept the decorating simple this year with fresh greens and the white color palette I have used previously.

We added an extra stocking on the mantel this year for our new puppy, Abby.

She was determined to be in the picture of the family room shown below.

The living room was also awash in fresh greens – my favorite being the garland draped on the clock.

I hope you enjoyed the abbreviated tour of my house.  Thank you for taking the time to visit!  I wish for you and your loved ones a blessed Christmas and joyous holiday!

The Details - Living Room Redo

Thank you all for the wonderful comments on my recently revealed living room redo. I received lots of great questions and decided instead of individual responses I would share the answers with everyone.

Pillow Fabric
The red and white pillow fabric is from Calico Corners and can be found here. It is called Stockholm and is available in several colors. I loved the bold print and Scandinavian feel – the look I was going for in this room.

Curtains
The curtains are also made from Calico Corners fabric. I choose an off-white linen called Jefferson Antique White which can be found here. They are lined with an off-white lining but are not interlined.

The curtains are simple, rectangular panels with drapery pins inserted across the top and hung from rings.

Mirror
The mirror is a floor sample from Ethan Allen.

It was slightly damaged and was a great price. As far as I know it is no longer available.


Paint
It only took one weekend to paint the entire space – of course having a great crew helps! As you see the walls started off red.

To cover up the dark color we used one coat of dry wall primer (a recommendation from the paint store) and two coats of SW Aria Ivory.

Rosmaling Plate and Sewing Box
Both of these painted pieces belonged to my grandmother and are two of my most prized possessions. I am half Norwegian and as such, enjoy having a reminder of my heritage in my home. Both items were created by Enid Grindland – Vesterheim Museum gold medal winner. You can see more of Enid’s work here.

Rosmaling is a style of decorative painting developed in Norway during the 18th and early 19th centuries. Rosmaling literally means "rose painting". This type of painting first appeared on small objects like plates and chests. Later it was used to decorate furniture and eventually the walls and ceilings of homes and even churches. (information from here) There are several different methods of Rosmaling and my plate and sewing box are two distinctive styles.

Marble Top Table
This quirky little table came from the same store as the lamp and orange chairs (in my dining room).

It looks a little French and as if it was made from two different tables. I bought it for its size and uniqueness – of course the marble top table won me over too!

Sofa and Chairs
The sofa and chair set was given to us by my husband’s family. I refinished the frames and then had all three pieces reupholstered. If anyone knows the correct name for this type of furniture I would love to know as I have never been able to find out.

The reason one chair is tan and the sofa and other chair are blue is because this is what the upholsterer told me was “normal” for this type of set. Fifteen years later, I am not so sure this is true, and wish both chairs were done in the same fabric.

So that is the story on my living room. I hope I covered all of your questions. If I forgot to answer yours or you want additional information on something, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I am always happy to help!

Living Room Finished!

I am happy to say my living room redo is finished! (Well at least as finished as it is going to be for a little while! Things tend to change quickly around here so I don’t want to make any promises.) The final pieces of the puzzle – curtains and a lamp – have been added and I could not be more pleased with the result. Here is a look back at what the room looked liked before.

Here is what the room looks like today.

I finally found time a few weekends ago to finish the curtains. For new followers, these are the second set of curtains I have made for this room over the past several months. (You can read about what happened to the first set here.) The fabric had been sitting in a closet for several weeks and I had been going back and forth as to how exactly I wanted to make them.

I thought about making a scalloped edge, adding some sort of decorative trim or even sewing a stripe of colored linen to the top. In the end, I continued with the “simple is better” theme of this room and decided on plain panels.

The lamp is from the same shop as my recently acquired orange chairs. It looks like stone – although I think it is resin – has a gray metal shade, and is a much better fit than the previous brass lamp which used to occupy this space.

The best part to me about this room makeover is it was more about taking things away rather than adding them. The room is lighter, brighter and just all around more representative of the current décor in my house.

Linking up with

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Remodelaholic Anonymous at Remodelaholic

Saturday Night Special at Funky Junk Interiors

Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming

Note: I have not forgotten about the promised “How to sew curtains with lining” tutorial. I am almost finished with the writing and should have it up soon.

Simple is Better

This coffee table is not my first choice for my living room. In all honesty it is not my second, third or even fourth choice. It is however, what I have at the moment so I have decided to make the best of it.

You may remember this picture which was taken right after we repainted our living room.

Although the space looked considerably lighter, I received many comments about the table appearing dark. I totally agreed.

Since replacing the table with something new is not an option right now and I couldn’t bring myself to paint perfectly good cherry wood I settled on adding a new piece of fabric to the display drawer.

I kept the contents simple – three white ironstone dishes – and used a piece of vintage French feedsack cloth for the inside.

I guess simple really is better!

Where are the Gray Silk Curtains?

Just a short post today, to finally reveal where the gray silk curtains have ended up (drum roll) - the dining room!

As soon as I hung them I knew I had found the perfect place.

The gray color complimented the blue and white of the rug and the silk was right at home in this slightly formal space. It truly was love at first sight!

In all honesty, I have been delaying this reveal because some of you had left such nice comments about the yellow checked curtains that I felt a little guilty taking them down.

Truth be told, the yellow checked curtains were one of my very first attempts at sewing panels – over 10 years ago - and the lining was not done correctly. (Not that you could really ever tell.)

So the gray curtains will stay in the dining room and I am now left with making eight more panels for the living room. What will I choose this time? I will let you know soon!