Redesigned chandelier shades

With the little upgrades to our living room, I didn't want the dining room to feel left out. 

Here's a before photo of our chandelier in the living room. 

The shades are black, and they look like this when lit. 

When they aren't lit, they look...well...pretty black. 

Recently, I received the latest Ballard Designs catalog, and I saw these seagrass chandelier shades: 

Cute, right? But a little pricey. I had recently purchased some rope for another upcoming project, and I had an idea. 

I'd just remake our shades!

So not exactly like the Ballard Designs ones, but I assure you they were much more affordable, and they definitely lighten the room, which was my goal.

And, if you peer into my living room again, you'll see a lamp from my in-laws with a seagrass shade.

So both rooms tie together a bit. 

Yay for an easy house project!

Dining Room: Take 2

For our anniversary this year, we redid our dining room. New table, new chairs, and then I redid the wall art. 

Well, the slip-covered chairs didn't fit our lifestyle very well. And by lifestyle, I mean this guy: 

Porter loved the fabric on the chairs so much that he couldn't keep his claws off of it! I continue to use the claw covers (see here), but as soon as one of the covers would fall off, he'd head straight for the chairs. The slipcovers just got picked to death!

The chairs underneath are perfectly fine, and they are now for sale! Check out my Craigslist page. 

But, we had to make a decision: Continue to purchase new slipcovers every few months, or just buy four new chairs to replace the fabric ones. I headed back to the same antique store where we bought our table and wooden chairs, and in the back of the store, he had four wooden chairs for an absurdly low price. I took their photo, sent it to Chris and left the store. I promptly returned and purchased them. 

They are a similar ladder-back design to the other two wooden chairs we already have. 

I like that they don't match our Head of the Table chairs exactly, but I think they complement each other nicely. 

New dining table: no fabric!

While I was finishing the dining table and chairs combo, I also decided that it was time to finish up that last empty frame on the wall. 

I used paint chips from Low's and the flower paper cutter from my tray project. I cut three flowers from the same color, and I positioned the three flower shapes on top of each other to make a full looking flower. 

It took a while to make, but I really like it!

A finished dining room. For real this time!

 

**Don't forget about Chris marathon page. Please help us raise money directly for St. Jude. Thanks!**

Dining room wall updated

I've been updating my dining room wall, filling in some of those empty wall spaces. 

This is a photo I took at our farm. Doesn't it look like some hidden secret liar?

I created this piece myself. I was inspired by a WestElm catalog that showed a similar work of "art" in one of their room scenes. I used a blue pencil and a black marker from my art box, and I traced various sizes of bowls from my cabinet. 

Here's my pea pod hung on the wall. 

I took this photo at our farm, and I really like the vibrant colors. 

This is also from the farm, and I turned it black and white when I printed it. 

So this is the updated wall. I'm pretty happy with it! You can see there's still one empty spot between the black and white road photo and the olive photo. 

I'm waiting for inspiration to hit me for that one. Suggestions? 

Saturday project

After my anniversary gift of  a new table and chairs, I knew the next step in our dining room was the walls. They were blank and boring

and the large mirror didn't make as much sense in its place anymore since the table was moved. 

So I contemplated ideas. And, I contemplated some more. And, then I decided I wanted it done. 

I used this as inspiration, from House Full of Pretty: 

I checked Hobby Lobby's web site, and they had all their frames half off this weekend! I ran to the store and purchased a ton of different sizes and styles of frames. Then I came home and hung them on my wall. Some of the frames I already knew what I would put in them, but others I still don't. I wanted them all hung on the wall so I could then live with them and decide what should go in each frame.

You may ask if I drew out the design I wanted before hanging them. No.

You may ask if I arranged them on a table or the floor to find the perfect shape. Nope. 

I hung them on the wall. And I got this:

I'm very happy with the way it turned out, and I have room to build on it over time. 

The mirror got a new home on the opposing wall, and it fits the space much better. 

The view from the front door. I think the dining space looks much more open and spacious. 

You can see that several of the frames still have their pretend image inside them. And, I got a few items that weren't and won't be framed artwork to mix it up a bit. You can see a C tile here. 

The green photo is a photo I took at an olive orchard in Austin with my BFFs Kathy and Anna. The sunset is a photo Chris took in Taos last year, and the wooden saint piece is a work of art from my mom from Santa Fe, and it depicts the saint for writers, journalists and editors, Saint Frances de Sales.

I'm leaving this wooden frame empty to help break up the textures. 

And, some of the frames are actually boxes. 

This is a piece of scrapbook paper that I found; really liked the print and colors; and covered the photo box filler with it. 

I'm really happy with how this project turned out, and I'm excited to fill in my frames. Stay tuned!

Furmination

No one has been terminated or begun their own country. I'm talking about The Furminator.

It's this amazing deshedding tool that we use on Grace and Porter. Porter is the best illustrative subject because he loves to be furminated.   

The Furminator brushes all the hair that would eventually fall on our floor and furniture and be picked up by our vacuum. 

All that hair is just from a few swipes through his coat. I love this thing!

In other Porter news, he's taken to our new dining room table and chairs.

 It's Porter approved!

**This is not a paid promotion for Furminator. I just love it!

Ode to old friends

So long old friend. 

You've been with us for six years, and you've held many an important person. 

But recently, you've given out a little, and that's okay. You're getting older. 

And, truth be told, you and your friends never really fit in well with our new house. I'm not saying it was a color issue but...

And, so while we're sad to see you go, we'll remember you like our friend Charlie did: "I've never seen a table foster so many long conversations." So true, my friend. 

As you and your friends are leaving to go live in the attic (except your truly broken brother who is out by the trash), please pass along some wisdom of the ages to the new folks.

We want to be sure they keep your memory alive and host lots of long conversations and delicious meals. 

We think they'll fit into the family nicely because it appears we found a long lost cousin of Coffee Table. They both seem to have similar features.

So here's to you, six-year-old dining room set from Sam's. May the attic treat you kindly, and may your replacements uphold your honor.