A Tour of My Dining Room

While I'm still working away at my new job, it seems my time here is even more limited.

I'm rushing off again this morning, but before I do, I wanted to share pictures of my dining room with you.

I had it picture perfect right before Christmas.....and should've taken proper pictures then, but, I didn't. But here's one little snippet. Unfortunately there's a tablecloth on the table, but you can see those awesome chairs.

Right after Thanksgiving, I had placed my dining room set on Craigslist because I wanted to get a new one. The area I'm in now is weak for Craigslist, so I didn't receive any calls. In fact, I forgot I even put it on there.

So, having Christmas at my house this past year, I decided to deck out the dining room buffet style. I had everything in it's place, the table set, and all the decorations out.

It was definitely Christmas in the dining room!

Now fast forward to Christmas Eve. My family was all here. The table was all set. Everything was in it's place.

And then the phone rang.

Hello. I was wondering if there any chance you might still have that dining room set for sale.

(HUH??!!)

Umm, well, yes, I do.

Would you mind if I came to look at it. We are desperate to have something for Christmas dinner and we haven't been able to find anything. This looks perfect for us.

You mean today? You want to see it today?

Well yes, if I can. I want to be able to get it home and set it up for dinner.

Uhh, well, I guess you're in luck then cuz it's already set for Christmas dinner!

OMG, you're using it for your dinner?!!

Yes, I am.

I'm so sorry. I really need it though. Can I come and look at it?

(HUH?!)

I suppose. If you like it, do you need to take it away today?

(oh please God no, oh please God no...)

Unfortunately YES. Do you have something else you could use?

I suppose.

When would you like to come by?

Umm, I'm sitting down the road from your house!

Ma'am, my whole family is headed out to the mall to finsih our Christmas shopping. We were literally getting in the car when you called.

OMG, I'm sorry. Well, since I'm right here, can I just run over real quick?

I suppose.

FAST FORWARD 2 HOURS LATER!!

She's still at my house and has managed to work her way up into my home decor storage room to locate a few accessories for her new house. Which she did.

She claimed they lived only 20 minutes or so away and would go empty their truck and be back.

My husband, being aware that she had every intention of not letting us make it to the mall that day, suggested that he and my nephew load up our truck and follow them home.

Obviously, they jumped all over that.

So, they loaded up the table and chairs, and the rest of the family headed out to shop. It was already after 2 on Christmas Eve. And everything closed early of course.

Well...........

2 hours later I get a call from my husband saying that the couple lived about an HOUR away, and now he and my nephew were lost on their way back, out in country territory where they could see nothing  because it was getting dark, and there were no signs - and their GPS wouldn't pick up.

They were winging it "by feel".

After many wrong turns later, and a drive across the state line, they finally stumbled upon the way back home.

4 1/2 hours later!!

I'm sure he won't be offering to deliver anything again any time soon.

So now the shopping is all done and we all head back home.

UH OH. We need a table to eat on.

My mom said, "Surely you've got a spare table in your garage".

A "spare" table mom?

Ok, so she's right.

 I did have a spare table in my garage! And chairs too!

A coincidental backup plan. :)

Now we had to go dig it out!

And find the chairs!

And so we did.

I tell you all that, to tell you simply this.......

Here is my finished dining room:

(I just felt I need to explain why the table isn't painted. :)

That's because I was forced to use a table I wasn't planning to use, but now I've decided to keep and paint.)

The current table is a trestle table I picked up at a yard sale for $75 several years back.

For now, I just put my old runner on it.......................

BUT.......I'm going to paint the top in a black and cream large harlequin pattern and paint the base barn red with gold gilding............eventually.

"Eventually", meaning, AFTER I pull it back out of storage in a few months!

That's right, I'm packing my house away - AGAIN!

Moving - AGAIN!

More on that later................."later", meaning, when and if I find a new house near my new job.

Those extended stay hotels are looking better every single day. :)

Master Bedroom Makeover - sneak peak

Marianne over at Songbird has taken over the reigns of the

Gitter Done Challenge

that Donna over at Funky Junk Interiors first initiated, so that's where the party will be from now on.

Oh Marianne, I wonder if you know what you've gotten yourself into! :)

Once again, I decided to take the challenge. I've discovered that the best way to get something completed is to make yourself accountable to somone - someone that has a deadline for you, that it.

Now understand, Gitter Done isn't for all those little quick updates and craft projects we whip out all the time. Nope, like the rules say, there's plenty of other parties for that.

Gitter Done is special.

Gitter Done is all about finally checking projects off your list that you've been wanting to do for a long time but just haven't managed to yet for one reason or another.

Truth be told, it'll take me four years of Gitter Done to finally be finished with everything on my list.

Oi. (she says while wiping her brow....) 

We moved into this house one year ago today. Would you believe I still don't even have all the rooms decorated, and we're already looking at moving again? I know, I know.

At least once a week during all that time, I've told myself that I was going to get the master bedroom decorated. Never happened.

So, when Marianne resurrected Gitter Done on her blog I thought, 'OK, THIS TIME I'M GOING TO DO IT'. And I did. Whew!

However, I'm not quite entirely finished.

UPDATE Saturday Morning: It's taking a bit longer than I anticipated to finish all of the bedding - primarily because I changed my mind on what I wanted mid stream. I'll continue to work on it thru the day and try to have all the pics up by tonight.

So for now, I leave you with a sneak peak while I run up to the workroom to get all my pillows finished for the bed.

UPDATE Saturday Morning; I posted a few more sneak peak pictures. Pictures of the bed and bedding
will not be available until tonight.

*** BE SURE TO COME BACK SATURDAY EVENING TO SEE THE ENTIRE ROOM ***

Being a designer in the real world, I'm almost afraid to admit to these before pictures.

Unfortunately, they are indeed mine. No one ever sees the master bedroom but us, so I just kept putting it on the back burner. If any of my clients are reading this, please forgive me. I promise not to do this to your house. :)

Ready to see the raw, ugly truth that has been my bedroom for the last year?

Here it is.

And before you ask, YES, that IS a blanket hanging over my window. Hey, I had to keep the cold out somehow, and that window leaks air like dust in a wind storm.

I am so sorry you have to see this. It gets worse, as you'll see in the pictures.

Here is the vanity area.

 (The clothes everywhere is also a daily occurence in my daily bedroom life.)

BUT, NO MORE!

I can't believe I waited so long to do this bedroom. I'm loving it, and so is hubby.

Here's the AFTER of that same corner!

Here's several other pictures as I continue to make progress.

(I hang my head in shame as you look at this one....)

The coverlet is temporarily laid in place. It has finally become a duvet cover - but then I realized I didn't have an insert for it. No fear though - I won a $50 Home Goods gift certificate over at Funky Junk last week, so that's what I'll be buying with it when it arrives. (Ohh, lucky me! Thanks Donna!)

Can you believe I purchased mass produced drapery? Me - a drapery maker. Yes I did. And I like them. Even more surprising.

If you read my blog, you'll recognize this as the fabric I put out a plea for recently.
Sad to say, there is no more to be had -apparently anywhere in the universe - so this is all I was able to make from it.

Clean and simple.
The ceramic box holds my scented beads for my wave music machine. The jar of potpouri is flowers saved from my dad's casket. I've kept it on my beside since he passed.
The crystal is something a friend made for me to bring energy into the room. And the backscratcher is for hubby, so I have to keep it close for when he starts begging to be 'tickled'.

This area was our daily dumping ground.
I'm making an earnest effort to keep this clean from now on.

The runner is an antique mantle scarf that I have put in many sales over the years. Problem is, I kept pulling it back out! I loved the tatting along the edges, and I felt that surely I'd find a use for it someday in my own home. Glad to say I finally did. :)

I wanted to keep everything on top of the dresser usuable, so I kept the accessories to a minimum, and filled some of my favorite silver pieces with the items we use on a regular basis.
Useful accessories - can't beat 'em.

I found all of these items for the wall in a box in storage. I don't even remember owning any of it previously!

We are really enjoying the drapery pattern. It creates a very dramatic change in the room.

   Just the basics here. My goal afterall is to simply each room. I've edited all but what is necessary, and what is pretty.

Here's one of those pesky little details that have held me up on the bedding. I thought I would use this checked silk as is for my euro shams, but when I got the first one made, it was just too plain for me. So, I took it apart, quilted all three of them with interlining, and then ran a decorative stitch down every block. It added just the touch I was hoping for - but it took HOURS to do.

And then there's this. I had my duvet top all sewn together and thought I was pleased with it. When I layed it across my bed (in the pic above), it felt too white. So what did I do? I took it apart and dipped it in a coffee bath to get a small amount of aged color. I'm much happier with it now, but the staining process took up about another 8 hours.

I'm back to the workroom again. I'm determined to get the bedding finished today.

Guest Bath (still) in Progress

I took a little break from working on the guest bath,

but now it's time to get on it and get it finished.

I'm trying hard to decorate with ONLY what I can find in my own bag of tricks. So far I've been lucky, what with a garage FULL of vintage and accessory things, and a bonus room with wall to wall boxes of home stuff. (!)

Here's where I am at this point.

I've written on the pictures what I still need to finish,

but I'd like YOUR input on something.

I'm planning to put a basic white trim mold on the wall where the colors meet. I haven't come up with much else that's clever.

I'd like your suggestions on what I might add.

Keep in mind, this is not my forever house, and I don't want

to do things I'll have to redo when we move out.

And just in case you forgot what I started with.......... :)

I'd say that's an improvement, how 'bout you?