Made a start - need your opinion!

Well, I've made a start on my dining room re-do! Remember the Inspiration board Susan did for me . . .

and remember my dining room . . . .

The first thing I wanted to do was repaint the black buffet and put it back on the other wall (where the picture is). I ordered some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (which seems to be all the rage in blogland right now) and is perfect for me, because it requires no sanding or priming! Color is Old White.  The lovely Debbie from DebbieDoos answered a ton of my questions on how to paint this and more importantly how to wax. Thanks Debbie, I couldn't av done it without ya ;-) So here is the buffet now . . . .

and here it is against the actual wall it will stay on . . .

My original thought was to leave the top black, so it stands out more against the cream wall. But I'm not totally convinced. This is where you can help - would you paint the top to match the rest, or leave it black? Here's a better picture of the top  . . . 

Other things for the room include:

Chandelier - ordered, on back order

Chair slip covers - ordered, being shipped this week

Curtains - need to get a curtain pole first then try curtains I already have from Ikea and buy some faux silk ones from Target to try. I'll be asking your opinions again when I get them ;-)

Orchid - bought from Target (you can see it on the buffet)

Mirror - still looking for one

Bench - not getting one yet, but will keep my eye out for something at a yard sale that I can re-do!

Lamp - using one I have, and will add burlap to the shade this week

Picture - swapped the one I had, for one that was in my bedroom, darker shade so it stands out more on the wall.

Tray - using one I have, just not sure what to put on it yet!

Burlap runner - yes, got this one from Etsy.com - love it.

Rug - not yet, I'd prefer to get one when I get wood floors (one day!)

Here's the before again . . .

and here's the after . . . .

It was hard getting pictures today because the sun was streaming through the blinds. I'll be taking more photos as I finish off the room.  Do let me know what you think about the buffet. . . black top, or cream?

Oh, and I forgot to mention, I managed to get those ugly handles off the buffet so I'll be going to look for new ones tomorrow!

Linking up with  Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday.

Change can be good. . .

I mentioned in my last post (the one before last actually) that I didn’t really like change. That is usually when I’m trying to do something that I’ve never done before or that is different from how I’m doing something now. I do like change when it comes to decorating ;-) or moving things around and ‘using what I’ve got’ (as my latest mantra seems to be).

You all know it’s hot here in TX, it’s all I seem to write about. . . the heat, oh the heat – at this time of year it’s no fun at all. When we start to get warm weather here in the spring there’s nothing we like more than sitting out on the front porch (often with our neighbors) watching the kids play. I posted about my front porch earlier in the year, you can read it again HERE.

This is how it looked back then, notice my lovely fresh summer flowers! As pretty as it looked I must confess those wrought iron chairs really aren’t comfortable at all. Not to mention there’s only two of them so when the neighbors came over we had to get out the folding camping chairs (or they even brought there own).

So, I had an idea a couple of weeks ago! Even though it’s still hot, the evenings are starting to be bearable and with a nice breeze I can manage to sit out front for a while, especially as the kids are starting to play out again. But seating wasn’t comfortable so I decided to do something about it. My idea was to take our ‘comfy’ seating from the back patio and move it to the front porch.

This is the furniture I bought from Target last year ready for my sister coming to visit. We sat out the back a lot during her visit, but as soon as she went home we just never went out there (again because it was just too hot, especially in the afternoons and evenings when the sun was setting)

Here is all that furniture now sitting on the front porch. I moved it all myself last weekend while Jason was working! It’s a slightly different L shape, but it fits. . . . and it’s VERY comfortable :-)

And here’s a couple more views. . . .

I love sitting out here now, and it will only get better as the days cool down and the evenings get even cooler. I can still see us sitting here (so long as it’s dry) for the rest of the year. I will probably bring a throw (or two) out here in the Fall.

As for the back patio? Well I moved the table and chairs under the porch area again, so we still have seating if we want to go out there.

This gets a lot of shade in the mornings and it’s nice to take my coffee out here. The flower beds need some clearing up though, but guess what . . . it’s TOO HOT to do it right now! So that can wait til Fall too.

I really like the changes I made, I hope you enjoyed sharing them with me.

I’m linking up with Met Monday today over at Susan’s Blog. Check out all the other participants and see what changes they’ve been making ;-)

Denise

This and that.... and a little project. . . .

Wow, is it Friday already? And I haven't posted since Tuesday? We haven't been up to much this week which is why I haven't posted. What is there to post about when you spend most of your days each week doing the same thing.... laundry, grocery shopping, trips to the pool, piano lesson, more laundry! Some days I just can't think of what to write about, so I spend my computer time visiting other blogs and surfing sites I'm interested in.

Right now I'm very interested in 'frugal' blogs :-) Jason and I have started reading through the Dave Ramsey 'Total Money Makeover' book. I actually sit and read out loud to Jason, something I've never EVER done! It helps (as the book says) for both spouses to be on the same page and want the same thing when it comes to start seriously planning your finances. We are very blessed and have always been able to pay our bills and have money left over for spending, but because of that we have never really sat down and planned a budget together. As I said before we have just bought what we want when we want, whether we had the money for it or not. If we didn't have quite enough money we would just put it on the credit card and pay it off over the next couple of months. We hope to change all that pretty soon :-)

One great blog I found this week is LifeasMom.com, and today is 'Frugal Friday' I'm not participating this week (I may do later, if I have anything 'frugal' worth sharing!) but I'm enjoying visiting all the links from other bloggers that are taking steps to save and spend money more wisely.

So, changing the subject somewhat this week I've been busy finishing off a project I started a couple of weeks ago - a while ago I shared photos of our game room which I'd just finished off (sort of, I'm still wanting to add pictures to the walls and paint a little bit more at the top of the stairs) remember this picture? . . . .

actually, I have so many new readers that many of you may not have seen this post (hmm? perhaps I should do 'recaps' sometime soon and show you my 'rooms', just a thought for future posts). Anyway, see the table there with the two chairs, that is my old kitchen table that was downstairs before I got a new one. We've had it since we got married, it's over 13 yrs old, and you can see I painted the top black because the wood was starting to look pretty worn. Here's a close up . . .


It was ok for a while, but I recently got the idea to paint it cream, then add a glaze to it to get a worn 'brown' look to it. I painted it a 'milk white' then with a sponge brush applied a glaze (Valspar Mocha) and wiped it off with a cloth. This is what I ended up with. . . .

It still needs to have a finish on it, a blogger friend recently told me what she used .. Minwax finishing paste wax, so I might do this too. For now I've put the table back where I had it . . .

and I'm rather pleased with how it looks :-)

but if I'm truly honest, the reason I redid the table is because I want to move it back downstairs!!! Jason thinks I'm crazy. Down stairs I have a new table and chairs but it's a 'bar height' set, and I just don't like always sitting so high when I'm eating dinner. I want to have my feet back on the ground! I'm thinking the bar height table and chairs might look just as good where this one is and work well as a game/chess table when we are hanging out in the game room? I'll let you know if/when I change things around.

Linking to Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
and Transformation Thursday over at The Shabby Chick Cottage

What are your plans. . . .

I've linked this post up to The Nester's Tassel Party today April 22nd. If you're visiting from the link I left over there welcome and thanks for coming to visit. Feel free to leave a comment on this post (I get new emails when you do) so I will know you've been by even if it's an older post and would love to return your visit. I bought Nester's Tassel Book and love it... these are a few of the tassels I've made so far.


. . . . for Easter this year? How do you celebrate? Do you have Easter traditions, have the family over for dinner, bake a ham, have an egg hunt for the kids? I thought Easter was 2 weeks away, then I realized I was thinking that last Monday and here we are at the beginning of another week and Easter is actually this week! Boy, I need to get a move on and get some planning done - I haven't even bought a ham! Traditionally (at least for the past few years since we moved to TX) my mom-in-law and I have taken turns to make our 'traditional' Easter feast of baked ham, potatoes, veg etc. They come over after church (or we go to their house) and spend the afternoon together. This year I will be doing the cooking, which I always love to do.

I don't have many Spring or Easter decorations but I've already started setting the table with what I do have (I'll share pics on Thursday) and after buying a few ribbons last week I made this . . . .

Isn't he cute. I've been wanting to make more tassels after my first attempt a few weeks ago (which I posted about HERE) . This time I took the next step in tassel making and used ribbons and 'filler' too. I was rather pleased with how he turned out.

The problem with buying tassel supplies right now though is it's hard to find things to use that are already 'hanging' or that have a place to hopefully drill a hole so you can hang them. I think the best time will be Christmas when all the ornaments will be on sale again.

I found this nativity ornament at Goodwill last week(99c!) and thought I'd try to make a tassel with it.

It turned out just ok to me, I'm not totally happy with it, but it's hard to re-do tassels once you've hot glued everything, this will still look nice around the holidays I think. Then I made another ribbon tassel using a cross I bought in Hobby Lobby. . . .

I like the brown and pink ribbons on this, but not sure that I'll keep it as I don't really have that color scheme anywhere in the house.

So, it's back to house cleaning for me this week, planning for Easter, and perhaps a visit from the Easter Bunny too!

I'm linking to Met Monday at Susan's blog Between Naps on the Porch. Hop on over and visit some other great participants.

Met Monday

I thought I'd share something from my knitting blog that I posted a couple of weeks ago and link up to Susan's 'Met Monday' :-)

I transformed this. . . . . .


in to this. . . . . .

and it only took me two weeks! Unlike this. . . .

that I transformed in to this. . . . . .

which took me 18 months! And I still have to put buttons on it! If you didn't already know, I love knitting. Hop on over to my 'Knitting Den' if you want to see other stuff that's come off my needles recently ;-) And hop on over to Susan's blog to see lots of great 'befores and afters'.

The weekend sure did fly by. I went out yard-saling on Saturday morning but was very disappointed. I only spent $5, bought a Jenga game for Kristen, a two-tiered wall basket that I've already spray painted black, but forgot to take a before picture of, a Christmasy mug for me and a necklace! When I got home Jason was already in the garage (9.30am) clearing up. We're trying to do a little each week, especially when it's not too hot. This weekend was the perfect weather for it. While Jason was cleaning I got the mower out and did the front lawn, then edged it then got the blower out and cleared the paths of grass. By the time I was finished my arm was aching! The muscle in it is still sore today.

Kristen slept over at Emily's house on Saturday night so Jason and I watched a couple of movies together, Wolverine and He's Just Not That In To You (which wasn't as funny as I thought it would be, but I enjoyed Wolverine).

My inlaws came over yesterday and we had a nice visit together. I made chili and corn bread and had bread and oil, queso and chips and hummus and veggies for snacks.

So, today, need to get on with laundry and housework and start making lists of things to do for the upcoming holiday season :-) I feel like I'm behind on things already - it's October already!!!