new {to me} chairs and bench

Remember when I posted about these chairs? I have LOVED the chairs since I first saw them in the PB catalog. They are beautiful, but definitely not in my price range...

Source: potterybarn.com via Mary Jo on Pinterest

Walmart makes a similar chair for much less, but they have a wood seat instead of the rush seat.


I have been keeping an eye out for something similar, as the chairs we used at our dining room table weren't working out very well for us right now. They are beautiful, with a green chippy painted finish, and belonged to my husband's grandmother, but they were so top-heavy that Grayson would turn them over a few times a week.


Last Friday I was walking through a local "antique" mall and came across these beauties for $9.95 each! It was love at first sight...until I counted them and found that there were only 3 for sale in the booth. We need 4 for our table. I almost cried right there but decided it wasn't my day to have these chairs.

**Please ignore the dirty garage floor in the background!**

The next day we were were over at a friend's house looking through books and other treasures that she was giving away. The couple is downsizing and had cleaned out their attic and pared down a lot of their furniture. Bill, the husband, asked me if I could use a bench. It was beautiful with wooden legs and a leather upholstered top with nail head trim. I am pretty sure birds started singing because I realized that I could use the bench at our table along with the 3 chairs that I found at the antique store! We threw it in the car and ran thanked them profusely and brought it right home.


I dropped the bench off, got right back in the car, and went to the "antique" mall, hoping that MY chairs were still there. They were and they were on sale for 15% off!


After spending a few naptimes spray painting the chairs black and one naptime making a slipcover for the bench, I have a totally new {to me} dining area!

We also hung wide plantation blinds in the windows today and I'm planning on making some curtains in the next few months. But, for now, I'm loving the new look of our dining area.


What do you think of those beautiful sunflowers on my table? I bought the whole bunch for $4.88 at Sam's today! Who says a girl can't buy herself flowers? I guess my husband technically bought them as I'm a stay-at-home mom and he's the one who brings home the cashmoney bacon.

Do you have any updates in mind for a room in your home? Is your style ever-evolving or do you make a choice and stick with it?

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A little something I've been working on...

I've been using every nap time for the last 4 days to work on a little transformation to our dining area. It has involves lots of spray paint, a drill, and sewing.  Here's a little peak at part of the work:

**I wonder why one leg was suddenly longer than the other when I took this picture? :)**

It also has a little something to do with the chairs that I posted about over on my Facebook page.  I'll be sure to show the whole space as soon as it's complete!

Another quick little note...I just found out that my Oak Leaf Pillow project will be featured on Knock Off Decor tonight at 8pm! Yay!! If you haven't checked out Beckie's blog, you must....it's awesome!

before & {happily ever} after...master bedroom

It's been a few months since I showed you a "before and after" of our home.    I've showed you the kitchen, the entry and hallway, now it's time to show you the master bedroom.

When we first saw this house, we had already seen a lot of wallpaper before we got to this room, but I hadn't seen the end of it!

{you can click on the pictures to make them larger}

There was a lot of Waverly floral wallpaper in this room and it took a lot of work to get it all down, but I think the after was totally worth it.

{you can click on the pictures to make them larger}

Here's how the room was transformed:

• Removed 2 layers of wallpaper 
• Had the walls re-textured as the original wallpaper was installed directly on the drywall.
• Removed popcorn ceiling and had it re-textured
• Painted all trim white
• Installed new doors
• Removed/replaced window treatments
• New paint
• Installed a ceiling fan (with light) - can you believe there were no overhead lights installed in any of the bedrooms?!
• Installed new carpet

The master bedroom is definitely still a work in progress and probably doesn't suit everyone's style, but it is perfect for us.  There are a few things that I want to change (including our bedding, when the next holiday rolls around!) but it's a relaxing room that doesn't have a speck of Waverly wallpaper left.

before & {happily ever} after...entry and hallway

Last Friday, I showed you the before and after of our kitchen.  There are still a few things that I'd change about our kitchen, but I love, love, LOVE how it looks now.

I said that the kitchen was one of the first things that we saw, but that's not entirely true.  Here was our view the moment our realtor opened the door...

 I loved the fireplace and the bookshelves that flank it on either side.  The spindles and sculptured carpet...not so much.  Here's what it looks like when you walk into our home today...

We took those spindles out - we actually opened that doorway into the playroom up about 6 extra feet - and replaced the carpet with laminate that is made to mimic hand-scraped hardwood.  There are still a few things on the "to do someday" list (like change out the fireplace door/insert), but I love it!

The hallway that leads to the bedrooms and bathrooms was another one of the first things that we saw.  Here's what it looked like in September 2010:

And what it looks like today...

Some of the frames area crooked (a 3-year old and a 90 pound dog running around will do that) and some of the frames are waiting to be filled (a Father's Day present for Scott is in the works for one of the frames), but I think that my work-in-progress gallery wall makes a long hallway a little more stylish.  Isn't it amazing what a little paint can do?!  Painting our dark oak trim white made a huge difference in our home!

Even though I was there for every step of the way, when I look at the "before" pictures, it's still hard to believe that it's the same house!

I'll be back with more before & {happily ever} afters of our home in the coming days!

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