Sunday, September 30, 2012

My Dining Room Revealed!

It's been a few months in the making,  I've shared lots of snippets along the way and my plans had a way of changing but, I am so pleased because our dining room is done!
 
 
 
 

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Things I'm Loving this Week...

Here are some things I am absolutely loving this week:


Silhouette Gallery Wall (I've started to collect some vintage silhouettes for a small gallery wall in the master bedroom and I love this classic display from Country Living Magazine.)

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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

My Autumn Coffee Table Styling

It's such a typical fall day in Massachusetts; chilly, breezy, and a little gloomy, so I thought I would take advantage of being inside and update my coffee table for autumn.
 
 

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

[My Project Notebook]

I always have a ton of decorating and DIY ideas floating around in my head.  Many of them end up in my project notebook that I keep in my nightstand.  I thought it would be fun if I shared some of my ideas with you all each week.

This week, even though I am working on unrelated projects, I keep dreaming about changes I want to make to my kitchen cabinets.  Here is what I am thinking:

1.  Using an existing cabinet as open shelving.

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Monday, September 24, 2012

Outside Autumn Decor

With my husband working our tag sale and my oldest resting inside with a head cold (my younger son wouldn't leave his side), I had the uninterrupted opportunity to add some fall touches to our outside spaces this past weekend.
 
Starting in my front yard:
 
This wooden primitive cat was a gift from my Mom last autumn.
 

 

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Dramatic Dining Room Hutch Transformation

I've been working on my dining room for a couple of months now and I'm finally seeing it all come together.  My plans for the room changed from my original thoughts that I wrote about here, but I am so in love with the space and all the elements that have been included.
 
One reason that things didn't go as planned was because we couldn't sell our large hutch.  We called every consignment store, estate buyer and listed it on craigslist, but there was just no interest. 
 
My husband originally wanted to use just the bottom piece in the room and store the large upper portion in the garage. 
 
I lived with it like this for awhile, but the scale of the furniture was all wrong in the room and it killed me to have the top of the hutch rotting away in our old garage.  Eventually, I convinced my husband to let me paint the piece and remove the doors for open shelving and I am so happy he agreed because this is what I came up with.
 
 

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Things I'm Loving this Week...

Here are some things I am absolutely loving this week:


Squirrel Salt & Pepper Shakers (Should this set ever be mega-discounted at Pottery Barn they are so mine!)

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Tuesday, September 18, 2012

{Frugal Fall} Entry & Tutorial

I really am a fan of autumn.  I've tucked in twigs, pumpkins and dried corn all around our home and our entryway is no exception.




Monday, September 17, 2012

Holy Chair Makeover!

Earlier in the summer I went to a tag sale at a local Catholic school that was closing. You can read all about it here. One of my finds that day was a really cushy and comfy chair that had previously been part of the dining set at the rectory.
 
It had mid tone brown wood and red velvet fabric all of which was not really my style, or in great condition, but I loved the lines.  I'm so sorry I don't have a before picture of this project.  I always try to add one because it just adds to the impact of the makeover and shows how you can transform an old worn item into something modern and beautiful.  However, my oldest accidentally deleted my before shot. So frustrating.
 
Anyway, I painted the chair a light silver gray and gave it a good coat of wax to protect it.  I actually did not do any distressing, which is unusual for me, but I really just liked the look of the solid colored wood with the busy fabric. 
 

 

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Autumn Art & Decor

With cooler weather beginning to be a reality here in Massachusetts, I have been more and more motivated to decorate my home for autumn. I love lots of natural elements like pumpkins, corn and twigs.
 
I recently updated my hearth with these favorites of mine.
 
 

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

The Versatile Bench

I had wanted to add some extra seating to the dining room to be used when we have guests.  The most natural place to add in a seat was with the secretary that I refinished here.  However, because I plan on mostly keeping the secretary open, I didn't want to go with a traditional chair.