Our Dining Room Today ...

Happy Thursday, friends!

In a past post, I shared our dining room and mentioned how we never eat dinner in here, and that we needed to change that.  Well, guess what (?!) ... we still have yet to change that!  Poor room.

I "did," however, change a few things ... 

like the paint color.  We had it painted Sherwin Williams' Perfect Greige before we moved in ... but then, recently, I decided to lighten it up and paint it Ben Moore's Manchester Tan like the rest of the rooms on our main floor.

Over on our buffet, which used to have more of a cream distressed look, I added a couple of coats of Ben Moore's White Dove.  I then painted the top, too (which had a mahogany stain) White Dove, as well, and then added a dry brush coat of an almond color.  

Our "once gold" mirror felt the wrath of my paint brush, too!

Admittedly, it's only a matter of time before our dark stained dining table top gets painted, too.  For now, an oversized wicker tray, filled with a few white pieces, is guarding it from my paint brush.

Another little project in here included adding picture frame molding below the chair rail ...

Maybe one of these days, I'll actually finish that project over on this side of the room. 

Hopefully, our little plate wall and mirrored buffet distract from my lazy, unfinished job!

A few months ago, I scored this cute corner buffet on Craigslist.

I love the chicken wire the seller added.  And, well, no surprise that I painted it Ben Moore's White Dove, as well.

The only other change I'd love to add in here is a different chandelier ... hmmm, maybe "then" we'll start eating in here!

Thanks so much for stopping by,

A New Arrangement for our Great Room ....

You know that saying ... one thing leads to another?  Well in this house (as I'm sure in many of yours), once I move one little thing, that leads to lots more destruction.

Latest victim ... our great room.  We've pretty much had the same arrangement since we moved in two years ago.  Soooo, yesterday, I thought I'd give it a new look.

  

Over here, where the sofa used to be, I moved these two chairs in from our dining room to frame the accent table ... extra seating never hurts!

I hope to have chair skirts made from the Berta Rupta fabric that I've just casually tossed on the chairs for now.

Blue and white accents seem to be taking over in here, too. 

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Our IKEA Ektorp chairs, which used to be to the right (in front of the bookshelves) now flank our fireplace.  I tried to create a cozy, little conversation area, setting them across from the sofa. 

Soon a bit of patriotism will make its way onto the mantel.  

For now, it's pretty simple with cute topiaries from IKEA and blue and white candle holders from And That.  

I did a little bit of rearranging over on the bookcases, too ...

Keeping with the blue and white theme, I brought in our "home" pillow (from Home Goods) for a crisp Summer look, pairing it with simple denim pillows (from IKEA).  Off in the distance is a little wall gallery that needs tweaking, and a floor lamp that needs a nice new coat of paint.

It's nice to not see the sofa not blocking the window for a bit!

Annnnd, speaking of our sofa ... to give the back of it a little visual interest, I slid this bench on over from our kitchen table.  Decorative books give it a little color and purpose if you want to take a seat and read a bit.  ;)

So, there it is ... a new arrangement.  It might last a day, a week or, who knows, maybe the next two years.

Thanks so much for stopping by,

I'm partying over at Savvy Southern Style/WUW

Our Sunroom Today ...

Happy Thursday, friends!

Can you believe it's already Memorial Day weekend ... hope you have nice plans in store.

Ya' know ... our little sunroom has seen too many arrangements to count in the short 2 1/2 years we've lived here.  I'm afraid it's always going to suffer from a permanent identity crisis. 

One thing that hasn't changed though is the fact that there's something about this space that sucks me in ... to either hop on my computer ... take a snooze ... or visit with family/friends.  These days, maybe it's the Ektorp chairs that we added in here that call my name (they used to be part of the 4 chair "configuration" in our front sitting room, but I broke them up ... oops).

Once I brought in the chairs, I then added the little accent chest (that I had moved back into the dining room after Christmas). I then replaced our beige/white checked curtains with these simple white ones. I know many will say it's way too much white, but, these days, I can't get enough of it ... it's calming.   At least our walls are painted Palladian Blue (for now) which gives a bit of contrast.

It's nice to pull out these cute footstools when you need extra seating OR you want to kick up your feet (which tends to happen a lot in here).

Nothing like faux roses from Home Goods to add a bit of *life* to the space, right? 

I also scooped up a few fun French prints from IKEA not too long ago ... they're a nice filler for these walls and were super inexpensive, too!

This coastal print has made its way around our house, now landing here.  It's nice to stare off into it, pretending we're near the ocean again ... if only it were real!

While I've changed the look in here time and time again, I have an idea (well, make that two!) for this space that will be a bit more permanent ... just have to talk my hubby into it. **Fingers crossed!**

As always, thanks so much for stopping by,

The Sun is Finally Out ...

Happy Monday!

I hope your weekend was wonderful!  After 15 days of rain, we finally welcomed the sun, and I couldn't be happier!  Sooo, I thought I'd just share a few snaps around the house with the sun shining!

I'm trying a new arrangement here in the great room and recently added a few blue and white pieces:

Our sunroom gets lots of sun in the morning ... blue skies in the background are a welcomed sight, for sure!  I have plans for this space once I either 1) master the tutorials I've watched and talk my husband into us "going for it!" orrrr 2) we hire someone to make my vision come to life!  We shall see ...

Our foyer doesn't have a "gray skies" overcast anymore, thank goodness!  I've played around with the vignette, adding a cute ceramic pineapple ... here to greet and "welcome" guests.

Nothing says Spring and sun like fake lavender, right?  If only I had a green thumb!

Our dining room also enjoys lots of morning sunshine ... I think if this room could smile this morning it would!  I've also recently added blue and white in here, as well.  There is just something so crisp about that color combo ... so *Spring-y* and refreshing!

While you're here, I "have" to share the beautiful gift from my husband that we got on Mother's Day ... this comfy Ektorp loveseat that we added here in our sitting room.  He sure knows the way to my "decorating heart!"  When we were having our days of rain this past week, I added this "happy" yellow pillow to help remind us of the sun!

I will say, though, that while we missed the sun tremendously, our grass and birds were thrilled to have it around for so long!  Now, I can finally plant some flowers and pay attention to the outside just a bit!

I hope it's beautiful where you are today!  

Thanks for stopping by!

A Softer Look in the Sitting Room ...

Good morning, friends!

When I last shared our sitting room, it looked like this ...

I loved the black and white curtains when I added them last Fall, but, since the warmer months are now upon us (yay!), I decided to soften the look in here just a bit by making a few changes.

The best news is that I didn't have to spend a dime!  We're all about "free decorating" around here!

First, I traded the black and white curtains for beige and white ones in the same pattern.  But, instead of having two panels like before, I decided to hang two more to add to the "softness."  I also added these pillows that were hiding in the storage room.

A faux floral bunch, lantern and orbs dress up our glass coffee table ... 

Of course, I had to add one of my favorite faux plants from IKEA ... they have the best selection that is super reasonable!

Over on our mantel, I gave our mirror a new look with a bit of leftover duck egg chalk paint.

I painted the lamp, too!  Yes, my paint brush got a little unexpected workout.

Soon, I'll give it a coastal look by bringing in more shells, birds and seagrass ...

Now, if I could just actually GO to the coast!  Time for a road trip!

Thanks for visiting!