Lacy

Do you not adore the navy lace tablecloth?! Or is that a purple lace tablecloth? This is my favorite from the latest issue of Rue. I plan to copy immediately.  It’s almost the weekend! Let’s get drunk

via Rue

Another Day Another Light Fixture

For our anniversary, the Husband paid an electrician to install the new light fixture I got for our dining room. And I paid someone to give me a massage so the Husband doesn’t have to. Aren’t we a thoughtful couple?

We’ve been lightless since the bubble chandelier debacle a few months ago and I finally took Elizabeth’s advice and opted to add more natural texture to the space. It’s not absolutely perfect, but it was relatively cheap and does the trick. I’m the worst at photographing interiors so trust that this looks better in real life. And it gives off a romantic glow.

Click here to see the the bubble chandy and here to see the evolution of the dining room.

West Elm Abaca pendant

Winning Streak

This week has been really good to me. The Husband surprised me with this, my friend confirmed she’s moving back to town and I won the Young House Love giveaway! We also finally got around to hanging our mirror in the dining room and the man cave was cleared out for an upcoming project. It may or may not involve chalkboard paint and used new furniture. I think the animals are going to have to  pick up some paintbrushes and make themselves more useful this time around. The Husband’s patience with my painting projects is wearing thin.

Hang Mirror, Buy More Stuff: Check and Check

Last night we hung the mirror in the dining room. “We” meaning our neighbor’s son who we call on to do the stuff we can’t bear doing ourselves. That mirror is heavy and it needed to be earthquake-proofed. Sorry Husband, but I don’t trust you to earthquake-proof anything over 35 lbs. The space is coming together…slowly, but remember what it looked like before. I’m cringing.

Also, if you didn’t already know, I’m a hunter gatherer of  bar cart accessories. Remember when I fell in lust with this tortoise shell ice bucket and these blue tumblers? I found cheap alternatives with the same effect. Next on the list, a brass ice bucket.

(Pier One blue and tortoise tumblers)

(Yes, I like to stare at Brad Pitt’s aging face whilst eating)

Updated: Living and Dining Room Before & Afters

I kissed the old point-and-shoot goodbye and took some updated photos of our home with my new SLR camera. Granted I’m no photographer, but at least you get a clearer picture of what I’ve done to the place. I included some before shots of my living and dining room so you can see the hideousness I lived with prior to redoing our floors. I was a saint for putting up with the chipped marble and berber carpet for as long as I did. (The befores were taken as we were clearing house to prepare for the floor install. It was never that bare bones). Read more about these makeovers here, here, and here.

Home Sweet…

I wanted to wait until every room was to my liking before I posted any photos of my house, but that’s never going to happen. So I did some major cleaning this weekend and snapped some shots to give you a glimpse into our home.

Living room

Dining room

Office/Guest Room

Loft

I spared you images of the bathrooms, kitchen and master bedroom. Nothing interesting to look at. So there you have it. Our home. Judge away.

Dining Room: Before & After

The dining room isn’t finished yet, but it has come a long way since redoing our floors a few months ago. The new rug I ordered was delivered yesterday and it’s so much less depressing than the red one (see below). The big pieces are in place, but there’s a lot of styling left to do. As promised, here are a couple premature before and after photos.

(Before)

(After)

I switched out our old Ikea chairs with the lucite ones to make the room look bigger, painted the mirror, brought in a bar cart I found on Craigslist and replaced the rug. It’s almost pretty enough to start eating in.

Cocktail Hour

Things are finally starting to come together in the dining room. I got my lucite chairs, painted the mirror white and ordered a new rug, and last night, I scored another amazing Craigslist find: a bar cart. The piece is extremely sturdy and the chrome, glass and marble are exactly what I was looking for. The best part was the price. I was a savvy negotiater and brought the price down $65 so I paid a total of $130 for a gorgeous bar cart. I tapped danced home last night. Here are some photos of the bar cart (I threw some stuff on it for effect, but don’t plan on keeping it styled this way).  My rug should be coming next week and once I have that in place, I’ll be posting before and after pictures of my dining room. Stay tuned…

My Wants

I want to breakfast here…

And dine here…

I want to entertain here…

 and lounge here…

I want to cook here…

And sleep here…

Images via Decorati. Rooms designed by Brendan Kwinter-Schwartz.

Under 18 Not Allowed

It’s always a nice boost to your self esteem when your husband has to buy the spray paint because you don’t have the identification to prove you’re over 18. Home Depot really takes the war on drugs and graffiti seriously. After three trips, we were finally able to complete the mirror project.

Here’s a shot of the mirror pre-paint job. Extremely ominous right?

The first order of business was taping the mirror so I wouldn’t have to scrape any paint off later. Unlike my usually hasty self, I took my time and made sure every centimeter was covered.

And then onto the sanding. The lovely Husband decided it was in his best interest to stop watching and start helping at this point.

Three coats and 24 hours later, the final product. I can finally breathe easy.

There’s still much left to do in the dining room like hang the mirror and get a new rug, but I’m another step closer so I’m happy. And this particular project only cost about $15 dollars so the Husband is happy too.