Friday, February 8, 2013

Dining Room/Studio Update

Perfectly staged photos, these are not.  But the reality is that my life is a bit chaotic at the moment.  And I so want to share with you the excitement of how these rooms are progressing.  They are taking on new life, and I think it's good that we haven't "completed" all the changes at once.

First up, the chandelier...


...I went with "Kate Spade" green.

Actually, in the interest of full disclosure, I had Home Depot color match my Kate Spade sunglasses case in a sample size.  Home Depot sells a kit to help you make your own custom spray paint.  All you do is add a little of your own paint and some paint thinner to a glass bottle base, screw the included aerosol can on top, and you're ready to paint.  Sounds easy, right?

It wasn't.  This is the method we used to paint Baby Girl's Eiffel Tower lamp, and it worked well enough for that, but on our chandelier, it really didn't give the even coverage we wanted, even with a base coat of primer.

So, on to my back-up plan: Rust-Oleum Farm Equipment Paint in John Deere Green.  It just happens to match up dead on with my Kate Spade sunglasses case.  And it has a nice glossy finish...so it will hold up super well!

If you ask me in the future, my chandelier is Kate Spade green.  That was my inspiration, not tractors and combine harvesters and lawn mowers.  I have nothing against John Deere...obviously they have fantastic taste in color selection.  It's just down-right funny that I was going for this classic, sophisticated, clean green color...and ending up selecting John Deere green.  ;)



You may also notice that we (and by "we" I mean the Hubster) are in the midst of painting furniture.  First up was the tall bookcase, which I wanted to give a lacquered finish.  I was completely intrigued by Jenny @ Little Green Notebook's recent post on achieving a lacquer finish when painting furniture.  In the interest of being a little more "green" and keeping the VOCs in our house to a minimum, I had Home Depot color match Sherwin Williams' City Loft in their Glidden Porch & Floor Paint.  I was assured it would give us the glossy look I wanted to achieve with fewer VOCs.

I love the City Loft color, but it is not a glossy, lacquer finish.  And, if it's lower VOC, I really can't tell.  I should have just stuck to a tried and true oil-based paint for that true lacquer finish.  Plus, it shows brush strokes...which I was desperately trying to avoid.  So, word to the wise...when you're trying to follow someone else's example...it's probably a good idea to actually follow their example and not "tweak" it too much.



Next up, we have a new dining room table/desk!

I am super excited about this find.  I realize this photo is extremely backlit and blown-out, but this table is a fabulous estate sale find.  If West Elm's Terra Dining Table and this 1931 Jules Leleu Art Deco Dining Table had a baby, it would be my new table!



She is STURDY, she has two extension leaves, she is solid wood, she can easily seat 8 comfortably - 10 if we're squeezing in (thereby easing my fears that I would never again host holiday dinners), and at the end of the day, I still have my Granny's pedestal table in the breakfast nook (which also has 2 extension leaves if I ever need 2 big tables).


I'm even loving how my college-days-garage-sale-dining-turned-desk-chair looks with the table.  It echoes the art deco details and I'm thinking of painting it a fun color so it will pop.  I know, y'all are super shocked that I would add yet another paint project to my list the Hubster's list.


Close up of how the edges meet.  Probably should have picked a "prettier" corner, but then again, this table is 50+ years old...she has some worn edges but is heavy on the charm.

I am so thrilled with this find.  The table came with 6 Spanish style chairs, which were in excellent condition, but were not at all my taste.  I asked if the sellers would consider breaking up the set, but since it was the first day of the sale, they said no.  They did offer to take down my information and let me know if it didn't sell by the end of the 3rd day, though.  To my surprise, they called me on day 2 to let me know they had a buyer interested in the chairs only.  Not only was I able to purchase the table by itself, but I also got a 25% discount since the entire estate sale was marked down.  Ironically, this table ended up costing a mere $37 more than the Target desk it is replacing.  Such a treasure!

So the room switch continues.  I haven't made any new progress on the nursery since I've been so focused on making our shared living spaces look "done".  And while this week has really taken a lot out of me, things are getting put together slowly but surely.  The tortoise wins the race anyway, right? ;)

*****************************************************************************

Just a quick reminder - midnight Central time tonight is the deadline for the 31 Days to a Heart of Hospitality eBook Giveaway.  Winners will be chosen using Random.org and will be posted tomorrow.  Click here to enter now!

4 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thank you Sara!! I had such a hard time choosing, but I'm really glad I went with this green. AND we get our newly re-upholstered chair back tomorrow! I'm thinking it will work perfectly in here...can't wait to try it out!

      Delete
  2. I love that green, too. The table is fabulous and what a great deal.
    Ruth

    ReplyDelete