The Dining Room

I've eaten in my dining room, maybe, three times since moving in over a month ago. I feel like I've been awkwardly avoiding the room, like an unappreciated but necessary roommate.

Until this weekend, the dining room has been basically used as a.) a passageway to the kitchen, b.) a storage place for my sewing equipment and c.) a last full-length mirror checkpoint before leaving the house.

I usually eat out in the fresh air or on the couch while "studying" (ie. watching Netflix), so I've been torn on how to use this space.

I was tempted to turn it into an office/library, but I figure every home needs a table. Every woman (or dude) with a sewing machine also needs a table. And, I can't expect my house guests to all be "couch eaters". (But, if you are... welcome!)

Besides, my younger sister had so generously donated to me an entire free dining set. So, dining room it is!

New addition to the blog: Unrequested cat photobombs with every pic!

I'm not gonna lie, and it's no family secret, that this set has seen better days. It was my brother-in-law's childhood eating place. It saw my sister through her newlywed years, motherhood, and even survived a most unusual fire. (Yes, fire! A strange freak accident involving sunlight and a perfectly/poorly-placed mirror.)

It's not something I'd pick out for myself at the store... but the best DIY projects usually aren't. It's sturdy, solid, and without the leaf, transforms into a perfectly compact round table that's just the right fit.

Now, what do I do with it?! Pinterest plus my imagination had a billion ideas and it took me forever to settle on just one.

First, I had planned to paint the top black, the legs white, and then do the chairs in a bolder hue that would compliment the Disney wall.

But, the white base ended up looking way too stark against my white walls.

Enter, Home Decor's Wood Tint product in walnut. I had bought this out of curiosity and figured I could use it as back up, since I wasn't really sure what I wanted out of this project. Good thing I did, because I ended up loving the results!

Wood Tint is designed to work right on top of chalk paint. This is a miracle product for lazies like me who are vehemently opposed to stripping and sanding before refinishing. Since, I didn't like the result of the white and black chalk paint combo, I simply brushed the Wood Tint right over top of the dried paint and the brush strokes gave it a pretty realistic look of stained wood grain.

I also painted a layer of it on top of the black table top to give more depth to the flat chalky look. Sealed with a clear coat, for protection, and voila! All on one work night. No sanding or stripping required!

My arsenal.

Now what about those chairs?!  It took me almost another week to finally decide on a color.

I wanted something that was fun, but not too juvenile. Something that matched the artwork, but didn't clash with the exposed living room's palette. I settled on either an apple or olive green. (Krylon's "Ivy Leaf" being the final winner.)

Although, I love the ease of chalk paint, I let Pinterest persuade me into thinking that chairs are easier sprayed than brushed.

Fume management 101: If it's a must, at least try to be cute about it.

I hate spray paint (if graffiti's not involved) but fell victim to viral peer pressure. I hate the smell. I hate the mess. And, I especially hate this:

The spray paint "tent".

Apparently, one of my neighbor agrees with me on this, because two chairs in, I received a note on my front door inquiring about the smell. I ended up having to finish the job at my parent's house. Chalk paint wouldn't have done this to me! 

Spray paint tips: 1.) Invest a few dollars in the nozzle. It made spraying so much easier
and I didn't end up with "spray paint fingers". 2.) Remove the cat. 3.) If you don't have a
well-ventilated workspace (or even if you think you do!) spray outdoors. Your neighbors
will thank you. 4.) Chair-painting goes alot smoother working from the legs up. "But paint drips
downward!" Trust me. I did two each way and the Pinterest bloggers are right!

I can still taste the fumes today. Slightly helping me out with neighborly relations is the cinnamon candle I've left endlessly burning right next to the shared wall.

But, in the end... Lookee here!

I really do love how it finally came together!

My favorite thing about this room: Still the Disney wall. But, also the other this 'n thats I found to go with it that make me nostalgic for childhood vacations. And, the chair color still has me swooning! (Or, it may just be the fumes.)

What this room will be used for: Hopefully, not just this.

What I'd still like to do with this space: I'm on the lookout for a long dresser or other such object I can pretend is a buffet, but will secretly be hiding all my sewing stuff. The little left-over dresser pictured below just ain't cuttin' it!

Designing From Afar

If you've been keeping up with this blog, you may have come to wonder how it is that I've been home shopping with accuracy, when most of my belongings have been in storage for a year now. And, how on earth I've managed to be designing for a piece of real estate in which I don't yet have the keys?!

Two words: Pinterest and Fotor.

If you're not familiar with the website, Pinterest, get off your lazy keister and check it out. (Actually, you'd be perfectly safe attempting this while staying on your lazy keister. As a matter of fact, some might argue that your keister will become even lazier once discovering the site... but, I digress.)

Pinterest is a photo-sharing site in which you can develop virtual inspiration boards about anything your little heart desires. It's usually used for sharing hilarious memes, inspirational quotes, pop culture references, fashion ideas, recipes and the like.

But, I've also found it handy for piecing together home decor ideas as I was leading up to my home purchase. 

I created a private board to save every piece of artwork, furniture and DIY idea I thought I might be interested in purchasing or using because---let's face it---if I don't pin it now, I'm never going to remember where I saw it later!

Then, comes in my favorite photo app, Fotor. (You can use any app of your choosing that has a collage feature.)

I had already uploaded pictures of my existing furniture, artwork and recently acquired goods. I then grouped these pictures into a separate collage for each room that I'm working on.

I've always designed any room that I'm decorating around the artwork. If you have art pieces that you love and you place them into a room you want to spend time in, you already have a built-in color palette! This simplifies matters significantly and this method has never done me wrong.

I'm moving into a mid-century building. So, I was excited at the chance to mix some modern and pop art into my existing collection of vintage advertising, Norman Rockwell and Edward Hopper pieces.

Next, I made a collage of the existing prints that I already own and slid in images of pieces that I might want to add to my collection. Seeing them grouped together in one place gave me the opportunity to slide them back out if it turned out a piece clashed with my working color story. (Which means, sorry to Banksy's "Yankee Stadium Tiger". You just didn't fit!) Planning ahead in this way is priceless in the form of not having to make returns on regretted purchases.

From there, I ordered what I needed and had a completed collage for that room. (Above, is the collection of what will be my living room art.)

Now that I have my color story, I can start adding in pictures of furniture pieces, before purchasing, to make sure the picture in my head makes sense in real life.

This is also handy in having one place to hold up carpet and paint samples to before making huge and regretful purchases.

Well, that's how I'm pulling things off! I'm not the type to want to sit around with an empty floor plan and bare walls on move-in day, so I think I'm off to a healthy start.

I'm sure I have boxes of extra artwork in my storage unit that I've forgotten to include, but I haven't even started on the bedroom or kitchen yet, so they'll find their place.

The countdown now stands at 3 weeks and 6 days. I'm sure you'll be hearing from me again soon!

The First Offer

I found a place that's perfect for me!  It's in a wonderful location! With a great layout! What a view! And, lots of closet space! (Just shhh about the grotesquely stained carpet, water rot in the kitchen and windows that aren't quite up to code...) It's perfect!

Now it's time---for the first time in my life---to make an offer on a piece of real estate that could actually be mine ALL MINE!

How do I bid on a property? I dunno. Apparently, it first involves two full days of phone and email tag with my realtor followed by lots of waiting and waiting and stomach-aching and waiting.

In the meantime, I'm crunching numbers trying to come up with an offer that works within my budget, isn't insulting, but is realistic to the property's worth and also mourning the impending loss of my savings account.

Yes, after years of saving up for this very moment, my mind can't help but wander to the place of "other things I could have done with this money instead of spending most of it in one big chunk":

• Gone to Disney World, like, a dozen times.
• Visited the emergency room more than a dozen times.
• Added 100+ pairs of leather boots to my collection.
• Purchased over a thousand large pizzas without a coupon.

But, forget all of that.  Because, I'm wasting even more of my thoughts on decorating the place that I'm still waiting to bid on.

Hello Pinterest!

I need this:

...and this:

...one of these:

...a chalkboard wall in the kitchen:

...a barn door for the hallway:

...for the bathroom:

...and, of course, one of these, please!

Or, maybe I just need my realtor to get me that paperwork. Stat!

P.S. Pinterest is funny.