to dine or not to dine

I know, not the most creative or accurate post title, but there it is just the same.

So the number 1 email question I receive is, "Where are more photos of your house?" And we keep putting off posting pictures of "finished" rooms because they're not really finished. We don't have the money or the certitude to truly decorate, so I hesitate to show you what things look like until they're just perfect. 

So, as they will never be perfect, and as I love reading about the in-between stages of other DIY-homeowning-bloggers, here ya go:

Dining Room facing west before:

Dining Room facing south east before:

Dining Room facing north with our old table--my grandparents willed us their Ethan Allen table---we love everything about it except the formica top... But I just think it looked so good in this space:

Our dream table. I saw this first at Crate & Barrel years ago and ever since, I've been seen to fall across it and bestow a kiss or two. I can just imagine the 6 kids I want to create sitting around this table flinging scalloped potatoes at each other and yelling, "He's touching me!"

Same table, chair shot:

Close-up of the bea-u-tiful wood finish. Ahhhhhhh.

And here it is! Hawk's parents found these pieces on the cheaper side (I will never by anything other than a slightly damaged or floor model again!!) and gave them to us for Christmas! Both our mothers are so good at waiting for sales, talking down prices (Momma Shedd once did it was a car she already bought!), finding (not creating) scratches that bring the cost down, scouring Marshall's for sweet rug deals (Mom Hawk can't seem to go in there without an incredible, worthwhile find). Oh, and the dozen tulips were only $5 at the market.

Mom Hawk painted the ceiling and primed the room with extra sample paint in similar shades. I really wish I had a picture of it, because it actually looked like some old cottage in House Beautiful! She trimmed the windows in one coat, and then Hawk and I finished with 2 more trim coats and 3 coats on the walls. The base color is the same as the living room and the top color is one shade lighter on the swatch scale. Living Room & Bottom shade: Balanced Beige by Sherwin Williams, mixed at Home Depot into a Behr paint.  The Upper shade is also Sherwin Williams, mixed by Home Depot into a Behr paint: Realistic Beige.

So one more shot of the old:

And here's the current room in the daylight, which we think better reveals the actual color of the room.

We have a lot of plans for this room. I hope to post some of the inspiration photos and finds in the next week. We'll see if I follow through on that hope. If not, remind me, eh?

Here's one place we find a lot of inspiration--and we love the couple! 

icj,

~j & Hawk

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