Dining room pics

Thanks to the help of friends and family, the "new" dining room set arrived safely yesterday afternoon.  Since then, I've been gawking at it almost constantly; it looks so pretty!  It's the perfect size for the room, and just looks like it belongs there.  New furniture is so fun!

Isn't it beautiful??  :)  All we need to do is buy some curtains, hang a few more pictures, and we'll be set.  The paneling, ceiling tiles, and laminate floor aren't slated for removal for a few more years, but at least the room will look decent now.

Sure beats the heck out of this:

I'm guessing that picture was taken about 2 years ago...  We've since painted the paneling and moved all the living room crap out of there (obviously).  It's far from perfect, but a little paint helped a whole lot, I think.  When we repaint the dining room "for keeps", I would like a darker tan for the walls, since it looks a little washed out compared to the rich gold in the living room.  Still, I don't hate it now, and I won't be embarassed to have company over!

"New" furniture!

Or, in which our house starts to look grown-up at last. 

Shayne and I will be picking up our "new" dining room set tomorrow afternoon.  Here are the pics that were posted in the craigslist ad:

The picture of the buffet is closest to showing the true colors, at least on my screen.  Both pieces are quartersawn oak veneer, with little bowtie insets.  And, there's a matching leaf, which expands the table to seat 8.  It was owned by the seller's grandma, who passed away recently, and has been very well cared for.  There's one spot on the top, about the size of a silver dollar, and a little chip in the veneer on the edge.  Stickly, it ain't, but it's a beautiful set, and an absolute steal at $500.  We told the seller we'd take it after looking at it for about 30 seconds...!  Maybe someday we'll move up to an heirloom quality piece, but if that never happens, I'm more than okay with what we're getting.

On the way home, I was thinking about how very few pieces of new furniture we own.  Not all of them are antiques, but there are very few that weren't at least secondhand.  All of the pieces we bought new, we plan on getting rid of within the next few years; they're things we bought before we were even married.  Everything we've bought since moving to the Prairie Box has been good quality antique furniture, except for the futon frame, which at least is nice, solid, wood.  We decorate with new stuff, but it seems like all our furniture is old.  It makes for a nice, eclectic mix, I think, and complements the house without making it look like a museum.

I'm so happy with the way things are coming together...  :)

Molasses in January

That old saying is a pretty accurate description of the speed of my home renovation work...  I did, however, buy a frame for the vintage look poster for Sleeping Bear Dunes that my mom bought me for my birthday.  Shayne and I are planning on hanging it when I get home from work.  Pictures to follow...

We're also going to look at a mission style dining room set I found on craigslist.  That's not til Sunday, but I'm almost positive we're going to buy it.  It lookes perfect in the pictures, and the price is very, very reasonable.  I already found a new home for our current dining room table, too, so it won't be sitting around taking up space that we don't have.  Joy!

I've really been concentrating more on furnishing than on renovating.  I'm sick of the entire house looking like a war zone or college dorm, just because we're renovating a few rooms.  My mom generously "offered" to help paint the kitchen (she owes me some house work, since I helped refinish her kitchen cabinets), so as soon as I can decide on a color and find some low-VOC paint, we'll be off and running with that little project as well.  Once that's done, we'll add some baseboard and door trim in there too, to replace the faux wood the PPOs installed.

The framing upstairs still hasn't happened.  We are now the proud owners of a brand new Skil miter saw, though.  Maybe eventually we'll even use it!

The neglectful blogger

Yes, yes, I'm still alive.  And still procrastinating.  Some things never change.

I've been concentrating a little more on getting the dining room to look like a dining room and not a college student's first apartment.  For example, there are now a few items on the walls.  And an old wood and metal "console" table that I had hiding in the basement is now holding a few decorative items.  And the Sauder faux-wood bookshelf is on its way to the basement.  Before too long, I also plan on having a new mission-style chandelier in there as well.  Maybe even a new dining set, if I can find on at a good price.  And a rug!

I just got sick of looking at it.  Compared to the living room, the dining room was just a train wreck.

Oh, and at the recommendation of my grandmother, I finally bought a plant for the living room.  It was supposed to be a fern, since "that's what everyone used to have in their living rooms," but I got a "spathiphyllum" (also known as a peace lily) instead.  I'll get a fern to go in the corner next to my rocking chair, I think.  Assuming I don't kill the peace lily, that is.  House plants and I don't always get along...