Dining Table Envy

Red lacquered table and yellow chairs... hmmm...



MFAMB

What my heart truly desires or just another project for the list?

Dining Room Storage

Everyone ready for another entry into "Kai Does Not Know How to Photoshop"?  You would think I'd be too embarrassed to show you how much I suck at it, but since 80% of the suckage is due to the fact that I don't have enough time to write a blog post, much less design moodboards for them, so I'm okay with total strangers laughing at my complete lack of skills.

Let me introduce you to the dining room.

Forgive me for once again posting pictures from when we first moved into the place.  It's just easier to explain what I'm talking about without exposing my mismatched/half-finished dining room as a giant distraction.

I love our dining space - it's large enough for our table and some storage.  The problem is, I've been seesawing back and forth as to where that storage should go and what type of storage it should be.  Now that the table and rug are in place, storage is the last big item that I need to find.  So it's decision time.

With only one full wall, I've always envisioned putting the storage there.

Flanking bookshelves?

A credenza?

A whole wall of shelving?

Since this back wall is the first thing you see when you walk into my house, I want to make sure whatever I do there doesn't make the entire place feel smaller - which any large storage piece has the possibility of doing.  Something with mirrors would be nice, but probably pricy.

I went back to the drawing board (literally) and started playing around with the idea of moving the storage to the same wall as the sliding glass door.  The door is centered on the wall, so there's about 48 inches on either side.  Even when you take some of that away for curtains, that's still three feet of storage space for a total of six feet - which is pretty much the same amount I would get on the large wall.


That's right, I threw in a table and some curtains.  It's practically 3-D.

I love the idea of using Ikea wall cabinets hung low to make two floating cabinets.  Eliminating the legs of a piece makes the space feel larger.  And wall cabinets are designed for dishware, so they're a better choice than using bookshelves like I previously posted about.  Here are a few awesome Ikea cabinets turned into floating credenzas that I found.

Fauxdenza via Door Sixteen



The Brick House Floating Credenza



Made By Girl Floating Cabinets

I really love the above - only with a slightly more rustic top (like the middle picture).  By my calculations, I'll need two 36" wide wall cabinets.  I love the glossy look to the doors, but for some reason that makes them much more expensive, so I'll probably get the plain ones and dress them up with some pretty knobs.

I also loved how Naomi dressed up these Ikea shelves with some gold spray paint.  So I thought I could put them above for extra open storage.

I'm 79% sold on the idea.  I just have to get the supplies.  Then there is still the big wall to address...

Rug Score

Yes, I'm still alive.  I've just been ridiculously busy between work, Christmas shopping and more work.  I picked up some assistant work with my friend who is an event photographer.  Love the extra cash around the holidays.  Can't say I loved the drunks at Vegas Night quite so much, but I did get to hang out with 3 Elvises at once so it was a memorable night.

Anyway, I'm very close to being finished with Christmas shopping.  I do realize that Christmas is less than a week away and I'm actually very behind schedule, but it's just one of those years. 

I was luckily able to find things online for most of our out-of-town friend and family and had it shipped directly to them, which helped a ton.  I am a huge fan of online shopping, especially stacking sales with online coupons.  So, despite the fact that I am not finished shopping for other people, I couldn't resist using a $20 off $100 coupon Overstock e-mailed me this morning.

What did I get?  This rug, of course!

I've been eyeing it for weeks now, and the price fluctuates all over the place so I wanted to make sure I got it on the low end.  Area rugs are currently 15% off, so stacking it with the coupon and the free shipping promotion made a big dent in the price (which I have seen for as much as $158).  I never really expected to be able to get it for under $100 (even if it's just a smidgen under at $98.99), so I am extremely happy.  Let's hope I stay happy when it gets here and I see it in person.

I Hate You, Ralph Lauren

Reasons why I hate Ralph Lauren:

1.  He pronounces his name Lauren instead of Lauren (like my stepdaughter and the other 30 million people named Lauren). I don't care if his family has been doing that for fifteen generations, it still sounds pretentious to me.

2.  I will never forgive him or the powers that be for turning the Team USA's uniforms into walking advertisements for Polo.


Notice how F-ing big that crap is!

3.  Most recently, after 9 months of waiting I finally started receiving my free year's subscription to Elle Decor.  I got it so long ago, I'm not even sure how I scored it for free (MyCokeRewards maybe?).  So far I'm not incredibly impressed with the magazine (definitely like House Beautiful more), but since I frequently find pictures online marked Elle Decor that I like, hopefully it's just a one-off issue. 

Anyway, back to why I hate Ralph Lauren.  The back front cover is a huge ad for Ralph Lauren Home featuring this dining room.

Ignoring pretty much everything in the room except for the dining set, my first reactions was - that's pretty awesome and maybe I should just forget about the red dining chair idea and do some gold accents.

You see, being someone who finishes a project about once a year has disadvantages beyond the apparent "my house is in the middle of ten billion projects" look I've got going on.  One of the main ones is it allows you time to second-guess yourself over every little idea and inspiration.  All it takes is one pretty picture...

The jury is still out - sort of.  The black and gold is pretty, but maybe too sophisticated for our duplex rental.  And I really like the rug I'm currently stalking on Overstock, which would not look good with the table.  And maybe the thing I like best about the Ralph Lauren table are the brass feet.  Which you can totally DIY - if you're as crazy-talented as Bri:

However, they wouldn't look good on my dining set.  So, I'm fairly sure that I'm going to stick with the red - if I ever get enough balls to actually start painting them.  That reminds me of this quote from Betty White: 

Who doesn't love Betty White?

Dining Chair Seats

I finished reupholstering my dining room chairs this weekend and I have to say I love them!  Although it wasn't easy, it also wasn't very hard or complicated - especially for my first time doing upholstery.


BEFORE - Halloween, anyone?

Here's the chairs before.  I painted them black ages ago.  The burnt orange fabric stuck around while I searched for almost a year for a fabric I liked.  Yes, chevron is cool and the fabric wasn't too rough - it just didn't do anything for me (or the chairs) so it had to go.

I picked this fabric because 1.) I wanted black, 2.) it was affordable and I had a discount coupon for an additional $10 off, 3.) it can easily be wiped down because it's vinyl, but it doesn't make the furniture look like it should be in a diner, and 4.) I liked the idea of adding a texture which would compliment rather than compete with the carving details. 

I ordered 3 1/2 yards at $11.58, and because of my coupon and Fabric.com's free shipping on orders over $35 - I paid a total of $30.53.  I only used 3 yards, but it was nice to have that extra 1/2 a yard on hand in case I made a mistake.

My mom gave me a roll of batting she had on hand.  I don't remember the exact measurements, but the bag said it was enough for a queen bed.  It was the perfect amount for six chairs.  I folded it in half (for a double layer), laid it on the ground and used this highly scientific method to cut out a square for each seat.  I'm sure I could have measured and used my math skills, but this was super easy and there's really no need to be very exact unless you are worried you won't have enough.

I chose not to remove the original fabric or redo the foam.  If your project is kind of scuzzy or if you want to do it the proper way, you can go that route.  However, my original seats were in nice shape and were still very comfortable, so I skipped that step. 

I also want to note that the original seats had welting, but I just stapled the batting tightly over it and there's aren't any weird ridges or lumps.  In fact, it might even help the seats retain their structure a little.  Stapling batting does not need a tutorial.  Do a staple in the middle of all four sides, making sure to pull it tight and then go around the edges until you have it secure and smooth.

I used a heavy-duty manual staple gun.  My shoulder and hand aren't a big fan, but it did the job just fine.  Every once in a while a staple wouldn't go all of the way through, so I kept a hammer on hand to tap those in.  My other tools were needle nose pliers to remove staples and a good pair of scissors.

If you're using a thinner fabric than I did, you want to follow the batting step with muslin to make sure everything stays nice and smooth.  Since my fabric was a thick vinyl, I skipped that step as well.

Next I rolled out my material and used my very scientific method to cut six pieces.   I made the mistake here of not making sure I was placing the seats in the direction I wanted the fabric to be on the seats.  So, I had to turn my fabric 90 degrees before I started stapling it.  Luckily I still had enough fabric on each side that this didn't matter, but make sure you check before you cut because that could be a costly error.

Stapling the fabric to the chairs is easy except for the corners, which are tricky.  I watched a few Youtube videos and picked up some hints.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the process since both of my hands were occupied.  Make sure you are folding your corners in the same direction so it will look neat and professional.  Cut away excess fabric as you go to get a nice flat corner, however, do it slowly and in small sections to avoid overcutting. 

I've always heard to "wrap it like a present" but I must wrap my presents differently, because I used the "fold one side over the other" technique.  You want to concentrate on getting the corners, and then go back and finish stapling the rest of your fabric - you might even have to redo a couple of staples to get everything nice and taut.

And then you're done!  Easy-peasy, right?

Of course, I'm hardly finished.  I still want to paint the chairs red and maybe add nailhead trim around the bottom of the seats so they'll look more like the inspiration picture.

I didn't even bother screwing the seats back on the chairs since I'll just have to take them off again soon.  Although the black-on-black doesn't bother me nearly as much as the black-and-orange did, I definitely feel the need to keep working on them until I love them completely.  But for now I'm super happy with the way the seats turned out.

Dining Room Rugs

Two rug options I'm mulling over for the dining room.  They're both on Overstock, so we'll see if I manage to save up and buy one of them before it disappears.


Hand-woven Yoki Jute Rug - $152 (on sale)

This one is fairly bland, but that's a good thing.  I don't want anything to busy or bright, just an anchor for the table and chairs.  Pros:  The color is just what I was looking for, natural fibers are durable, I like the subtle chevron pattern, nice price.  Cons:  Maybe too small - it would work, but I think I'd rather a 6' x 9'. 

Before I show you the next one, I'm going on a major tangent, complete with pictures.

This weekend we watched the OU/Texas game at one of the boyfriend's friend's house.  I wish I had brought my camera, not just for the great family-time pics, but because the house was Ah-mazing.  They bought this fairly run-down 1950s ranch house about 25 years ago and have been steadily renovating it. 

Luckily one of our friends did have her camera.  This is the view from their pool area - where we watched the game in their gazebo/bar.

This is (a very low) Lake Travis - the white part on
the island is all usually underwater.

Here's my son playing in the pool.  We didn't bring bathing suits, so I let him play in his underwear.  Then I posted it on the internet.  I'm going all out for Mom of the Year.

Anyway, here's how we circle back around to rugs.  The friends are wrapping up their latest renovation - adding a 1200 sq. ft. office space/second floor (you can see some of the windows in the above picture).  They are using it as the corporate headquarters of their business now, but when they move it'll be a master suite.  While we were touring the space, I kept fixating on the carpeting - this lovely tone-on-tone diamond pattern.  I've seen versions of it before, but never realized how much I liked it.

So when I was searching for other carpet options last night, I decided to try a diamond pattern and found this one I really love:


Hand-woven Diamond Jute - $126 (on sale)

It kind of blows the first one out of the water - if (and this is a biggy) it is more of a gold color than either yellow or orange.  It's bigger (6x9), less expensive, and I like the pattern more.  So I'm going to cross my fingers and hope it will still be there in a couple of weeks.  It's kind of risky, since I won't know if it's the right color until it gets here - and return shipping from Overstock is kind of ridiculous.  So we'll see. 

To be continued...

Red Dining Chairs

Decision made.

From Sketch42

This picture (which I saved because I liked the mirrored wall) did it.  The dining chairs are going red with black seats.  I'm buying this fabric for the seats - wipeable, fun texture (I am from Louisiana, after all), and affordable.


Faux Leather Gator Black

The goal is to have them finished before Halloween.  Because I bought the set over a year ago, which is just shameful on so many levels.

Other red dining chairs I like:

DecorPad



Design Sponge



DecorPad

Ikea Billy Bookcase Hack

I have a big blank wall in the dining room that just screams for a china cabinet.

(Here is where I would post a picture, but unfortunately the boyfriend borrowed my camera and now it isn't working.  He's up there with my mom, who breaks something every time she visits - this time the vaccuum cleaner.  They're both lucky I love them so much.)

I've been halfheartedly searching Craigslist for one, but not finding anything I'm in love with.  The problem is I'm very torn between doing something big and ornate, like turning an old armoire like this one into a china cabinet by adding some glass.

Or getting an ugly square oak entertainment center (which are constantly listed for super cheap) and painting it to look similar to this:



But I stumbled across Maillardville Manor's gorgeous bookcases in her library and now I'm sold on an Ikea hack.  (What's with me and Ikea these days?  Can't I go a post without mentioning them?  Obviously not.)

She took five Billy bookcases and some trim and made them look like built-ins.  Here's the full tutorial. 

I would love to do this same set-up, but with the 80-inch tall bookcases instead.  Then I'm thinking of mirroring the backs and maybe even doing a few glass shelves and/or doors on the two bigger bookcases.

Billys aren't the best for a china cabinet because they're only 11 inches deep, I think.  But since most of my "china" is barware anyway, I think I can make it work.

Yet Another Project Idea

I almost bought this settee on Craigslist this weekend.

Almost.  We've needed extra seating at the dining room table for quite a while.  It's a rectangular, modern-style dining table with four leather Parsons chairs.  (Sorry, I don't have a pic - it is currently covered in construction paraphernalia - except for the one spot cleared off for my son to eat at.)  My mom (the bargain queen) scored the entire set for a steal several years back because the frosted glass top was unevenly frosted.  When she brought it home, I told her that if she ever got rid of it - I had first dibs.  So a couple of years ago, she brought it all of the way from Louisiana to Texas.  My parents are great like that.  Unfortunately, it makes me reluctant to get rid of the furniture they've given us.  In the case of the table - I think it is actually a good thing.  I'd love a round wood table surrounded by slipcovered chairs - but our modern, semi-transparent table takes up less visual space in a room that lacks actual space.  So it'll stick around.

Anyway - we're two chairs short on the odd occasions when we have the entire family at one time - and for some reason no one likes sitting in our substitute chairs (a folding metal chair and a rocking chair that's about 6 inches too low).

I've been drawn to the idea of building a bench.  At first I was going to buy 2 larger chairs for the ends of the table - which I think would be a good solution - but I do like the idea of having a bench that could potentially sit 3 people (well, kids)  if we had the novel idea of having Grandma over for dinner.  I was thinking of a backless version, but then I saw Jenny's gorgeous Chiang Mai settee in her dining space on Little Green Notebook and fell in love.

I love the way a settee paired with a dining table looks both elegant and relaxed.

There's a great post on the trend here.  That's where I found these pictures.

So I've been on the lookout for a settee I could use.  Preferably one like this

or this

Only instead of the $250 that they wanted - something around the $50 mark.

So I thought my Craigslist find was pretty good.  I thought it resembled Jenny's settee from the inspiration pretty closely.  The fabric had a few tears, but it was laminated fabric so I could wipe it down easily until we could recover.  Only $30.  I was happy.  I thought it was a good deal.  Luckily, I decided to take a few hours to think about it (since I am, after all, not supposed to be making ANY Craigslist purchases right now, much less impulsive ones).

And I'm glad I did.  The measurements were a pretty tight fit for the dining table.  And you see those arms - that means you would have to move the settee to get out.  A simple solution would be to put casters on - but since this spot would be geared mostly for the younger eaters - having wheels on it seemed like asking for trouble.

So I didn't buy it.

I did, however, decide to look around a little bit more.  I noticed that the seller had listed his item as a "love seat."  One of the biggest pieces of advice I can share about Craigslist shopping (or Ebay shopping as well), is not to rely on one key phrase when you are searching for a particular item.  I had previously been looking under "settee", "bench" and "loveseat".  I think I had even tried "small couch" at one point.  But I had never tried "love seat." Both ways are correct (according to dictionary.com), but they get very different results on a Craigslist search.  So I tried "love seat."  And found this beauty.

Unfortunately, it comes with a pretty hefty price tag.  $300 to be exact.  And that's after the seller reduced it from $400.  So, it won't be coming home with me anytime soon.

But I did save all of the pictures and have decided that this will be a building project.  It'll be on the backburner for a long time - I can guarantee that.  But I think it won't be too difficult to build and I think the modern design will look gorgeous with the table.  Notice how the wings leave plenty of sliding room for exiting?  And I can pick whatever fabric I like (something pretty with lots of stain repellent).  I'm really looking forward to this one.