Elsewhere

TGIF! I hope you have a great weekend planned! I’m hoping to take a little break from work and to spend some time with my family. My apartment is in desperate need of a deep clean, so that’s on the agenda too. Here are a few things you might have missed this week: I was…

Here are a few things you might have missed this week:

I was one of the bloggers featured in the latest edition of Adore Magazine (dedicated to all things NYC)! Read all about it out here.

Big, exciting news about my favorite Rustoleum Oil-based Enamel! LOTS more colors!!!

I bought this book a couple weeks ago. It’s a GREAT resource for botanical prints with black backgrounds. So, so pretty and dramatic! Get a a little sneak peek of some pretty pages here.

It feels dramatic to dedicate a whole post on these little blue towels, but they are MAGICAL.

Have you used magnetic paint before? How did it work for you? Thoughts and inspiration HERE.

And finally, here’s the source I always recommend for buying trade fabrics and a few favorite picks that I’m loving right now.

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Musings

Summer is Gone

I know it’s officially been fall for a few weeks now, but I am still mourning the passing of summer. I blinked and it was over! I didn’t even have a chance to get sick of the heat. It came and went so fast I didn’t really even put away my winter clothes! This week…

I was daydreaming about all the things I love about warm weather and I remembered these photos from a party we had on our rooftop.

Balloons are such a cheap and easy way to decorate, and they’re even cheaper if you don’t have them filled with helium! Party stores usually sell balloons flat for about 10 cents each. I picked up six of each in ivory, peach, baby pink, medium pink, neon pink, dark pink and maroon.

I blew up the balloons myself (and almost passed out in the process – scary feeling on top of a roof, btw) and then I poked a hole with a knife in the leftover portion below the knot.

Then I threaded a 5-foot piece of twine through the new hole and knotted the twine to secure the balloon. Then just repeated with 4-6 balloons of the same color per string, spaced about 8″ apart.

Then I hung the strings of balloons in an ombre pattern on our gazebo/trellis thing. It would be just as easy to string another piece of twine between two trees, etc.

Fun, cheap and easy! It made a thrown-together dinner party feel really special.

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Art

Touching Up a Vintage Painting

I love painting and wish I had more time to dedicate to it. It’s really relaxing, and there’s something so refreshing about going into that pure creation mode. It’s a nice counterbalance to all the over-thinking and drawn out time lines that happen with interior design. :) I usually paint flowers or landscapes, just for family and friends, but I would really love to take a portraiture class this year. I’d love to paint portraits of my own kids and I think it would be cool to make portraits for really special gifts. If anyone has any leads on great painting classes here in the city, I’m all ears!

On a related subject, collecting vintage portraits is sort of a trendy thing that I never really got on board with. Maybe I’m too sentimental and it seems a little strange to hang paintings of strangers. Then a couple weeks ago this beautiful vintage portrait caught my eye as I was leaving the Chelsea flea. Isn’t she pretty? I love the colors and I like her thoughtful expression.

I had already spent almost all my cash that day so I almost didn’t ask the dealer for a price. I thought for sure she would want at least $100 or $200, even though the painting needed some restoration. She wanted $15! SOLD!

When I got home I pulled out some oil paints in the colors that had flaked off on her dress.

It was a pretty easy fix. You sort of just lightly mix the colors you need with a palette knife and then place the colors down.

I added the swipe down the middle here. Because I didn’t overmix there are highlights and lowlights that give the fabric of her dress some depth.

The next step was to sort of feather the new paint into the old.

And the painting was fixed in about 5 minutes! Easy!

Obviously I wouldn’t have tried this with an expensive painting. Valuable art that needs repair should go to a professional restorer. But since I only spent a few dollars on this painting, I didn’t mind trying to fix her myself.

She might be a stranger, but she makes me smile, so she’s welcome to hang out on our walls. :)

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Inspiration

Kohler Contest – SPONSORED POST

Hi friends! This is the second installment of a sponsored post written by my friends at Kohler, a company I’m genuinely proud to be working with. Thanks for being supportive of the sponsors that help me keep things running here at LGN! xx Design Inspiration and a Contest from Kohler Kohler, known for its bold…

Design Inspiration and a Contest from Kohler

Kohler, known for its bold kitchen and bath fixtures, is running a contest to showcase its Tresham collection through the idea of the past inspiring the present.

Designers will appreciate the way Kohler challenged four of its own designers to create rooms with small budgets using Kohler’s Tresham collection. The experiment resulted in four unique visions that were equally stunning.

Rachel Gremminger incorporated a theatrical flair in her space, which was the polar opposite of Niels Eilmus’ very masculine, rustic bathroom. Travis Rotelli called his room “Instant Professional,” and that’s just the vibe you pick up when you see the leather seating and bearskin rug juxtaposed with stark white pedestal sinks. Katie Begalke’s warm and inviting area is complete with classic literature on the bookshelves. Check out their rooms on Kohler’s Facebook page.

While you’re there, get ready to put your designer’s eye to the test in Kohler’s Tresham Keepsake contest, which runs through October 31. Upload a photo of a treasured keepsake that brings out your inner designer, and submit a short statement (300 characters or less) that explains why your heirloom is the perfect piece to use with Kohler’s Tresham collection. One grand-prize winner, as chosen by judges, will win a trip for two to New York City, a professional design consultation, and Kohler products. Three first prize recipients will also win Kohler products.

Visit Kohler.com/tresham to check out the collection.

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Kids Room

House Tour: Play Room Under the Stairs!

I’m sad this is the last post from Todd and Emily’s house! It’s been so fun to get the inside scoop on their decorating adventures! And thank you to Jessica from JJ Horton Photography for all the photos, except for the ones below that Todd and Emily just sent me here. This adorable play room is a recent addition to their home and I think the idea is genius! I would have LOVED a little play room under the stairs when I was a kid. It’s wasted space anyway, why not make it useful and fun? I’m definitely storing this idea away for the future!

Here’s Emily:

“When my father in law first visited us in our new home he suggested that we see what was under the stairs and build a play room. After two years of taking on other projects we never thought we could do ourselves, Todd felt ready to tackle a playroom under the stairs.

“He removed the outlet and stuck our camera through the opening to get an idea of what was under there. From what we could tell there was nothing, other than contractor debris and garbage from over 10 years ago. So we cut a hole in the wall and set in on removing a stud, installing the proper support for a load-bearing wall and began to plan the details.

“Knowing that a small door would be too tempting for little boys and their friends to play with (i.e. slam over and over again), we opted not to put a door on this little playroom. That decision also meant that we needed to extend the hardwoods instead of using carpet. This wasn’t too hard to do since we recently put hardwoods in our kitchen to match the rest of the house and already knew what kind and color we needed. It only took one box to cover this room.

“We decided to build a cubby at the foot of the room as it slopes down into such a narrow space and we wanted to have a place to store toys and keep it organized since it is open to the hallway. We installed two small recessed lights, got all of the electrical work in place and hung the drywall.

“Imagine my excitement when Todd was the first to mention that we should wall paper the room (he’s usually against wallpaper in any capacity, but liked the idea of hiding drywall imperfections). While Todd got busy building the room, I was busy looking at wallpapers. We considered a few and since it is such a small room and would only take one roll we looked at some pricier options. We ultimately decided on this wallpaper from Ferm Living. We painted the ceiling Benjamin Moore Sweatshirt Gray to break up the wallpaper and used this same gray inside the cubby.

“Before installing the wallpaper we primed the walls with a water based primer which is recommended. Since Home Depot got rid of their wallpaper section they didn’t have the exact primer that we saw online so we went with a gallon of this one. Parker was able to help with this part which he was more than happy to do. I went to Sherwin-Williams after we primed the walls to buy the supplies we would need to hang wall paper. While there I found out that Sherwin-Williams makes their own water-based primer for wall paper and it comes in a quart size for about $15. I wish we had gone there first, oh well.

“Installing the wallpaper was an interesting experience. The first 10 minutes were frustrating as we tried to figure out the straight line of the wall. Walls and ceilings are never perfectly straight so you have to use a plumb (basically a weight you hang from a string attached to the ceiling) to find the perfect vertical line. You use this to make sure the first sheet is straight and then line each other piece up based on the first one. Corners are tricky (you can’t just wrap a sheet around or inside the corner) and there is a pretty detailed process involved. Thanks to some youtube videos we figured out one technique that made sense for the pattern in our paper and it worked pretty well. Of course, we picked a very hard room to wallpaper especially for our first try.

“We were surprised at how resilient the paper is. We chose a high quality paper so I’m assuming that helps but we would make creases in the smoothing out process that looked like they would never come out, but with a little reworking they always did. Overall, it turned out wonderful and I smile every time I walk by this little room which is probably 20 times a day. Parker loves showing it off to his friends and I like that it’s so close to the kitchen that I can hear the things they say when I’m in there.

“We originally planned on hanging a chalkboard that Todd built but when we put it against the wall I was surprised at how much I loved the wallpaper and didn’t want to cover it up with a big chalk board. Now, we’re thinking of making one of these so it won’t cover up the wall paper as much and doesn’t stick out in an already very small room.”

Adorable right? I love that wallpaper so much. A HUGE thanks to Todd and Emily for letting us tour their house and for sharing the process of renovating and decorating a home! I think these two are a great example of how you can get a gorgeous home by spending money where it counts and saving on the other stuff.

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Blue

House Tour: Emily and Todd's Entry and Laundry Room

Hi friends! I hope you had a great weekend! We’re wrapping up Todd and Emily’s house tour today, starting with their entry (I’m still cracking up over their chalk board message) and laundry room (so bright and FUN!). Come back a little later today for their new play room. Enjoy! The Entry “We have a…

The Entry

“We have a very small entry. As soon as you enter the front door, you can either go straight up the stairs, to the left and down the hallway to the kitchen, or to the right into the living room. All that would fit in our little entry was something small like a bench. I found a little antique spindle bench on CL for $80. It was originally painted black which we promptly changed to Martha Stewart Vintage Map (this color is from her old line of paint at Lowes, but ACE Hardware still had the codes in the computer).

“The peach pillow is Anthropologie from about 10 years ago. I found the beachcomber basket at Home Goods for $20! A similar one is at Pottery Barn for more than a $100. We use it for umbrellas and Parker’s baseball bats. We’ve gone back and forth on whether to add baskets under the bench but ultimately we decided that we like the shoes lined up, makes it look like a real home. Todd is probably just agreeing with me on this one because he’s sick of me bringing home baskets and storage containers. I have a slight obsession with both.

“Other than the hooks in our kitchen, we didn’t have any black and white in the house so I made this bench pad using a 3 inch black and white stripe material from Premier Prints. I recently bought some laminated fabric though to make a new pad cover because every time we use the chalk board, chalk dust falls all over the pad. I’ve washed it a couple of times and every time I do the cover gets looser and sloops. But seeing this laminated fabric makes me think that I may need to re-paint the bench all together.

“After seeing and loving Christina’s frame turned chalkboard, I set out to do the same. We found the antique mirror on CL and spray painted it white. Before painting the mirror with chalkboard paint we put on a coat of BIN primer.

“I LOVE our ceiling light! I’m all about vintage crystal lights, plus we needed something that didn’t hang down very far so it wouldn’t hit the door when it opened. This one was perfect.

“The banister and hand rail going up the stairs used to be that awful gold oak from the 90’s, but my sweet dad painted them with white oil paint so they match the rest of the trim. (Jenny here. I’m going to sneak in this photo Emily sent me right after a gallon of paint exploded all over her at the check out at Home Depot. The paint guy forgot to hammer down the lid after mixing! Eeps! :) You can also see the before in the background here)

“To the right of the front door, as you walk into the living room, is a little piece I bought at Home Goods.

“We were looking everywhere on CL and at the flea market to find a narrow piece with storage that could go in this spot. When I saw this at Home Goods it was perfect only it had painted flowers all over it.

“We painted it Benjamin Moore Wolf Gray and added bone white knobs from Anthropologie.

“I’ve had the hardest time decorating the top. Those darn light switches get in the way of everything. Thank you Jen for posting about framed butterflies. I got on ebay and found this set of small framed butterflies. The antique brass lamp is from my parents and the flower pot is from Home Goods.

Sources
Chalkboard: Frame found on CL, turned into chalkboard
Bench: CL
Bench cover: Fabric from Premier Prints
Pillow: Anthropologie
Basket: Home Goods
Vintage crystal light: ebay
Entry console: Home Goods, painted Benjamin Moore Wolf Gray
Knobs on entry console: Anthropologie
Books: Amazon
Framed butterflies: ebay
Flower pot: Home Goods
Blue milk glass dish: flea market
Antique brass lamp: gifted
Hydrangea’s: garden (all of the flowers in these posts have been from our garden)

On to the laundry room!!

“Funny story about this room. It’s probably TMI, but the night before I was going to paint this room Todd and I had a little tiff (I have no idea what it was about). Anyway, when I woke up in the morning he had painted the ceiling, taped everything off, and cut in all the lines. Basically, all I had to do was roll it. And he left me a sweet note on the wall.

“When it came to planning the laundry room we decided to go bold. I always want to use these kinds of colors but I usually chicken out. The laundry room seemed like the best place to have fun. The fabric on the roman shade is by Anna Maria Horner. To hide all of the storage above the washer and dryer I made two lined curtain panels, this fabric is Heather Bailey.

“We needed a place to hang clothes that couldn’t go in the dryer and to dry wet rags and dish towels before throwing them into the laundry basket. I love the drying racks at Ballards but we didn’t want to spend that much money. So Todd built this simple drying rack for about $5 and we painted it a shade lighter than the walls, though you can’t really tell. We opted to get the stands for the washer and dryer for extra storage which meant there isn’t really a surface area for setting clothes down while you switch out the loads. The hamper from Target fills that role. I originally wanted something like this but it was too big. I use the hamper for rags, dish towels, and bath towels, basically things that I don’t wash until we are out. It’s nice to hide them away in a covered hamper and since we dry them on the drying rack before putting in the hamper they don’t get stinky.

“My favorite part about this laundry room other than the color is the art. I first heard about Leslie Graff when Caitlin Creer blogged about her. I ordered a set of 5 post cards and framed my favorites in Target frames. I think she’s come out with a few more prints since we ordered these. These would be so fun in my future office/sewing room too.

“For the red light we bought a $10 brass light fixture from Habitat and spray painted it. The ironing board is mounted on the back of the door and a big linen closet is on the left just as you walk in. Someday I would love to tile this room.

Sources
Wall Color: Peacock Blue, Benjamin Moore
Hamper: Target
Art: Leslie Graff, frames from Target
Rug: Eatman’s Carpets, Raleigh, NC
Light fixture: Brass light from Habitat, spray painted red
Drying rack: homemade
Roman Shade fabric: Anna Maria Horner
Curtain fabric: Heather Bailey

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Blue

House Tour: Emily and Todd’s Entry and Laundry Room

The Entry

“I LOVE our ceiling light! I’m all about vintage crystal lights, plus we needed something that didn’t hang down very far so it wouldn’t hit the door when it opened. This one was perfect.

“To the right of the front door, as you walk into the living room, is a little piece I bought at Home Goods.

“We painted it Benjamin Moore Wolf Gray and added bone white knobs from Anthropologie.

On to the laundry room!!

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Musings

It's the Weekend!!

This week will go down in Komenda history as ‘epic.’ It was pretty crazy and I’m ready for a break soon, but thankfully my adrenaline is kicking in again for this weekend! I am really excited to be installing Joanna’s bedroom tomorrow. She’s out of town for a few days so my little elves and I will hunker down and get everything installed and zhushed for her and Alex to come home to on Sunday. Joanna says it feels like she is on one of those design shows where the room is dramatically revealed to the owner. We sort of did a similar type install for her living room and nursery and it was exciting! :)

I’ll also be packaging and shipping out my One Kings Lane sales this weekend. Thanks so much for your support there. That was such a fun thing to be a part of.

I tried really hard to offer only special, one of kind pieces that I truly loved (and wanted to keep myself!). If you’re interested getting the back-story on the items I chose (where I got things, what inspired my paint and fabric choices, the history of some of the antiques), I wrote it all up on today’s Babble post HERE.

Have a really great weekend!

PS A big thanks to Todd and Emily for sharing their home with us this week. I’m saving one last post from their home for Monday, which I’m really excited about. (hint: they made a secret play room under the stairs. Hot air balloon wallpaper is involved. It’s good.)
xoxo

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Musings

It’s the Weekend!!

I’ll also be packaging and shipping out my One Kings Lane sales this weekend. Thanks so much for your support there. That was such a fun thing to be a part of.

Have a really great weekend!

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Kitchen

House Tour: Emily and Todd's Kitchen

We already got an In-Progress peek of Todd and Emily’s kitchen HERE, but now we get the full version! Here’s Emily: The day after we closed on our house we had Bull Restoration in Raleigh come and paint our kitchen. They did more than paint, however. They added molding above and below the cabinets, new…

We already got an In-Progress peek of Todd and Emily’s kitchen HERE, but now we get the full version! Here’s Emily:

The day after we closed on our house we had Bull Restoration in Raleigh come and paint our kitchen. They did more than paint, however. They added molding above and below the cabinets, new sides to the exposed cabinets, and new doors. I wasn’t up for living through a kitchen renovation at the time so we opted to have them painted and they were done in about 1.5 days.

While they look beautiful and they did a great job, I regret not taking more time to decide. I had never painted anything before (at the time this was happening) so the thought of painting them myself and having it look professional seemed impossible. But if I had waited 6 months I probably would have had them just add the molding and doors and then we would have done the painting. They used a special kind of paint which makes it look professionally done (like we bought them white) but it’s not an easy paint to work with when you need to do touch-ups, and a white kitchen needs lots of touch-ups.

(kitchen before)

We went with a black granite that has a little bit of texture so it doesn’t show crumbs and fingerprints as much as a jet black granite.

For lighting, Todd removed the huge neon light and installed canned lights. He also hung a pendant from Pottery Barn.

The aqua knobs are from Anthropologie and the pulls are Restoration Hardware. While I love shiny pulls, I had no idea they would show every single little finger print.

To add some color and pattern we fabric wall-papered the backs of the glass front cabinets. The fabric is a Joel Dewberry home décor. Jenny posted this project almost a year and a half ago (time flies!).

We recently continued the hardwood floors in the kitchen (yea!), it looks so much better and now the floor isn’t so cold. Plus, that tile showed everything! Very frustrating from a cleaning perspective. Although I’m a pretty decisive person in general, I cannot decide on whether to do a rug in here or not. I love the look of the Persian rug in a kitchen like what Jenny has, but this area gets trashed and I’m afraid I would get sick of trying to keep the rug clean and free of debris. Maybe just a small one in front of the sink area?

The blue milk glass on the ledge holds all of our little odds and ends that seem to always pile up at the kitchen sink like water color brushes and baby medicine syringes. The basket to the left of the sink is for bottles.

On the other side of the kitchen (the side you see when you walk into the room) we have two hanging wire baskets for miscellaneous items like coupons, magazines, baby monitor, bug repellent, chalk, etc.

Across the hallway is the fabric-covered cork board. We used a mirror that was a gift from my MIL and turned it into this corkboard. This was the first cork board I ever did and I didn’t research it very well thinking it looked pretty straightforward. But after putting it all together the tacks didn’t stay in, so in my ignorance I bought more cork board thinking it just needed another layer. They stay in a little bit better but not great. I definitely recommend cutting a piece of cardboard to put behind cork boards like we did in the office.

On the other side of the fridge are our spices attached to the side of the fridge.

I thought we would eventually get a magnet board for these but there just isn’t room and I like that they are hidden away.

The glass containers of flour, oats, and sugar are from Wal-Mart and the vintage scale is from Anthropologie from years ago.

Last winter we discovered that our back sliding door was broken and had to get it replaced. I really love the French doors. I had a piece of sisal cut at a local rug store to fit the French door and run under the boot tray (Smith and Hawken for Target). A traditional runner was too long. The bench is from my room growing up and holds all of our work clothes, and the pillow is from Anthropologie from 10 or so years ago.

I love my row of hooks. The hooks are Anthropologie and the wood is an old piece of black walnut that a family friend had in his work room. We just stained it darker. He had the hardest time understanding why I wanted an “ugly” piece of wood and kept offering to cut it and make it even. :) We turned our coat closet into a pantry so this row of hooks is where we have all of our daily coats, sweatshirts, and my aprons.

Recently (since taking these pictures) we added a large wire basket to hold all of the outdoor balls. It definitely crowds the space but we really needed something to hold all of the balls for Parker. Plus, I like that it’s wire so it coordinates with the wire baskets next to the fridge.

The process of turning our kitchen into what it is now versus what it used to be has been a really good learning experience for us. Mostly, I’ve realized that I don’t need a huge kitchen like the ones we always see in the magazines. While I would have preferred for this kitchen to be more open, the number of drawers and cupboard space is just about perfect for us. I think I would get lost in a huge kitchen and not remember where everything is.

Sources
Paint color: Benjamin Moore, Abalone
Bench: from childhood bedroom
Pillow on bench: Anthropologie
Wire basket for outdoor balls: Atticus, Spokane, WA
Knobs: Anthropologie
Pulls: Restoration Hardware
Fabric in back of cabinets: Joel Dewberry
Spice containers: Bed, Bath, and Beyond
Boot tray: Smith and Hawken for Target
Sisal runner: Eatman’s Carpets, Raleigh, NC
Fabric covered cork board: gifted mirror turned into cork board using Amy Butler fabric
Wire baskets next to fridge: Gatehouse, Orem, Utah – I’ve seen similar ones at Home Goods
Blue milk glass: flea market, ebay, etsy
Pendant above sink: Pottery Barn
Paper Towel Holder: Papaya and Company, Orem, Utah
Wooden tray (right of stove): World Market
Vintage style scale: Anthropologie
Glass containers: Wal-Mart

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Home Tours

House Tour: Emily and Todd’s Kitchen

We already got an In-Progress peek of Todd and Emily’s kitchen HERE, but now we get the full version! Here’s Emily:

(kitchen before)

We went with a black granite that has a little bit of texture so it doesn’t show crumbs and fingerprints as much as a jet black granite.

For lighting, Todd removed the huge neon light and installed canned lights. He also hung a pendant from Pottery Barn.

The aqua knobs are from Anthropologie and the pulls are Restoration Hardware. While I love shiny pulls, I had no idea they would show every single little finger print.

On the other side of the fridge are our spices attached to the side of the fridge.

I thought we would eventually get a magnet board for these but there just isn’t room and I like that they are hidden away.

The glass containers of flour, oats, and sugar are from Wal-Mart and the vintage scale is from Anthropologie from years ago.

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Dining Room

House Tour: Emily and Todd's Dining Room

I looooooove Emily and Todd’s dining room. The picture rails? Perfection. (Coming up next is the kitchen!) “I was shopping for our first dining room table before we even moved into our house (I took measurements when we walked through before making an offer). I needed a square or round table to fit the room…

I looooooove Emily and Todd’s dining room. The picture rails? Perfection.

(Coming up next is the kitchen!)

“I was shopping for our first dining room table before we even moved into our house (I took measurements when we walked through before making an offer). I needed a square or round table to fit the room which limited my options. I also wanted a table that was indestructible and we would have for the next 20 years. I almost bought a round pedestal table by Martha Stewart for Bernhardt but when I asked to salesman to lift up the table cloth, I saw scratches all over and the dark stain showed a ton of dust. No go. Whenever I’m in the midst of researching something I consider a “big” decision for our house, Jenny just happens to post the solution at the same time. I was getting a bit desperate to find a table and then Jenny wrote about Stable Tables . They had never shipped anything before especially not a 54 inch square table, but I used my favorite shipping service, uship.com and we were able to ship the table for only $150. The original table we chose was going to have the antique porch posts that were six inches in diameter, but when they went to prep them they found out the posts were rotten. So we went with these eight inch turned legs and I’m so glad we did. The only drawback is it’s hard to find chairs that will comfortably fit side by side and are easy to pull out.

“My only regret is that we didn’t get the 60 inch table. Side note: About a month after getting our table, it started to split between two of the boards. We think it had to do with the climate change and it wasn’t reinforced underneath. There wasn’t much we could do about it until just recently, when Carolina Farm House opened for business. Sam and his team not only fixed our table but they also reinforced it underneath so it won’t split ever again. Thank you Sam! Every time I walk by the table I don’t see a one inch gap stuffed with raisins and play dough I think of you!

“We got our table two days before our first Thanksgiving in this house and we were hosting, yikes! There wasn’t much time to figure out the chair situation. I tried the Craigslist route but I couldn’t find six matching chairs that didn’t include arm chairs. We decided to go with simple Windsor chairs from the unfinished wood shop for $45 each.

(before shot, at Thanksgiving time)

“We painted them a light gray and I sewed chair pads using an Amy Butler home décor fabric. On one side of the table, we’re using a bench because it keeps the room open to the living room and it’s easier for Parker to sit at the table and get up and down. The first bench we used for a while was a CL find for $30 that we painted the same color as the chairs; it also had a long covered pad with the same fabric. I was naïve and thought I wouldn’t mind washing the bench cover when it got stained. Not only was it annoying, but the repetitive washings significantly discolored the fabric. I eventually gave up and let it get covered with ketchup stains. Home Goods came through for us though.

For $80 we got the new bench that you see in the pictures. I added a thick piece of foam to the top to make it extra comfy (Parker can kneel on this bench for an hour – it’s that soft) and recovered it with a laminated fabric, found here. We tackled this project only a couple of months ago and the laminated fabric selection have grown a lot since then. Joel Dewberry just released a great line of laminated fabrics.

“My dream chairs are Tolix chairs, mostly because they are indestructible with kids and I like the industrial mixed with the farmhouse table. Our Windsor chairs turned out beautiful but they do require some maintenance like paint touch-ups and regular dusting between the spindles. If I’m ever able to get Tolix chairs I will probably make new chair pad covers and recover this bench with a my own laminated fabric. This company will laminate up to 10 yards of fabric for $75. When I spoke to the owner he said that Premier Prints fabrics turn out really well in the lamination process, just FYI.

“The pendant above the table is the first light I ever bought. It shocked us how much pendant drum shades are. To save some money we bought the pieces to make this pendant from two different shops on Etsy. We ordered an 18 inch wide, 9 inch tall drum shade for $70 and a three light pendant fixture for $110. Unfortunately, both the shops that made these are no longer in business.

I love the pendant, however, it made it really hard to figure out the art for the wall behind the pendant. It couldn’t be a single piece of art (I was planning on handing Court of the Fairies that’s in our office here) because the drum shade was right in the middle. But Jenny saved us once again when she posted about picture rails.

“We spent about $10 at Home Depot on picture rail moulding and painted with our trim paint. The hooks came from here and the wire from a local hardware store (Home Depot only had silver wire). The frames were found at thrift stores, Home Goods, and Target. If you decide to tackle this project you should know there is a party going on behind the frames to get them to hang right.

“My seamstress friend helped me make the triple pleat curtains out of the Braemore Fioretto in the blue colorway. I found the best prices for this fabric at Mary Jo’s at $18/yard. (Ed. Note: When two rooms are open to each other like Emily’s living room and dining room are here, it’s a really good idea to use the same curtains in both rooms, even if you want the rooms to have a different feel.)

“We recently (after these pictures were taken) added vintage crystal sconces to flank the curtains. I love the way they look when turned on. These range in price on ebay and some even go into the thousands. I was determined to find a pair for less than a $100. Finally this pair came up on ebay and I was able to get them for $85. They required lots of cleaning; each crystal was covered in dust. I also had to rewire the crystals and order a few extra since some were missing.

It sounds a bit tedious but it was actually kind of fun. The tedious part was figuring out the electrical. Todd gets the hero award for this project. He spent seven hours on a Saturday, mostly in the crawl space, wiring these sconces to work with the main lighting in the room. Overall, the project cost around $150.

“I have to thank Jamie Meares for saving my dining room. I was really stuck on painting a china cabinet but when Jamie dropped off the wardrobe for our room she suggested a vintage buffet. The table is such a big piece that adding a large china cabinet would have over crowded the room. We found this vintage Thomasville buffet on CL. The owner even had the papers, it’s from the 50’s and is in perfect condition. It holds all of my serving pieces, cake stands, vases, table clothes, and other linens.

(before shot)

“On top of the buffet is a tray my sister got for me when she went to the Gien Factory in the south of France. I had nowhere to put my small white milk glass collection so this seemed like the best place.

“Above the buffet is a pair of pedigree charts framed in simple wood gallery frames I found at Michaels. The inspiration for these came from this MS article. I wanted to do both Todd’s and my pedigrees so Todd created the fan charts and we simply turned them on the side.”

DINING ROOM SOURCES:
Room Color: First Snowfall, Benjamin Moore
Table: Stable Tables, but fixed by Carolina Farm House
Chairs: Wood Quarters in Cary, NC
Spray paint on chairs: Warm Gray, Valspar Interior/Exterior in Satin
Fabric on chair pads: Amy Butler Nigella Home Decor
Bench: Home Goods, recovered with laminated fabric
Fabric on bench: Ty Pennington Impressions Laminated Cotton Angel Wings
Curtain fabric: Braemore Fioretto
Vintage Thomasville Buffet: Craigslist
Paint on buffet: Pewter, Benjamin Moore
Bird house: Thrift store
Dish in bird house: Anthropologie
Tray: Gift from sister
Pot: Home Goods
Pedigree Chart Frames: Michaels
Picture Rail Moulding: Home Depot
Picture rail clips: House of Antiques
Pendant: Etsy, sellers are no longer in business
Crystal Sconces: ebay
Milk Glass: flea market, thrift store
Large bowl: Pottery Barn

Our thanks again to Jessica of JJ Horton Photography for the images.

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