Summer house updates

 

It's been quite some time since I updated this blog, not that I am not still doing a lot around this house, we have just had a really busy summer.  On the Sunday before I am due to go back to my teaching job I thought I would share a few house updates for anyone that might still be out there reading.  We have had a fantastic summer with trips to San Francisco, and then New Zealand for 5 weeks so I have lots of those pictures to share too.  I thought I'd share some house pictures in this first post though.

 

I bought these new dining chairs for $20 each.  The person I bought them from said they were made in Dresden, Germany after WWII.  They are in great condition, just needed a little update with the fabric.  The picture below is the original fabric.

 

Then with new fabric:

(I didn't have to buy any, I just re-used from some World Market chair covers I had)

I love my new chairs.  At the beginning of the summer I had started re-painting the kitchen cabinets, starting with the island I painted a darker gray, and all the outer cabinets I painted "Simply White".  I am really happy with the change and the kitchen is a lot brighter and great to show off my vintage Fiesta and other dishes.  I took off the cabinet doors above the fridge to have more display space too.

 

The new chairs go perfectly with my maple Ethan Allen table I bought a few months previous.  Here it is with one of the extra leaves added

 

On this side is all our "everyday dishes" of fiestaware.  I cleared out the drawer below on the left for all my teas.

 

Even the pantry got a little update with new handles to match the other cabinet hardware.

 

And another summer find is this little arm chair, I found at a resale shop for $20.  The fabric is in perfect condition and the frame was already painted that pretty light blue.

 

And even our old door from the garage that leads through the laundry room into the kitchen got a makeover with a coat of dark gray. 

Happy New Year!

Wow, it's been about 5 months since I last posted here.  I had a few new home finds and changes to share though.

Just this weekend I found this little china cabinet, already painted and stained in an antique style finish.  I changed out the knobs to these from Anthropologie (on sale $2.99 each)

I gave away my big book shelf to a friend but I love this little piece and can change out the pieces depending on what I want to display.

We bought this old printers tray a couple of months ago to display some little collections of my grandmother's thimbles and other little pieces.

Also I painted the french doors to my office.  They were stained a dark color, but they were a bit too dark with the new wall paint, I like them a lot better now.

my art / family picture wall is a mix-match of things, but I like every little thing up there

my other china cabinet with some of my blue fiestaware and other pieces

and this dresser moved downstairs and is good storage for more china pieces, board games and linens

another "baby ben" clock

and another recent find, the "persimmon" fiesta ware cups from GOODWILL!   This persimmon, turquoise and gray are my favorite colors of fiesta ware, but I have some yellow, green and other colors too, I really love it all.

and I bought these new lamp shades from Pottery barn with a Christmas gift card, I love them too.

Finished Office and Living Room - new paint

I think I am finally done with painting!  My downstairs rooms at least.  I'll just share all these AFTER pictures, if you want to see the rooms before you can read these posts about the green desk

or this one has some pictures of both rooms.  The color was not bad, but just beige, so I was ready for a change and it needed fresh paint as that was a flat paint that showed every little mark.

Here is my office, painted Behr Dark Ash on the top, and Benjamin Moore Simply White on the bottom below the chair rail.  I LOVE the way it turned out.

I found this color online and it has been on my pinterest board for a while (see this picture).

I keep craft and scrapbooking supplies in this dresser:

And the plastic drawers are not pretty but they don't look too bad on this shelf.

I got a few of these white frames from IKEA for $1.99 for a few favorite family pictures........

 With my Mum (I'm in the backpack) and one of my Dad when he was young.

and pictures of my grandparents....

I love the color against the white crown molding.

And this new white curtain rod (also from IKEA).  These curtains have moved around the house in a couple of different rooms but I think they look good in here.

And the living room got painted my favorite light gray - Valspar Seashell Gray.

I'm trying the chalkboard hanging vertical, I read somewhere that hanging things this way makes the ceilings seem higher, not sure if this is true, but I like it this way for now! 

I like Kate's little quote and artwork better than my 'tree' I had as a temporary filler.

and my globe "collection" (I guess 2 counts for a collection, right?)  The little one is a bank so it's actually in use to keep that spare change.

And my other bigger collection has moved back to the family room (this room is also painted Seashell gray)

I love it all in here and the blue-ish fiestaware looks good with my blue dresser.

Emmy is happy she can nap in peace without painting or furniture moving going on around her....

The knitted blanket I bought at a flea market / thrift store in New Zealand last year.

See the cute stool the lamp is on?  I bought it from a blog "friend" Pamela who lives close by.  If you haven't already visit her blog From My Front Porch to Yours.  She is very talented in furniture painting and decorating.

 The blue chest and pillows have also moved back here to co-ordinate with the other blues in the room

Have you been painting or moving furniture lately??