Just Frame It

Our house was a DIY dream. Slowly but surely we have worked our way through a list of projects! We have learned many things, sometimes too late.

One of our first was replacing a vanity in a guest bathroom. It was much higher than the one we took out. Which means the mirror that was above it, no longer fit. Oops! We called and called. No one would cut the mirror for us. And no one, including the habitat restore would take it!

(Side note: I am an expert at wallpaper removal, email me if you need tips!)

It sat in our garage. Like a lot of projects it sat there for quite awhile. Until I decided that we needed it in our dining room!

With some help from my trusted carpenter husband and a miter saw we had a new dining room mirror!

Happy Hour!

This piece of furniture used to sit in my office at work. It was a horrible early 1980's two sided office credenza. However, when we were doing some major clean up, I was able to snag it! No one could believe I wanted it. I didn't bother explaining my vision for it. Would they have understood it was going to be a bar in my dining room?

We were looking for a piece to store all our glasses, cook books and various platters etc. This piece held lots of stuff, how could it not be perfect?!

I wish I had taken before pictures, but take my word for it...it was awful!


Cheers to a bar repurpose!

Dining Room Cornice Boards

As in my playroom, I wanted something simple to give my windows a finished look. Our house is not formal so I knew curtains (in the dining room!) weren't going to work.
I wanted a fabric that had the blue of my dining room as well as brown and black in case the furniture were to ever change. Which it has!
And well, I'm a sucker for paisley!
Another thing I love about cornice boards is that you can make them any shape you want. You can make them taller or shorter. Wider or more narrow. You can add trim. Fringe, pom poms, ribbon, even piping. Best of all...you can also change the fabric, the minute you need something new!

Those Chairs

I got these chairs (I will spare you the long story of how they came home with me) and they sat in my garage for months.

I wanted to keep them. Not because I thought they would be beautiful, but because I wanted to use fabric. Remember, I LOVE fabric. Everyone told me not to bother, just sell them as is. Well that goes against every ounce of my being. I couldn't just sell them, I had to do something to them! After much deliberation, I decided to at least paint them black so if I did like them, I could keep them.

Once I primed them, I was nervous because they looked really good "white". However, white just would not work in my room. I was stuck. What do I do? Do I go for it and paint them white for someone else, or stick to the plan, paint them black and lay claim for myself?

I went with black. I had to keep these chairs. I could not wait to use my cornice board fabric and find some more fun coordinating fabric for the other four chairs!

I LOVE these chairs. I love the way they look against my blue dining room walls. I love the fabrics. I love the colors.

And the naysayers...are pretty impressed with the refresh!