As I mentioned in my previous post, my family just moved from California into a older home here in Illinois. Well the house is just perfect for us, 5 bedroom and out in the country, and has that old farm house feel to it. The original part of the house was a farm house built in 1948 and sometime later, o think in the 80's, a 3 bedroom split level was added on. We actually bought the home without even seeing it while we were still in California..crazy I know. I would literally stare at the pictures of it online everyday and in vision how I wanted the furniture arranged here and what color I wanted for the kitchen and so on. I even bought fabric while out there and made drapes for the dining room. Yes, thanks to Miss Mustard Seed's inspirational tutorials @
www.missmustardseed.com I managed to get her gorgeous "look" in my new house! Her tutorials are so easy and in detail. I was able to sew up some of her "dummy panels" in no time and saved a lot of money doing so! She even gives the name of the fabric she used which I just had to have!
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| Isn't it dreamy... |
So today I thought I'd share with you my finished dining room! Well, all finished except the crystal chandelier which I scored on Ebay and that my lovely husband hasn't had time to put up
yet (he has his projects to I understand).
The table and chairs and china cabinet were Craigslist finds. My wonderful mom and her boyfriend actually picked it up for me in St. Louis while we were in California..are you starting to see how impatient I am? When I saw it online, the table top looked like solid wood, so you can imaginr how dissapointed I was when I saw it with my own eyes and discovered it had a veneer top. After doing some research on how refinish veneer, I gave it a go. Although I was skeptical on the whole process of refinishing veneer, I thought what's the worse that could happen? If it doesn't turn out I could always paint it! Soooo, I striped the varnish of and oh do carefully sanded it down to a silky finish. A dark walnut stain was applied followed by 5 coats of poly, yes, one coat for each child, haha, and the results are just gorgeous! It turned out better that Id hoped. I then painted the bottom of the table and chairs in ASCP Old White. I distressed the chairs and table bottom, then used a clear wax on these pieces which gave them a soft luster. The seats cushion were o great shape, just not very pretty so I upholstered them using a fabric from Walmart(yes, they have everything!) that resembles an old grain sack, and then I made my own stencil using a ruler to help keep the lines straight, and tada, German grain sack upholstered seats!
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| Cane Back Chair with new "grain sack" seat |
The china cabinet was very time consuming, but totally worth it. I painted the shell and doors in ASCP Louis Blue and the trim and inside in Old White. After distressing, I gave it a coat of clear wax followed by dark wax for a patina look.
Also, the walls in the dining room were a not so pretty green so they had to go, they're now a creamy white. I hope you enjoy:)
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And our new Dining Room
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| China Cabinet in ASCP Louis Blue and Old White |
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| Old Glass Knobs, lovely.. |
