Our New House: The Dining Room

It almost seems comical to post a dining room tour since our living room, kitchen, and dining room are actually one large space, but those three rooms seemed too large to tackle all in one post!  So welcome to our dining room, which is also our eat-in kitchen - well loved and well used! 

The dining room sits between our kitchen and living room, so as you can imagine, it gets a ton of daily use.  I've kept the space pretty neutral in the hopes that everything flows nicely from one space to another.     

Here's a picture that shows the living room also, so you can get an idea of the layout.  We all absolutely love having an open floor plan, but it has presented challenges that I never considered.  For example, the lack of wall space, which makes furniture placement a challenge, as well as creating spaces that all flow together (especially including a kitchen that you can see from the living room!).  It's definitely still a work in progress, but I love that although I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, I can still feel like I'm with everyone else!  

 

The drapes are linen, and were made by my very talented mom.  The gray-blue matches some of our cabinetry in the kitchen.  

We purchased the table and chairs a few years ago from Costco.  We absolutely love them.  There are two leaves that we can add to the table and seat about 10 people.  So this table has been a workhorse for sure! 

 

Last year I found this old gate leg table at a local antique store and it has been a wonderful addition to this space (and also one of my favorite antique purchases ever!).  It anchors the living room from the dining room, and creates additional seating when we have a large crowd.  We've used it several times now as a table!   I also love the idea of adding at least one antique furniture piece to each room.  It can add so much character and warmth, don't you agree?

 On the opposite side of the wall, we incorporated some wood shiplap to add some character.  All the walls and trim in this space are painted the same color, Alabaster by Sherwin Williams.  I have since painted a few rooms in our home, but I'm not sure I'll ever paint this main room as the creamy white seems to help balance everything and enables me to change our drapes, pillows, etc. as the mood strikes!     

This cabinet is one of my very favorite things in our new home.  We eliminated the pantry that was in the house plans and instead asked our cabinet maker to make a built-in dining cabinet.  One of the things I loved most about our old farmhouse was the built in cabinet in our dining room (see pictures here).  I showed him pictures and asked him to create something that might give that similar old home feel... and house all my dishes - ha!  I love, love, love what he created.  When I first saw it, I was almost speechless.  Although the cabinet color is the same as our kitchen, we purposely used different hardware and a different cabinet design (like inset doors) so that it felt more like a dining furniture piece versus kitchen cabinetry.  

This cabinet is huge (9' tall) with deep shelves, so it actually fits my entire collection of dishes (much to my husband's dismay).   I use the drawers for storage, like cloth napkins, tablecloths, extra silverware, etc. 

Do you recognize these shelves from our previous home?  Justus made these and I could not bear to leave them behind and was insistent that they make the move with us.  I still love them and couldn't imagine our home without something so special.  

I just last week purchased the rest of the set of Johnson Brothers Staffordshire Bouquet to finish my collection and placed a lot of it here on these shelves as I love it so much.  This was a totally unplanned purchase, I promise, and I truly tried talking myself out of it.  I actually recently broke one of my saucers in this pattern, so when my mom and I were strolling through a few antique stores, imagine my surprise when I found an entire set with an amazing price - ha!  I couldn't not leave without it though, and while my husband was totally shocked that I could possibly feel the need to purchase more dishes (said with love), I'm sure you understand.  ;-)  

The console table was purchased our first year of marriage (15 years ago!), and eventually I'll replace it, but only when I find something really special and unique for this space.  This wall felt like it needed something simple, like lanterns, versus artwork, so we hung these here and added some timed candles that add a warm glow each evening. 

Thanks for touring our dining room space!  We eat together as a family every night here, so it's a well loved space.  It's such a simple thing, and yet means so much.  It's not just sharing a meal, but sharing about our day, our thoughts, our feelings.  

Let me know if you have any questions - hopefully I covered it all! I hope to share some more room tours in the next month or two, including the kitchen and living room.  :-)

 Dining Room Details:

Paint Color: Alabaster Sherwin Williams

Table & Chairs: Costco (I don't see these as being available right now)

All lighting: Pottery Barn

Lanterns: Pottery Barn

Framed Landscape Art: Ballard Designs

The Girls Bathroom

I promised myself I would do a blog post this weekend, and I'm only a day late, which I'm pretty happy about.  ;-)  My entire blog needs updating (ugh), but maybe I'll get around it one of these days.  I've said it before, but I miss blogging and always have intentions to get back to it more consistently!

Meanwhile, I'm so happy to be on here again, sharing a tour of the girls bathroom, which is one of my favorite rooms in the house.  Something about this little room is so sweet. 

 

When our house was built, we had most of the walls painted white (although I've since painted a couple rooms), but the girls and I somehow convinced Justus to have their bathroom painted pink.  It had to very pale and subtle though (his words), which I was on complete agreement with.  :-)  I love, love, love this pale pink... so perfect for a girl's room.  The color is Sherwin Williams White Dogwood.  I couldn't find this color in the store in their paint swatches, so had to go off images online.  Normally I would never do this (I tend to leave the store with 50 paint swatches to agonize over- ha), but it felt like the right color and it definitely was.

The floors are tiled with white and black hexagon tiles, which I also love.  It's a timeless tile that also feels fun!  The vanity is custom, painted Sherwin Williams Alabaster, with the same knobs and pulls I used in the rest of the house.

 The faucets and all hardware are from the Pfister Tisbury line. This is from the same beautiful and durable line in the rest of our baths, and I still love its timeless design, especially the faucet cross handles. 

 

 I made the silhouettes of the girls one day on pink cardstock and framed them... a really quick, fun project.  Google a tutorial sometime!  

It's always fun incorporating decor that comes with memories.  These are all the shells we've collected from our yearly Florida vacations.  

 The house plans originally had a shower stall in this bathroom, but we changed the plans to include a bathtub.  We were then left with a small cubby to the right of the tub, which would have been perfect for the toilet, but was just a tad small to meet code measurements (bummer!).  Eventually I'd like to do some creative built in storage here, but for now it hides dirty laundry and wet towels.  ;-)  (By the way, I love using robe hooks for towels... they dry faster and look pretty, even when wet.  We hung them a little lower, so the girls could reach them and easily hang up their towels themselves.)

I think part of the reason I love this room so much is all the light flooding in from these three small windows (the view doesn't hurt either!).  

 When I first started decorating this room, I could not find one girl's shower curtain that I liked.  They all felt either too bright (think hot pink) or too plain (think white eyelet).  My mom came to the rescue once again and sewed this curtain with some fabric I picked out. 

 I absolutely love it... I love how she used three different fabrics that all coordinate to make the absolute sweetest shower curtain.  We've had this shower curtain two years now, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of it!  

 Thanks for touring this space with us.  The fact that the girls love their shared bathroom as much as I do is pretty great, too.  ;-)  Let me know if you have any questions, but I'll include sources below!

Sources (with links):

Wall Paint: Sherwin Williams White Dogwood

Trim and Cabinet Paint: Sherwin Williams Alabaster

Door Paint: Sherwin Williams Peppercorn

Faucets, towel rack, towel ring, paper holder, robe/towel hooks: Pfister Tisbury - Brushed Nickel

Shower curtain fabric: Amy Sinibaldi Playground Collection

Towels: Target

Tile: Floor & Decor White and Black Hexagon Porcelain

Rug: Pottery Barn

Vanity Lights: Pottery Barn

New Home Tour: A Girl's Bedroom

 It's so fun to share pictures today of our ten year old daughter's bedroom.  This light filled room is so sweet that it became one of my favorite rooms in the house.  

When we moved into our new home, it seemed the perfect opportunity to update Jillian's bedroom as she is growing up (so quickly).  So for her birthday last year, she received all the bedding and a few room decor items to decorate with when we moved in.  She was so excited to get it all put together and most importantly, she loves her room too.  (Her bedroom also happens to have one of my favorite views out those large windows!)   

 I'm sure you aren't surprised to see that we started with a blank canvas... white walls and carpet.  It reminds me of when I was a young girl and I begged my parents to let me paint my room ANY other color than white (smile).  However, the neutral background really allows the soft pinks to shine and I love that.  

The only rooms in our house that we installed carpet are the girls' rooms.  We went this route as they spend a lot of time on the floor playing, drawing and reading.  So far I haven't regretted the decision and before you ask (smile), I haven't even once regretted going so light with the color! 

 

My mother-in-law was insistent that each girl needed her own chandelier for her bedroom... so the girls each received matching chandeliers from her last year as a gift for their new rooms.  They are so pretty and instantly add such a girlish charm... and the girls adore them.  I love the milk glass she chose as well and the timeless look it adds.  

All her furniture came from our previous home (you can find that post here); however, the worn dresser that once fit right in with our old farmhouse didn't fit so well with a brand new home, so I gave it a makeover and love the way it turned out.  (My father-in-law helped restore the wood top... so thankful for family that loves us!) 

Jillian loves to sew (all thanks to my mom), so she has a few little things around her room she made, like this heart banner and the little throw blanket on the end of the bed.  

 

 The bedding... ahh, the bedding, it just makes the room, doesn't it?  This was a collaboration with my amazing seamstress of a mother (smile).  I really wanted to go with a soft pink but also add in some navy so that this bedding could carry her up to teen years.  My mom found this fabric and when she showed it to me, I knew instantly it was simply perfect. 

My mom made both the bed skirt and the pillow shams and then I purchased a quilt to match.  The bed skirt fabric has some houses on it and she kept up the theme by adding some blocks that are fabric pieced together to look like houses.  So sweet!   

The subtle theme is also carried out by the three house paintings my daughter did that are above her bed.  (I took a fabric sample with me to the girls' art lessons and their teacher helped Jillian paint these specifically for her room.) 

The pillow shams are also pieced together in a pinwheel pattern and I have no words to describe how much I love them. 

On the other side of the room is a desk that was mine growing up that belonged to my grandmother.  It desperately needs a paint job, but I haven't gotten around to it yet (wink).   The cross-stitch piece framed was also mine and it's been in Jillian's room since she was as newborn baby.  I love all these old pieces that came with us to our new home like old friends. 

(This entire side of Jillian's room is where all her dolls live... and their furniture... the mess is not pictured!)

 My mom also made the bulletin board with matching fabric and Jillian loves using it to store all kinds of momentos. 

  And of course, this proud mama loves to display her girls' artwork.  The upstairs is full of their drawings and paintings!  

The girls both have fairly large closets (at least compared to our two previous homes), which is so nice for storing all their toys and all kinds of other things! 

 Having written this post just now, I'm starting to see why this is one of my favorite rooms.  It's pieced together with a whole lot of love!! 

 Sources:

 Fabric used for pillow shams, bed skirt, and bulletin board: Charleston by Amy Sinibaldi

Pink quilt: Pottery Barn Kids (no longer sold)

Blackout Curtains: Pottery Barn Kids

Bed frame: Pottery Barn Kids (no longer sold)

Wall and trim paint color: Sherwin Williams Alabaster

Door paint color: Sherwin Williams Peppercorn

Dresser Paint Color: Annie Sloan Paris Gray with clear wax

If I missed anything, feel free to ask in the comments!

New Home Tour: The Guest Bedroom

 Time to share some room tours before this new house becomes old!  (wink)  

The guest room was definitely one of my favorite rooms to decorate in this house and I splurged a little here and there.  What that means is our guest bedroom has soft, beautiful sheets while our master bedroom has old, close to threadbare sheets - ha! 

 While the majority of the rooms in our house were painted white, I went out on a limb here (exaggerating just slightly) and painted the guest bedroom a soft green-blue.  The color is Sherwin Williams Sea Salt.  If you do a little digging, this color is a favorite for many and I'm no exception.  We also had our master bath painted this color and nobody has guessed that it's the same color.  It can look a little blue in one room, a little green in another, depending on the light.

 Initially our plan was to use this room as our schoolroom while we gradually worked on finishing the bonus room upstairs, so I sold all our previous guest bedroom furniture.  However, we ended up completing the bonus room before moving in (something I'm thankful for every day... can't wait to share that room!), so this room sat empty for a while.  My mother in law so kindly gave us the twin antique bed frames, and they were exactly what I had pictured for this room. 

I found this sweet little table at a local antique store.  I went out one afternoon looking for something to place in between the beds, but I didn't want to spend much since I had already purchased so much for this room.  I passed up a lot of beautiful desks and furniture, but it all worked out, because I found this table at the last store we visited for $40.  Sold! 

 

 I think the star in this room are the roman shade curtains.  This was fabric I had purchased for our previous house in the dining room.  My mom sewed me floor length drapes for the room, but after we moved into our new home, I realized none of our drapes would work as the window placement is completely different.  High water drapes... no thanks!  So my mom and I spent an entire day (and I do mean an entire day) turning the drapes into roman shades as this fabric matched so perfectly and was essentially brand new.  

{Fabric is Buffalo Check Spa by Ballard Designs found here, although I found it on ebay}

 

I wish I had a good tutorial to share, but it was mostly trial and error along with several trips back to my house to analyze the roman shades in our master bedroom I had purchased.  There are some tutorials for roman shade shortcuts, but these actually do have the real roman shade hardware.  My mom and I both thought we didn't want to see another roman shade ever, but I think we both felt it was completely worth it once the shades were hung.  (smile)

{This is the tutorial we used as a guideline}

Since the beds are antique, I really wanted matelasse bedding to give that timeless feel.  The sheets I purchased in a color to match the walls and shades.  And wouldn't you know it, there was just enough fabric left over to make a couple throw pillows! 

 {Matelasse bedding by Pinzon Ivy found on Amazon here

Sheets are Restoration Hardware Vintage Crochet in Seafoam found here (and still on sale!)

Buffalo check throw pillows made in fabric linked above and toile pillow purchased here a few years ago}

 I purchased these thick gold frames for this bedroom, but they seemed too bold for the room when they arrived.  However, my husband said the room needed a pop of color and now I appreciate the contrast (smile).  I cringed while I cut out a couple prints from my Audubon bird book to place inside.

{Frames purchased here.}

 

  The rest of the decor in the room is what I already had on hand.  I couldn't wait to hang some of my transferware plates again.   

A look at the other side of the room... I didn't take a picture of the closet inside because it is so messy, but it's a nice sized walk in closet that we had lined with shelving for a linen closet.  The chair is a gift from my husband's grandmother and does anybody remember the mirror hanging above?  It was in our previous living room (smile). 

 Across from the guest bedroom in this tiny little hallway is the coordinating guest bathroom, which you can see here.

Thanks for visiting again!  I hope to get some pictures soon of another room to share!