all around the house...

So my man has been working on the yard of late, and I have been concentrating on our house. I feel that itch again, that itch to sell the house and move. I think moving in and out of the dorm every year for college, and then moving almost every year when I was single trained me to move every year. We lived in our first house for almost two years and then I convinced my husband to sell it and buy this one. I finally figured out that instead of selling the houses, I should just redecorate something. Thus, this year it is the kitchen and dining room.

Right now the kitchen is red. I had always wanted a red kitchen and now I am tired of it. I just think I am not a red person, but like more muted colors. The kitchen cabinets, tile and island were all done over when we moved into the house, and are all fine, but the red has got to go!

Our kitchen opens up into our den, which I have painted a different color, a light pumpkiny color, and I am going to keep that color. So whatever color I choose needs to coordinate somewhat with that color, or at least not look horrible with it. The red and pumpkin look nice together, and I could paint the whole kitchen that same pumpkin, or a version from that swatch, but I think it would be too close to the color of the cabinets and too much of the same. Sooo...I think I am settling in on a gray blue color with some green in it. That's so specific, isn't it? I am going to paint this weekend and will show you the results later. If you have any favorite paint colors in the range, let me know.

The other project is taking place in the dining room. This is our old dining table, which we bought at a furniture store near our old house. We loved it, but it was giant and was two pedestals with a large sheet of glass on it. Really fancy but there were a couple of problems.

First, the glass was HUGE. It measured 4 feet by 8 feet. Great when I wanted to sew and spread out fabric and awesome for scrapbooking and projects and having people over, but not so great to try to walk around if someone was sitting in the chair. Second, the glass was a hazard. We never really had problems with it, but when our nephews and niece came over they tended to run into the glass. They just didn't see it. And they liked to put fingerprints on it from underneath, which were a pain to clean. With us adding to the family sometime soon, we wanted a more family friendly table. And this is our only spot to eat. We have no kitchen table area, just this large table.

We sold the parsons chairs and the pedestals, and the glass went to a recycling place (it had a chip and no one wanted it.) This was the empty room.

We went around and looked at tables, trying to find the perfect balance between casual kitchen and formal dining room, with a Pottery Barn look without the price tag. I didn't want an overly carved table, and we really wanted one with a leaf, so we'd have a small table for just us, but a way to seat more people when we wanted to. I loved the chairs and the "ribbon" detailing on the backs. Fancy enough, but not too fancy.

Sadly, the table that was delivered is not functioning properly, and is missing a piece. They can't come out and fix it for several weeks, but instead they are going to bring us a new one. We actually haven't sat at it yet, not wanting to damage anything and break it further. It will be nice to have something to sit at and eat, not just look at. I like the new table a lot.

My husband always wants to know what I think about our purchases. He wants to know if I really like it. And I do like this table. Is it what I would purchase if money was not an object? Hmmm, maybe. I would move myself into the Pottery Barn catalog and live there for a long time if they would allow it. It is just so really my style. Not too overly fussy, but elegant at the same time. And they use color. Not always bright crayony colors, but soothing choices. Love PB.

Anyway, the kitchen is getting painted this weekend while my husband is working at a church thing. So on Saturday, think of me while I am rolling over all this red and calming it down. Again, if you have any colors to recommend, let me know.