I love our “new” dining room. It feels like us and we accomplished it pretty cheaply (I’ll get in to more of that in a bit!). Before I show you the before and after, I wanted to run through the list of what we did.
Our List:
Updating the Chandelier
Buying and Updating the Table
Buying and Refinishing the Chairs
Adding Garden Chairs
Adding the Dresser
DIY Ikat Painting
Adding Curtains
Painting all Trim and the China Cabinet (taking it from Cream to White)
We came in at just a few dollars over $400 for the whole room (furniture, paint, decor, etc.).
Ok, so on to the before and after.
Before:
Progress:
After:
The trim in person is pure white. Just lovely. You can’t tell as much from pictures, but it made a huge difference.
I’ll do a full source list on Wednesday.
Hope you love it as much as we do. =)
Linking up to:
If you were expecting the Formal Dining room reveal, I’m so sorry! Those built-in cabinets are kicking my butt! I’ve put two coats of paint on plus primer and I still need to do another touch-up. The good news is that I WILL GET THEM FINISHED over the weekend. Nothing is going to stop me.
So, since I have mindlessly been painting on those cabinets, I’ve had a lot of time to think about other projects (Luke is cheering in the background – not). After showing the hallway update on Wednesday, I started really looking at the hallway. The gallery wall is definitely in progress and closing in on completion. I’m planning on leaving it a bit open, so that I can add to it after every trip. We have a larger map for the non-gallery side of the hallway and it just needs to be hung. So, that leaves baseboards to paint and flooring.
The carpeting up the stairs to the hallway is just plain awful. Whenever I mention it to someone who has seen my house in real life, they seem to think it’s not that bad. But, they are just being nice. Well, I hate it. The carpet in the actual hallway is not terrible, but I can’t seem to wrap my head around what I could do with the stair portion and not the hallway.
So, the obvious choice would be replacing it with hardwood. Well, we would like to do a pretty large kitchen/living area update within ten years and I want all my hardwood to match. Call me crazy? I want hardwood throughout the entry, up front and back stairs, living room, formal dining room, kitchen, stairs to upstairs, hallway and master bedroom. I hate to put hardwood in right now when I know it will be impossible to match and we will just have to replace it.
I’ve been seeing painted and stained plywood all over the internet. Some are prettier than others. Some people have installed it fresh as wood planks and those are just adorable. However, to cut costs I’m thinking I could just use the plywood that is under than carpet.
Here are some of the examples that I’ve seen:
via Pinterest via HGTV
via Quarry Orchard
via Pinterest via Lovely Etc
I’m leaning more towards doing a dark stain and then putting down runners. I love the look of runners and it would help with hiding the seams of the plywood. I’m definitely one of those people who would be bothered by oddly-placed seams.
Aren’t these runners gorgeous?
via Pinterest via Souther Hospitality
via Pinterest via Design Indulgence
Has anyone else had this problem? Any ideas other than what I mentioned? If this could be done for under $300 or so, then I think it would be a huge improvement.
Decisions, decisions.
We finally took care of the disgusting ceiling eyesores (attic fan, smoke alarm and grate). Remember this?
(After taking that picture, I realized how ugly the light bulb was as well!)
Solution… chrome-tip globe shaped bulbs.
Already looking better…
After putting the new bulbs in, we took down the grate, smoke alarm and attic fan. They all got washed and spray painted. The grate and smoke alarm looks brand new. I didn’t realize it, but the attic fan has some streaks (?) in the coating. It’s definitely more noticeable in the picture than it is in person. I’m still debating on whether to take it back down and re-coat it.
I’m so in love with those light bulbs! They have regular shaped one’s as well and they are 1/2 off right now. I’m trying to figure out where I could put more of them. =) Maybe I should just start a stockpile, since I know I would never pay full price for them.
Luke started this blog originally. Did you know that? He wanted to document the fun things we were learning in regards to keeping up with an older house. Well, he didn’t post often enough (like I think he posted once a month and only three times ever!) so I took over the blog. =) Funny how those things happen. I say all of that to say that sometimes, he will pop up with projects and recipes. He’s good with things like that (better than me, even).
Ok, so why the recipe? To be honest, we worked in the yard this weekend and caught up with family. That was about it. So, when Luke told me (because I asked for it for Mother’s Day) he was going to cook Steak Chimichurri, I immediately knew it was going to be my blog post. This recipe is just too good to pass up. Seriously, you must make it!
Found via Pinterest via The Noshery
Skirt Steak and Sweet Potato Stir-Fry with Chimichurri Sauce (adapted from Food & Wine May 2011) (Serves 4)
Sauce (makes 1 cup)
- 1 cup (packed) fresh Italian parsley
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup (packed) fresh cilantro
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 3/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Stir-fry
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp adobo
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 pound skirt steak
- 1 red onion, halved and slivered
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- 8 ounces frozen sweet potato fries
- 1/4 cup sliced sweet peppers
- 1/4 cup cilantro
For sauce: Puree all ingredients in processor. Transfer to bow, set aside. Can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.
In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, cumin, coriander, adobo, garlic and a generous pinch each of salt and pepper. Cut the steak into 4-inch pieces; slice the steaks across the grain 1/2 inch thick and add to the bowl along with the onion. Let marinate for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, bake sweet potato fries in the oven according to instructions on package or until golden and crispy.
Heat a large griddle until very hot. Add the steak and onion along with the sliced sweet peppers and stir-fry over high heat until the meat and onion are cooked through and lightly charred, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the sweet potato fries and cilantro and flip with a spatula to combine. Serve right away drizzled with chimichurri sauce.
Back to the yard part…
I have a pretty large list of things to accomplish both short-term and long-term in our yard. I haven’t committed them to paper yet, because I’m scared to see how much work its going to be. So, be prepared to see some outside updates soon (I’m sure our neighbors will appreciate it).
While we were in San Francisco, I fell in love with these.
A local told us that they were called “hen and chicks”. I figured they wouldn’t grow in Missouri, so I just marked them off my list. Guess what I came across at the Farmer’s Market? Yep, a different version of them. $2. Yes, I will take two. Love them. The lady at the booth said that they will grow (not near as large as the above ones) up to about a baseball size. I only need to water once a week (score!).
Look how lovely they look on my patio table.
It’s all about the little things.
I feel like I’m kickin’ butt in the dining room, but I am SO TIRED OF PAINTING! See all the arrows below?
Those are all in the process of being sanded, primed and painted. Well, actually the window (you can only see one pane in this picture) is completely done. The door jam looking in to the dining room is also completely done.
What you can’t see in the above picture are the baseboards. We can’t leave those guys out. We have carpet in the room, so we decided to use packing tape along the carpet (hoping there wasn’t any seepage). I’m here to report that it totally worked. Much easier than taking all of the baseboards off to paint (I only wish I knew this two rooms ago). =)
You all know what I’ll be doing this weekend…pulling the “It’s Mother’s Day” card and asking the hubby to finish it. Just kidding. He hasn’t worked on any of it yet, so he is actually due to put some work in. I’ll let you know how all of that goes down. =)
Have a great Mother’s Day.