Home Improvement is Back on the Agenda

We've owned our home for a little bit over a year, 6 months of which Paul was unemployed. (He was laid off from his job 7 months after we bought the house.) While Paul was unemployed we had to put our home improvement/settling in plans on hold. Now that he is employed again, we've begun moving forward with some of the many things on our list.

We recently came upon a great store for finding vintage furniture. I almost don't want to tell you where it is, because I don't want the competition! I will, though, because they deserve the business. Here is a link to Flamingos. Their prices are really fair and they were really friendly and nice to us. We happened to be driving past while out running errands. It was pretty remarkable that we stumbled upon it because they are only open one weekend a month. They were kind enough to hold the furniture for us while we went home and measured some spaces to make sure it would fit.

We ended up purchasing 2 tables and a grape crate drawer thingie. The two tables have some branding labels in the drawers. I did a little poking around on the internet and found that they were made from American Mahogany in Maryland.

We also got this grape crate cabinet/drawer/cart. I am not sure of any of the history of the crates, but the furniture part of it seems handmade. The piece makes for a great place to store some of the miscellaneous stuff that had not found a home in our kitchen/pantry area. I now have a whole drawer for my kitchen aprons!

I also finally got around to sewing covers for 2 pillows that I purchased at least 5 or 6 years ago. Once again I was reminded that sewing is an enjoyable thing in my mind, but in reality, I don't think it is fun. Working with the machine, cutting and piecing things together, pinning and unpinning...to me it all feels like a means to an end. It is so odd for me, because it seems that based on other things I enjoy, this would be a process that I would like. Maybe if I gained more skill, I would find it more enjoyable. Maybe.

I sewed this with a simple overlapping flap on the back so as to minimize the chance that I would screw it up. The fabric was a hand-me-down from Jamie and goes really well with the couch and wall colors. The other pillows on the couch came with the couch. I am not a big fan of them so hopefully I can build a small collection of pillows that I like better to replace the pre-packaged set.

Another thing I have been wanting to change since we moved in is the paint color on the dining room wall. The floor plan is pretty open, so we had a challenging time finding something that went well with the paint colors on either side (bright turquoise in the living room and deep red in the wet bar). Paul and I have different ideas about paint colors, so we have had to work hard to find a color we both like that goes well with the existing colors. We have literally been discussing this room color on and off since we finished painting the living room 7 months ago.

We have been to the paint store every Saturday for the last month. I am not exaggerating. We would look at paint chips, buy a test quart or print, prime and paint a swatch, not be pleased with it and repeat it all the next week. This past weekend, we finally found a winner. We are going with a mellow, silvery gray color. Nevermind that this was a color I suggested and Paul rejected months ago! I am just happy to have reached a consensus.

One of my favorite things about weekends lately are the breakfasts that Paul cooks for us. Here is an example of a typical weekend morning breakfast at our house. On that plate is a veggie and egg scramble with goat cheese, homefries made with roasted tomato olive oil, veggie bacon, toast and fresh figs. Mmm, mmm, good. These big breakfasts have been powering us through the home owner tasks and errand running.