Dining Room Before

Good morning everyone.

What a beautiful California day.  This is the last of a warmish days here in the mountains as it is to cool down again.

The past week or so of mid to upper 60’s has been oh so lovely, but reality must prevail. 

It is November, and we need rain and snow (the snow would stay higher up on the mountain if I had my way) so if it must be cold anyways…

come on rain and snow!

My garden is parched and in need of some moisture. 

Even dormant.

My morning has been quiet. 

Instead of my morning reading I sat and crocheted another row on my mystery dining room accessory. 

Letting my brain be quiet for half an hour felt so refreshing.

My mind leisurely wandered over what I need to accomplish today and how best to organize it all.

So now instead of my brain running at a frenetic pace and making me crazy I feel serenely focused and able to tackle the long ‘to do’ list. 

Why I have gotten out of the habit of taking the time each morning to just be, I don’t know.

I had started the habit when my kids were in school.  I rose half an hour before they needed to and had ‘me’ time.

Sometimes I sat with my freshly brewed coffee and reveled in the quiet.

Sometimes I cross stitched or crocheted and in the summer I would walk the garden with clippers in hand to dead head.

Mindless tasks that let my mind ramble.

It seemed to make my life less crazy.

And now I am rambling on here, so sorry…

back to my crochet….

One more row of red and I will switch back to white.

Since I am winging this creation there was no way to determine how much I would need and I am running low on the white yarn. 

Time for a trip to the yarn store….what a tribulation! 

I mentioned  previously that I was working on redoing my dining area.

Just so you get an idea of what I am working with I took some photos for you.

This view is taken from the living room.

Our house runs on the petite side at barely 1300 square feet.

For the two of us, it is more than plenty.  

Here we are a little further back.

I am going to remove this cabinet and make something to put here. 

I am not telling what yet.

Here in the photo above you can get a better perspective of how small this space actually is. 

We made the dining room table about 3 years ago, it is square Farm Table made just for this space.

To see that post CLICK HERE.  (it is one of my very first blog posts and it looks it but it does show the table in progress)

I am toying with the idea of putting a rectangular table in here. 

I have one stashed that just needs a bit of paint and a rustic top made for it.

I am not sure what I can do with the chandelier to make it what I wish. 

Paint it?

New shades?

I know what you are thinking.

Just replace it.

And I may in the future but this redo is being done, for the most part,  with what I have or can make with supplies I have on hand.

Very little will be purchased.

Now the dining room chair slipcovers are only in place until the white ones get washed.  (they do look better pressed but we grabbed them from the closet when the others had to be stripped off and washed)

I prefer to white ones, well, they are really cream but I am thinking of switching out a couple of these chairs for some arrow back ones I have.

They match the table I am working on too.

They are getting painted as we speak. 

In doing this I am realizing I don’t enjoy painting furniture, it seems extremely tedious to me. 

I have to admire those that paint furniture day after day. 

Then there is the floor. 

I am thinking a painted floor cloth in a lighter color, this dark brown just sucks up the light. 

Curtains on the slider?? 

I do think so but I am debating on remaking over a favorite duvet cover into them or using the Ikea panels I bought last Spring. 

They are plain white so, in my mind, they need something to make them less bland. 

The flower photos on the wall beside the window will be replaced.

Several ideas have presented themselves but I have not settled on any one of them yet. 

This all will take time, probably so much time that I will be wanting to switch out the red accents for cooler colors…

meaning it will most likely be Spring or Summer before I get to it all. 

But what fun I shall have chipping away at it!

Now that I have bored you to tears I am off to the studio to paint. 

Lots of orders to fulfill.

I am trying to think of what painting tutorial to start next. 

Painting Hydrangeas was a hit and will be a hard act to follow.

Want to learn to paint flowers and who knows what else I might try???

Just sign up for updates and give it a whirl. 

Have a great day! 

 

 

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