Children's Tables

I'm helping a friend decorate her new house and she is looking for a kid's table to go with these chairs from Conran.


She wants something similar to my kiddie table, that doesn't look too juvenile. I got ours at Home Goods about six months ago:



I love that it's solid wood and sort of a farmhouse style.

This one from PBK is beautiful, but it's pretty expensive even on sale at $299.


I think that a taller (at least 18" high) coffee or side table can make for a great kid's table. And they're always so cheap at yard sales and on craigslist.

Here are a couple from my friend's craigslist that we're considering. It's fun to think outside the box with these. A little paint would go a long way in making these look more kid-appropriate. Sunshine yellow! Fire engine red! Leaf green!








The IKEA Lack side table also works great as a kid's table. It is crazy cheap ($7.99), comes in a lot of colors, and is a great size especially for smaller spaces.
Do any of you readers have a good secret source for inexpensive but great kid's tables?

Painting Rugs

We currently have PB's Collette rug (wool) under the dining table, but I've been planning to replace it for sometime with something a little more durable/stain resistant.

I scored a great 8x10 Ballard seagrass rug for $90 (including shipping!) thanks to this post from Copy Cat Chic. So that will probably be going in the DR since I love seagrass and I think it holds up really well in dining rooms.


BUT before I bought the seagrass, I had stumbled across this post from a google search on "painting rugs."

The blog author used a very cheap (like $12) 9x6 outdoor rug, taped off a simple design and rolled on some paint.


I think the blue she chose is cute for the outdoors, but for a dining room, I would stick with black or white on the taupey gray rug base.


I think the possibilities here are pretty awesome: stripes! zigzags! Greek key! Trellis! Let your imagination run wild. Maybe try an over sized stencil from Whitewall & Co.?


And just in case it's bugging you a little (like me) that the edges aren't finished, you'll be happy to know that most flooring stores will bind carpet for less than $2 per linear foot. For a little more, you can get thick twill tape, like they use on natural fiber rugs.

I'm sad that I don't need to use this idea. Someone in need of a cheap, stylish and kid-proof dining room rug, please get creative and show me what you can come up with!!

the beauty of imperfection.

maybe its the juxtaposition of what's going on- the things placed together that really shouldn't be there.....they just equal perfection in my book. the white dress w/ the rain boots, that elegant kitchen w/ stainless steel cabinets (might be my favorite kitchen), the old medicine cabinet with the addition of jadeite pulls, and that screen- well, it's just amazing. period. they all make a space seem perfectly imperfect. and that's the way i like it.

*images courtesy of a life more fabulous, belle vivir, bhg, bliss

Girls Names

Hi friends,

How was your weekend? I'm starting to feel better and was able to get some progress done on my dining room.

I was talking to one of my girlfriends on the phone yesterday while I was painting my china hutch. I was telling (well, complaining to) her about how hard it is for me to sleep at night lately, no matter how tired I am. I shared that I'm a little stressed out about how fast this pregnancy is going by. I'm in the third trimester already, I don't feel prepared for her arrival and we definitely have not decided on a name yet. And to be honest, since this is our third daughter, I'm a little tapped out on girls names.

I saw this post on Sugar City Journal, and I was inspired to ask my stylish readers for their input. What are your favorite girls names? To give you a sense of our style, our favorites right now are

Evelyn
Annelise (or maybe just Elise?)
Vivian
Margot
Lillian

ALSO: does anyone know where I can get this exact bookcase? It needs to be wall-mounted.

the power of pink.

october is the month to raise awareness. a year ago i thought i found a lump...so did the the doctor. thankfully, it was not cancer. have you been checked lately? if not, you should.

on a lighter note- we got a new alarm clock...warren tested it out this AM by waking up extremely early. maybe the early bird does catch the worm...at least that is what he told me when he walked out of the door.

*images courtesy of blue lines, french essence, wifestyle files

friday, friday.

don't you love that it is actually feeling like fall now! well, at least for the morning hours. which means here in the south, you can actually wear jeans and not die when you walk outside! i hope y'all have a wonderful weekend....off to clean, again....

*images courtesy of where the sidewalk begins, dress design decor, swishlist, tammy manet, house beautiful/windsor smith

The Office

I painted the 500 lb credenza over the weekend, which spurred the official decorating of my office. By Monday night the last coat of poly had cured and we brought the furniture inside. Tuesday morning I headed down to my basement to go 'shopping' for my sorely neglected office, a long and narrow room off our living room. Seriously, the office was a mess - boxes still everywhere.

The dreaded Before shot. The contents of my desk were all over the floor while my desk was getting a face lift.

Here's how I put the room together with almost no money:

1. Revamped Parsons Desk

I bought a vintage Parsons desk on Craigslist a year or two ago for almost nothing. This is after I sanded it.


I had painted it a fun green color, but now I wanted a sort of dingy pale aqua color, similar to Martha Stewart for Valspar "Vintage Map." Since the desk is pretty small, I decided to save money on paint and mixed my own color using some glossy white latex and a little bit of turquoise and brown acrylic craft paint.


I rolled on the paint with a mini-roller and did about three coats. After letting the last coat dry overnight, I used my favorite product - Wipe On Poly. Yes, it's as easy and awesome as it sounds. Polyurethane sealer that you wipe on.

Action shots!!

Two good coats of Wipe-on in "Gloss" and 24 hours of curing time and the Parsons desk looked as good as new.



2. DIY Fabric Shade

I used about a yard and a half of linen from my stash and a roll of 1.5" red grosgrain to make a fabric shade for the window. It still needs to be lined, but it's not bad for a $0 project. Here are the instructions for making your own.



3. New (old) RED Credenza.


After reading this post from Nick Olsen a while back, I picked up a couple cans of Rustoleum's 'Saftey Red' Spray Enamel at Home Depot for a client's project. We ended up going with a different color scheme, but I kept the spray paint. And I'm so glad I was able to use it on this project! Isn't it a fun color? The perfect orange-red.


Since I know you will ask -- I did prime the credenza first. Well. Part of the credenza - just the top since that's the part that gets the most wear.


I rolled on my trusty Zinsser and let it dry while I worked some magic on the dingy brass hardware with white vinegar and salt.

The credenza ended up needing two or three coats of the spray enamel. Because I invested $2.95 in this reusable spray painting nozzle/trigger/thing, my pointer finger and I are still on speaking terms. AND the paint job looks professionally sprayed.

The freshly painted credenza got two coats of Wipe-On Poly as well and it was done. I love the way the cleaned up brass hardware looks against the orangey red!



4. Pretty Inspiration Boards

I picked up a pair of very cheap cork boards and painted the frames with that same yellow paint that I used in my girls room (Martha Stewart "Olive Oil"). No need to tape or to be careful with the paint job here since the cork will be covered up.


I measured and cut up some old fabric that I bought for a project and never used (--Are you picking up on a theme here??) and simply ran a line of fabric glue around the border of the cork board. I glued one edge at a time and smoothed like crazy so that the fabric would lay perfectly flat. (PS the fabric is an outdoor print made by Waverly, called "Lovely Lattice" in Lagoon)

Then I fabric glued on some red gimp/trim to cover any imperfections or gaps in the border.


I hung up the refinished cork boards about five minutes before taking pictures, so I haven't had a chance to really style them yet with inspiration stuff, but that can be a fun ongoing project.





The rest of the room was put together with stuff I already had. An IKEA rug, an eBay lamp, some prints from a vintage shop, etc.





And that's it for my (basically) $0 office redo! I've got some sort of cold/flu situation happening, so I think I'm going to call it weekend. See you back here Monday?

xoxo, Jenny