On the Chair Hunt

Do I really need chairs right now...No. Do I have money to buy chairs right now...No. Am I spending lots of time picking out the perfect chairs to sit next to our soon-to-be television stand/dresser...Yes! I can't help it. I love hunting down the perfect pieces to add to our new home. Of course I check Craig's List updates regularly for the perfect steal, especially since about $10/chair is really my current budget. I couldn't help but look at all the new options too though. I discovered that dining room chairs are usually about a third of the price of living room chairs. I fell in love with this dining room chair. It is a Sydney Parsons Chair in Mocha from Target. They cost $109/chair. Even with the free shipping and $15% off for ordering over $125 I would be over $160 over my budget...darn the luck!
Oh well, I still love them. I think I would also like them with white legs and little white throw thrown over the back. If I don't find a Craig's List steal, I can always save up and hope these go on sale right!

Good Ol'Craig's List

Here is a picture of my latest Craig's List find. It's an old dresser. I have plans for it! See, Joi shared her fabulous find on her blog, Nuestra Vida Dulce. I instantly fell in love with her idea and started watching Craig's List for the perfect dresser to use as a TV stand in our living room. I also got Brandon in on the action- good thing too because he is the one that actually saw potential in this dresser. I was mostly just watching for a 9 drawer dresser like Joi's, because I like the design with the electronics organized in the middle and the drawers on the outside.

Ours will actually have the electronics organized across the top section. I took the drawers out in this picture, so you can see the idea. I also want to find 2 lovely used chairs (they can be new for the right price) to put on either side of the dresser/entertainment center...the ones in the picture are our dining room chairs. Using a dresser in place of a typical television stand works great for us because we need space underneath for air to travel back to our return air duct that sits right behind it. Also, we have a large puppy that would love to stick her nose into anything sitting too low to the ground; the height of the dresser prevents her from doing this...perfect!

You may not exactly be able to tell from the picture, but the color of dresser doesn't exactly jive with the color of our hardwood floors. We want to stain it a darker color to match some of the darker hues in the flooring. Thus, Brandon got to work striping the old top coat and stain off of it.

The stuff he was using smelled like oranges-mmmm! He put it on and then scrapped it off several times. I told him I would do the work, but he doesn't seem to have too much confidence in my furniture refinishing skills...trust me, I don't mind at all ; )

We may or may not switch up the hardware. I can't decide if I like the old hardware or not...decisions, decisions. Any opinions on this?

I will be sure to post the final results when we get it completed. I can't wait!

My Plates Made Grey's

That's right...the plates I have hanging above my kitchen cabinets are the same plates that made an appearance on Grey's Anatomy last Thursday night. I must say that my friend Lynn texted me to let me know she had seen them on Grey's, so I watched the show on Friday to see them myself. Sure enough they are hanging over a table in the kitchen of the house that used to be Meredith's mom's house. I probably wouldn't have even noticed them if Lynn hadn't told me to look for them, so thanks Lynn! I fell in love with these plates when I saw them in a spring catalogue from Pier 1 Imports. Needless to say it didn't take long for me to convince myself of purchasing myself an early birthday present ; )

What I really like about them is that they have a lot of the same colors in them as the painting Brandon's grandma gave us for Christmas (I may have hinted that I really liked this painting a few times) that we have hanging up over our kitchen window on the other side of the room. Grandma Allen is an amazing painter.

Our kitchen, dining room, and living room have arched ceilings. This is why there is only a little bit of space between the window and the painting on this side of the room, and then there is lots of space between the cabinets and ceiling around the plates.