My Dining Room Reveal...

 So I know I've been promising to show you more of my home...

and I truly have wanted to before now.

 However...life has a way of keeping us pretty busy sometimes doesn't it?

:)

The good news?

I've made it through the big

Pink-a-Palooza Party 

we had going on over at our shop

Grandiflora

so I'm ready to "dish" here on the blog again!

:)

Ok,

Here goes:

In the photo above you'll see my lovely 1898 Eastern Hemisphere map

I nabbed it for a mere $23.00 at a local antiques shop,

then paired it with some delightful lamps from our shop

Grandiflora

&

some great little Cattail Balls you can find at our online shop

Grandiflora HOME

 I painted my lovely Scottish sideboard with

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

also found at our shop

Grandiflora

(Just in case you're wondering...I used Provence mixed with a smidge of Antibes & Aubusson.)

I adore working with Annie's paints!

Seriously it's the best paint for old furniture, bar none!

Just to clarify however... I'm a Benjamin Moore fan for wall color!

 As you know I'm a collector of all things random...& this star has become the topic of many a conversation both in my home and online as well!

...so here's the scoop:

I found the rather large dense foam star out thrifting one day for $9.99.

(Been on sort of a star collecting thing for a year or so now....I digress....)

I nabbed it not knowing if I'd use it for a Christmas decor item or what???

Immediately when I returned home, I was struck with the idea of wallpapering it with some of the vintage wallpapers I sell on Etsy at Ollie Bollen & Wesley Asher.

I went right to it with Mod Podge and a foam brush.

So happy it turned out better than I expected....I may even flip it around at

Christmas and decoupage it with vintage holiday wrapping papers....hmmmmm......

I got on the wallpaper thrill and even papered the back of my little bookshelf.

What a difference it made!

I recommend cutting cardboard or foam core and papering that first.

Then, insert it into the back of the shelf to preserve your paint finish.

That way you can change your look easily when you tire of this particular pattern/color.

This telephone is just for show....but isn't the color fab??? 

 Over to the dining side of the room....

we have this great little four person table that has a butterfly leaf

which expands into a square table to seat 8.

The chairs are vintage leftovers from the building we have our shop in

( It was a Masonic Lodge before my folks bought and restored it for our store,

so there were lots of cool old chairs!)

 There are many great things about living in an older home...but usually the built ins are one of the best features you can find. This beauty sports drawers and doors which open from both the kitchen and the dining room! Pretty cool huh? It was one of the things that made me fall in love with this old 1913 bungalow farmhouse in the first place.

Back to the details....

I picked up this little (half finished) embroidered map of the U.S. out thrifting one day...

...it features the flower of each state. I live in Washington

way up where the tippity top of the R in Rhododendron is.

I'm happily situated between two very chic cities:

Seattle & Vancouver B.C. Canada.

Our town is very small and sweet; it's called Lynden.

It's a little Dutch town filled with family homes and tidy lawns.

There are days small town living drives me nuts

(that's what happens when you've tasted big city living at one point in your life) 

but....

for the most part I love coming back to my little town knowing

 that the big city is only an hour or two away whenever my little heart desires.

 I enjoy collecting all sorts of goodies.

Books are one of my faves....especially when they contain pen and ink drawings

 or hand colored images of nature.

What about you?

What types of books do you enjoy?

 I think I might make a wall collage with these lovely butterfly prints and some washi tape...

...something else I collect are hand painted paper lanterns.

Here you can see a fun mobile I whipped up with some of my favorites.

 It sits above a heat vent situated below....

...when the heat comes on, it twirls in one direction for quite some time...

and when the heat turns off...it unravels again.

I'd like to tell you that I was genius enough to plan that one out...

but I'd be a liar.

;)

I'll be showing you the living room soon....

....it is attached to the dining room after all....

...but instead I'll leave you with a quick shot of Olive our little Fox Terrier in her suitcase bed.

(Yes, as in "Olive, the other Reindeer")

She is such a princess!

Judging by the look on her face....you'd think

 I was a Victrola or something!

(Wink, Wink)

;)

Well,

I'd love to hear your thoughts or questions.

I love to talk decor you know!

Cheerio & TTFN!

:D

T.

xoxo