collecting

Some women collect shoes, I tend to like to sort and collect pretty images. I blogged recently about my new found love affair with Pinterest which only feeds my eye candy addiction. 

the modern mixed with the old suits me to a T

that grey striped wall paper, the marble top french bistro table, the cabinetry, the mugs!

beat up tolix chairs and bead board ceilings 

pink and sparkle with ghost chair

the sconces and wallpaper ohh la la!

painted floors!

those walls!

the books in the fireplace= ♥

love the tulip table mixed with the louis chairs... but where the heck is the hardware on the cabinetry? 

old metal fan + peonies- duh

more chippy tolix inspiration

ghost chair and french bistro table

*image source 

spray painting crown molding

I knew when we bought our house that the natural wood trim that was everywhere would need to be addressed. The one part I was really not looking forward to was the the crown dental molding in the living/ dining area. I painted our fireplace mantel which had the dental molding and it took forever getting in all the tiny little spaces. I knew eventually it would just take me just getting fed up with looking at it and that day happened a couple of weeks ago. 

Here's what the living/dining area looked like when we first saw the house

My mom had come for lunch one day a while back and suggested spray painting it. I scoffed at the idea because I thought it sounded like a huge mess and I didn't know how good it would even turn out. But the more I thought about it {and after brush painting a 5 foot section that took 3 hours} the thought of spray paint was growing on me. I decided to google it to make sure I wasn't insane and it turns out others had tried it first and had success so I took the plunge. 

Since the moldings had been stained I decided to go with a white- oil based- low odor primer from Sherwin Williams. I taped off the area and added a strip of kraft paper underneath the tape to protect the wall. I also pushed the furniture away as I went and used drop cloths on the floor. I had the whole area done in about 3 hours including prep time. It was a breeze! 

 {btw- did you spy the new tolix chair knock offs from overstock? The verdict- they are an awesome steal for the price and I think they'll serve our family well with their durability. }

I'm so happy with the result and while I plan to add a topcoat someday this primer will do for now. It feels so much bigger with out the visual line confinement outlining the room and the fresh coat of paint on the walls helps too. 

A few $4 cans of spray paint who knew?

linking up to christina's adventures, my uncommon slice of suburbia, the shabby chic cottage, french country cottage, my romantic home, the shabby nest, designer garden, tatertots and jello, i heart nap time

tolix chair inspiration

The chairs to go with the new table are on their way. In the end durability and budget won out. While I love a good louis chair that seems pretty impractical at this stage in life. I just loved the look of the Tolix chair and so did Nick. Loved the chair but not the price tag. But after some research I found what I hope to be a steal of a deal from OverStock.com. Four chairs for $169 TOTAL people (no tax and free shipping). They got great reviews as well so I'm just hoping I really like them and for that price I figured would could give them a spin. I bought them in white and I plan on keeping the table's dark mink stain for now. I think it would provide for a fresh contrast so we'll see. I'll let you know when they get here what the final verdict is. Below are some of my inspiration photos.

 Below are the chairs we bought. Can't wait to get them!

stay tuned because I did something amazing with spray paint that i can't wait to share!