Almost Finished With the Dining Room - First Makeover pictures

Here's my first set of before and after pictures.  The dining room, table and chairs.

BEFORE:

To be completely accurate, imagine for a moment that the antique table isn't there. That would be the most accurate before picture.

The side table is a recent addition that I got at a church rummage sale. Noting the tag marked $80 and the fact that they were closing up, I offered the girl whatever was in my wallet.  After a couple of moments of thought, she agreed -- especially since all their leftovers were being donated to Goodwill anyway.  It turned out there was  $5 in my wallet.  Whew!  That was a bit risky on my part since I wasn't sure what was in my wallet. I brought the table home and decided to leave it as is for the moment.

The other table in the room, the wood/tile table and 4 chairs were given to me about ten years ago.  Although I always loved the tile and the way each square shined, I was ready for something different.  I have been watching for a table since the start of my home do-over but had not found one that spoke to me yet.   I came very close to finding the perfect chairs a couple of weeks ago but was stopped by the size of the chairs or  - cough, cough - the size of my butt in the the chairs.  The hunt continues and in the meantime...

The china on the side table was my grandmother's china. The vase, creamer and little glass basket with flowers (which I know are difficult to see in the picture) were picked up at Goodwill on sale day for a quarter each. The bud vase is a particular favorite of mine because it has a blue tint to it and the actual glass blower signed his name on the bottom - Joe.  In cursive.  I love it.

While I kept an eye on the craigslist free postings on my computer screen, I dragged out my box of "loot" from garage sales, along with cans of spray paint from the local used paint and chemical storage facility. Note the masking tape on the gold mirrored tray as I readied it for spray painting. Very few pieces of furniture cross my threshold that aren't painted or changed in someway afterwards.

DURING:

The tablecloth and vases came from a church rummage sale that I happened upon that was ending for the day. Avery enthusiastic  church lady and I went from table to table in the church annex and I walked away with a box of things to add to my "loot box."  Hesitant at first to just start taking things, I kept asking if they were sure someone else didn't need the things.  It was an eye-opener to say the least.  And every time I ooohed and ahhed  over something, the ladies would shout out their encouragement.  Oh, the fun I had that day!  I found two frames  that I still  can't believe my good fortune to find and I will show pictures in a later posting. 

Keep an eye out for the lace around the tablecloth in  the next few pictures. It was what caught my eye when I looking at a large box overflowing with bedroom linens.  All the silk and plastic flowers came from this church except the flowers in the tallest vase on the table.  The tray, previously gold and now spray painted silver, came from another church sale - 50 cents.  The plates came from Goodwill on sale day when all dishes and glassware are 25 cents each as was the little vase.  The creamer (small glass item on table tray with flowers) was 50 cents.

DURING:

I picked up two of these chairs at a Free - Everything Must Go sale. that popped up on craigslist while I was spray painting the tray.  T I spied these wood chairs from the car, as the color of the wood was unusually orange.  I knew I had the perfect fabric at home for the cushion makeover.

Along with the chairs, I also picked up a very beat-up piano bench and two vases filled with potpourri.  The bonus was that when I got home and began to pour out the potpourri, I discovered blue glass gems mixed in.  Hooray, hooray. Just what I needed as I had been trying to fill the vase in the middle of the table with blue and white glass gems/rocks.  That vase needs a lot of rocks to fill it up.  As for the chairs, I was ready with white spray paint and fabulous blue striped fabric piece I had picked up at a church sale...errr...should I say church gifting event.

AFTER - THE CHAIRS:

AFTER: THE DINING ROOM, TABLE AND CHAIRS

So, what do you think of my first before and after posting?  I was so happy with how the chairs came out that I couldn't wait to write this post.  (I know the new chair padding looks violet in the pictures but it is a deep dark blue).  Every other day, in some way, I am learning that I have a good eye.  I can pick the beauty out of the rubble and I am finding I can imagine a color an item should be, no matter what color it was originally.  And look where the piano bench ended up  -- perfect fit for one side of the table.

The final touches - the wine glasses came from my cabinet, the water glasses for 50 cents from Goodwill and the flatware from rummaging through a kitchen drawer.  I am still working on some cloth napkins that I created from pillowcases but they are a work-in-progress so the napkin holder remains empty. I was just too excited to wait.

Before                                                                                  After

GOODWILL HUNTING

I have deleted everything on my blog and started over.  My old blog served me well for the two years I wrote on it. Then I noticed over time that it had become a chore and I no longer looked forward to writing on it. Oh it helped me to keep my sanity through some very dark days after being struck down by a severe pain disorder but constantly writing about the struggle was no longer helping. I know there are others who were fighting right along with me as I heard from so many of them.  I like to think we helped each other, I wish them well and I continue to pray for their daily struggles.  But now, as I begin my fight to save my home, I think I'd like to write of different things.

Also in the middle of being a voice for the victims of pain, my son became seriously mentally ill.  On Halloween night, my son began a 24-hour nightmare that started with scratching.  Take your hand and scratch across the nearest surface made of cloth.  Hear that sound?  My son hears that in his head almost non-stop.  He also hears a woman in there.  She asks him who he is a lot.  She tells him to cut himself and to end it all. The bitch!  In his better moments, he says he "kinda" knows she isn't real but one look at his face and you'll know he isn't convinced of what he's saying.  (Update:August 1 - a male voice has now joined the female voice but the male voice is not mean, so far.)  And remember those scary sillohouttes from the movie Ghost? Imagine if you were seeing something similar many times during the day.  While you are watching your favorite t.v. show or chatting online with a friend, bizarre shadows dance in and out of your line of vision.  This is part of his daily life.

I have lost my son and found myself with a grown man who, in many ways, reminds me of the small child he used to be.  Schizophrenia. I hate the sound of the word. His struggle and the lessons I am learning continue everyday.  I may write of his life now  and how we adjust to changes. I may even throw in a comment or two about the pain battle...it's hard to stay away from something that effects you all day long. I will explain more about the financial battle as we wade the river of of information and bureaucracy.   

I am learning to decorate.  Let me rephrase that.  I have absolutely no money and must have been out of my mind when I decided to change my home, but I am redecorating my condo.  It happened after I ran into a blog one day and became enchanted with the style of the couple renovating their home.  I was a goner after reading the first entry I ran into on the The Lettered Cottage blog.  I looked around my condo and saw my mother.  And my grandmother.  And other relatives and friends who have given me home decor gifts over the years.  Bless their hearts and their wallets but geez, when did I lose touch with my own style?

My heart is at the beach.  Oh, I may live in a landlocked state but my soul screams for the sound of the ocean waves hitting the shoreline and the feel of hot sand under my toes.  During times of extreme stress, I have run home to California and its beaches. Every vacation that I could afford to, I ran home to the beach.  During moments of crises, I close my eyes and transport myself back to a time and place that brings me joy and comfort.  The beach is like Valium to me, only better.

So how does one decorate their landlocked condo into a cozy home reminiscent of those days?  How do you completely redecorate with very little money?  Goodwill, garage sales, church rummage sales, the dollar store and the free column on craigslist.com.  Yes, I know you see shabby and worn down stuff in your mind.  I used to too.  I was wrong and I decided to decorate and then blab about it on a blog.  Oh joy of joys!  It is possible to find beauty and simplicity, lace and crystal, silk flowers and china, all in a place mixed in with the tired and the should-have-been-thrown-in-the-trash-five-years-ago on every shelf.  Bless the hearts of everyone who donates their treasures.

So stay tuned as I get pictures up and gather my thoughts together...