A place to dine (Part 2).

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we've been on the hunt for a dining table. The dimensions had to be exact, the style needed to flow with the rest of our home, and we wanted a medium toned wood to go with the wood kitchen counter tops we plan to install next spring. Last weekend we decided to check out the Beehive Market (a local fundraiser with a yard sale vibe) on a whim. Enter this guy:The wood was so dry you could tell it had been left outside for a long time. For $60 we figured we couldn't go wrong since everything else about it fit our criteria. The hubby took this one on as his own personal project. First he sanded the problem areas:
Then he used the Watco Teak Oil we had left over from our teak credenza in the living room. It's great stuff - it fills in scratches and brings out the natural grain in the wood. The table was so dry he applied four generous coats:
After the excess oil had been rubbed away, the hubby applied some Howard Feed-N-Wax at Morgan's suggestion.(Yes, he reads her blog too.) It is suppose to seal the wood without creating that hard shiny surface most products leave behind. Plus it can be reapplied at whim, which I think our table is going to need for a while.
Here it is in the kitchen. The wood top is definitely not perfect, but that's the beauty of vintage furniture. When I inevitably spill, scratch, or stain it I won't feel so guilty, and we already know the steps to restore it.
This is the view from our living room. I'm really happy with our new dining set - it solves all of the problems that I had with the previous one, and works perfectly for us.

A place to dine (Part 1).

That's right, today is just the beginning of a two part post. I sold our dining set back in July, and since then we've been eating a lot of meals on the couch or around a little card table. I've had several friends and family members ask me why I sold a perfectly good dining set. When I originally purchased it, the set was whitewashed with gingham seat covers. I refinished it to go in our rental home, where it fit our needs at the time. These are the reasons I changed my mind when we bought our very fine house.
a) The moment we finished sanding, staining, priming, painting, sealing, and reupholstering that set I hated it. The hubby claims all of the sawdust took years off his life.
b) It looked so gigantic in our new kitchen. The actual dimensions were fine, but the black solid wood table and chairs took up too much visual space.
c) It did nothing for me aesthetically. I designed it after a Pottery Barn catalog, and I don't even really like their furniture.
d) The dining area of our kitchen is visible from the living room, and I wanted to tie the two rooms together.
And finally, e) Once we tiled the kitchen in the checkerboard pattern all the black was too matchy-matchy for my taste.
Not long after selling the set I ordered these chairs. (Which are awesome, by the way.) My idea was to piece together a dining area that looked collected rather than purchased as a set. Something like these:

(decorpad)
(the brick house)

Then came the search for a table that would meet our criteria (and budget). Which brings me to part two of this post, to be continued tomorrow...

Thursday's Things to Love:

pretty dish towels

(cakevintage)

(ikea)
(anthropologie)

(blue q)

They can be graphic, vintage, or covered in words. My favorites come from Anthropologie, etsy, and even IKEA. Do you have a favorite source for beautiful tea towels?

How do you Rue?

Sorry for the cheesy play on words. Here are my two favorite articles (and accompanying images) from the premiere issue of the new online magazine, Rue:

"It's My Party" with Emily Henderson

Love that navy couch and the Kreme Wallpaper.

"Bright Light on the Left Coast" with Victoria Smith

Her collection of Flokati rugs is incredible. And I want to eat a meal in that dining room.

Sunroom addition.

Pulled these bad boys off Craigslist last week.

Take Five Friday.

Happy Friday! The weekend is almost here, and today we get to hear from another successful design blogger. Her own home is gorgeous, and she authors her blog in such a way that she instantly feels like a friend.

Emily, of Emily A. Clark

Emily is an interior designer, mother of three, and bargain hunter at heart. She loves finding her clients great deals and helping them create spaces they love coming home to.

What advice can you give readers on getting started when decorating a new home?

Be patient and don't try to do everything at once, just for the sake of getting it done. Take your time and shop for pieces you really love. You'll end up with a home that feels more like "you" in the long run.

(emily's family room)

What are your favorite online resources for all things home-related?

I use Overstock all of the time, when pulling together designs for my online clients. It's a great resource for rugs and furniture, and you can't beat their shipping costs.

Favorite brick and mortar stores (local or national)?

I'm definitely a HomeGoods girl. It's crazy to pay hundreds of dollars for a designer lamp when they have almost the exact styles for around $50. I'm a firm believer you don't have to spend a lot of money to create a beautiful home if you're willing to shop around and think creatively.

What is your favorite piece of furniture in your own home, and why?

I really like the green campaign dresser in my office. It's bright and fun and has lots of storage. It was a dull gray when I bought it at a used furniture shop for $40. I love how paint can transform older pieces.

(emily's office)

What has been your most successful DIY project?

Well, we recently painted stripes in our breakfast area. It was our first attempt and a little stressful, but I love the way they turned out.

(emily's dining room)

Thank you Emily for taking five out of your busy Friday to be with us! To see more of Emily's home be sure to visit her blog, Emily A. Clark.

Decisions, decisions.

I'm in the market for a rug - make that two rugs. One for our living room and another for our sunroom. For our living room I've narrowed it down to these options:

wool and jute rug from Pottery Barn

wool shag rug from Overstock

Pottery Barn "Quinn" rug

Flokati rug from Overstock

Pottery Barn "Plaited Wool" rug

Anyone interested in sharing their opinion? Please leave a comment!

Sputnik'd.

Now that summer is over, we finally took down the ceiling fan in our bedroom and put up our vintage Sputnik chandelier.

before:after:
So brassy and beautiful.

SLC style: wood houses.

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, where every home was built with a wood exterior. Here in SLC, it's much more rare to come across a wood home. They are beautiful though, and many of them are surrounded by trees and wooded landscaping.