A peek at some house changes

Right off the bat I need to admit that I am absolutely terrible at before, after, or progress pictures.  Its probably because I'm not a real blogger.  I'm a journaler and an erratic one at that.  Moving on: this summer Sammit and I redid our dining room from a pale icicle blue to a jewel navy tone on top with white wainscoting on the bottom.  The wainscoting was a pain-in-the-butt to install but I love it and am incredibly proud of it.  

But that isn't what this sneak peek is about - this post is about my dining room chairs.  My yellow oak dining room set was a hand-me-down from my parents-in-law and both Sammit and I are very thankful for it.  I wanted to do something to make it ours though.  At first I was nervous about making changes so I did a really basic upholstery change.  

Using about $30 in fabric and an industrial staple gun I went from gray diamonds to navy and white awesomeness (Devin is modeling).

When I decided to redo the dining room, I wanted something less WASP-y and a little more funky.  After a few trips to Jo-Anns, a few sample swaps, and a consultation by my mother, I decided to go diamonds again.  I also decided to paint the yellow oak white.  I think it looks awesome.

Jewel Blue walls, White Wainscoting, White Funky chairs.

Sammit convinced me to keep the table its natural oak color, not white like our chairs and our old china cabinet-turned-buffet.  At first I thought it was silly but it meant less work and after a few days I fell in love with it.

Oddly Cat Camouflaging Rug

The biggest problem was finding a rug that wasn't boring but didn't clash with the chairs.  Oh yeah, and one that wasn't $1000!  I was lucky enough to find a showroom display at Ikea for 50% off the original $500.  It is plush, well made, and hides my black cat like he's the ninja he's always wanted to be.

I'm playing around with some fabric for curtains.  I'm also trying to figure out walls.  There are a few definites like my giraffe watercolor and the "my home is clean enough to be healthy but dirty enough to be happy" tile, and a shelf holding some of my wedding china, but the rest is kind of up in the air.  I'm also piecing together storage after turning our big china cabinet into a buffet.  I'll try to post some more updates soon, probably around Midterms when I'll be avoiding anything that is school related.

 FYI: I learned everything I needed to know about painting furniture from All Things Thrifty and Young House Love.