I'll Bet You Are Tuckered Out With The Waiting!

Okay, so, you've been so patient. Well, most of you have been patient. Some of you have been antsy-in-yo'-pantsy (you.know.who.you.are!). And some of you have likely plumb forgotten what the heck you were supposed to be waiting for. If you fall in that latter category, just play along. Pretend you care. (And yes, I did use the word "plumb." I read a Western over the weekend. It's baseball AND football season, what can I say?!)

Several weeks ago, we tore apart our dining room. We'd been living with wallpaper-stripped walls, full of nicks and scratches and nasty blue chair rail for close to four years. We had 1st grade turkey art hanging on the wall, accompanied by my husband's graffiti. You can see the "Before" pictures here. Go ahead. I'll wait. It's only fair. You waited for the "After."

I'm so gracious to you, dear readers, I know.
It's a gift.

Finally, after weeks of stops and starts on this relatively easy home improvement project, we finished enough of it to share with you. I still have a couple details to work out, including what to do with that huge wall that is gapingly empty right now. But I'm COMMITTED to filling it ONLY with something that I LOVE. And what I think I might LOVE is kinda out of the ballpark, speaking budgetarily, that is. (And yes, I may have in fact just made up that word. Budgetarily. But it works, does it not?! Humph.)

Without further ado, I give you my newly re-decorated dining room.

This is the view from the kitchen doorway,
looking left into the dining room.
These curtains are the same as
the ones in the living room, but not tied back.
Not necessarily permanent, but they are
growing on me for this space.
I'm sentimentally attached to them,
as a dear friend made them for me
as a gift when we were young, first-time
homeowners with BIG windows to cover.
And sheesh, who can afford curtains
when they have gaping spaces to fill?!

Please, ignore the random appearances of burgundy
through out the room. When I'm truly done,
there will be no burgundy
accenting any longer. I'm over it.
(Except for the burgundy place mats
that will still appear on my table for meals.
Cuz, well, they are still in great shape.
Just won't be needing their services
as accents anymore.)

We spiffed up our chandelier with new
mocha-colored shades.
For now, the secretary that The Boss
and Dr. D re-finished returned to its spot also.
Good spot for concentrated school work.

My china cabinet got a coat of fresh khaki paint.
And put back right where it was before the re-do.
It just didn't seem to fit right in any other space.

This antique chest of drawers also went back
in its original spot, but that's likely a temporary move.
We're really hoping to find a longer, lower buffet-type
piece at a flea market.

The lamp got switched out and we bought a shade
that matched the chandelier shades.

I hung this picture on Monday.
You'll have to trust me when I say that it fills the space perfectly.
From this angle, it seems a little puny for that corner. It's not.
You'll just have to trust me.
It really pulls the two rooms together nicely.
Remember our green living room?

The color is a lovely shade of brown called "Rare Spices." It reminds me of hot chocolate or really good quality milk chocolate. I get almost the same rush of happy when I look at the wall that I get when I eat really good milk chocolate. (Almost . . .)

So, I've got the big wall between the china cabinet and the secretary to fill. It's about 11 or 12' of space to think about. That's a lot of thinking. And think, I will. Wait, I will. At least until I get tickets to the Opr@h Show, where I too can win $500 just for plunking my butt in a studio seat on a lucky day. Or not.