Color Explosion

As I mentioned the other day, I've been spending some time lately sprucing up my dining room. You have to understand that when I moved into this three-bedroom house, I had enough stuff for a two-bedroom apartment--just barely. Meaning it's taken me a year and a half to get to the point where I could put up art and fill a room with furniture.

I knew from the beginning that I wanted the dining room to be navy. In fact, it was the first room my mom and I painted. It took 3 coats! With the height of the ceiling, and the openness of the room (the dining room and kitchen are the same room, which spans the back half of the house's first floor), the color only serves to make it feel cozier, not boxed in. There is a big window and the room gets plenty of light, which plays off the crisp white trim.

I had a minor set-back in March...

..,in the form of a nasty leak stemming from a crappy roofing job. Daddy and Jakey to the rescue! (Plus three days worth of work by a contractor and a $500 insurance deductible...)

I have been stockpiling art (via Pinterest) and scoping out deals (like $195 for the 8x11 chevron rug) since Christmas, but I have been waiting for a piece of furniture to put at the end of the room. I thought it should be nice and wide, plus kind of low, to leave room for a wall of art, but when I walked in the Habitat for Humanity ReStore last weekend, they were having a liquidation sale to prepare for their move. Everything was 75% off and I snagged this desk and chair for $18.50:

Over the weekend, I sprayed two coats of primer and three coats of white semi-gloss over the entire set. At the last minute, I changed my mind on the matchy-matchy strategy and bought two bottles of chartreuse spray paint:

I used some metal spray paint for the handles; I was going to leave them in their original condition, but the buttery color didn't look good against the crisp white. I went shopping for fabric to use for the chair, but nothing stood out. (Here's the thing. Every since I was little, I would conjur up the perfect thing [blue sweater, jean jacket with cool buttons, red Jeep, whatever] and I would spend hours and hours trying to find it without settling for something else. I think it says that I'm not willing to settle; my mother--who spent those countless hours trying to convince me that the sweaterjacketJeepwhatever that was in front of us, on sale, was good enough--would tell you otherwise.)

Anyways, I realized after a trip to Walmart and Ben Franklin that what I was really looking for was a pattern that was on a rug that I picked up at a rummage sale last year. So, since I had two rugs and only one was being used next to Henley's water bowl, I just cut the rug to size and whipped out my staple gun. I really enjoy the results.

 

It's very playful and has a nice texture. I spray-painted a mirror that I have had since high school and leaned it on top, with a few pictures stuck in it. The gold bowl may get painted, but for right now I am just getting used to all the color in general. Here is a close-up of the rest of the items on top:

Clockwise from top left: A framed image of a dilapidated door that I found while Antiquing in Ishpeming, with years' worth of paint jobs peeling and rusting; a vase that finally found a home -- a birthday gift from my friend Kelsey last year; a paper crane; a wooden bowl from Jamaica and, at center, a frame I received for being a good employee at Target. The photo is from my first legal New Years' Eve.

The art on the wall is equally as random:

Clockwise from top left: Two bargain frames with approximately 15 paint layers on them; an empty frame surrounding a framed poster of Van Gogh's Starry Night (every apartment I've ever lived in has had some version of this painting); a framed owl print on a page from a dictionary; the leaning mirror from high school; and an engraved ABC's of life plaque, a graduation gift from a family friend.

In the corner, I stuck the fifth chair from my grandparents' dining set, which sit on top of the bargain chevron rug. You'll see a peek of that rug in a bit.

On the wall that faces the door, there are three other pieces of art, the first thing you see when you walk in, if you can manage not to be shocked by the pink top of the desk. I snagged the curtains from a friend's rummage sale for $4--they just showed up after weeks spent debating over a $75 version from Anthropologie. Thanks, Lucy.

Clockwise from top left: I can't decide if it's a placeholder or not, but this is just a framed ad from a magazine; a watercolor world map from Etsy that I found via Pinterest; and a sweet birthday gift from my friend Krista, a framed piece of art called "Roots and Wings" by an artist named Mika Holtzinger. Here's a better look at the map; the print Krista got me did not agree with my camera/the lighting, so you'll all have to come over for dinner and check it out.

The rest of the room is in progress, but here is a quick peek at the rug:

Don't mind the Windex and art piles on the table. I guess this picture also serves as a sneak peek of the entry way, which I'll post later in the week. The rest of the afternoon is strictly reserved for reading near the biggest window in the house, to take full advantage of the sounds of this beautiful rain.

The rest of my plans for the dining room include agate coasters, this NYC subway print, open shelving, this Aries poster (ring any bells?), this flight plan print, and the tree of life.  Though I may have to spread these plans to the living room yet, which sits empty but for a couch, chair, and art supplies. One room at a time, right?