Redecorating fever
25 May 2011
We had a lead on a great house this past winter, but unfortunately, it fell through. The sellers were acquaintances of ours, and decided at the last minute that they were going to stay put for at least another year. I'm pretty sure it has to do with the hot market here right now and them wanting to get more for the house than they quoted us. Whatever it was, I was so disappointed, because I had my heart set on that house. The location was IDEAL- very close by, on a quiet street, a huge yard, and much more square footage, which is what we desperately need. We're so jam packed in here.
Once we found out they weren't ready to sell, we kind of put our house hunting on the back burner, still hoping for that house. We decided to use this time to our advantage in order to fix up our house and get it ready for sale, but we're still looking at other options.
So far, we've done a big fat zero on that end, due to my husband's crazy schedule, and me working weekends. It's hard to coordinate chores and renovations when one of us is never home when the other one is. It is a huge drag, a big disadvantage, but it enables me to stay home during the week for the kids.
Anyway, I thought I'd show you my new (to me) dining room set that I lucked out on finding a few months ago. A friend of a friend inherited her Dad's house in Alexandria, Ontario, which is about 1 hour's drive from me. Our mutual friend and I drove up one snowy day in February to help her clean and pack, and get the house house ready for sale. It had been empty for a few years, and it was a major mess- lots of ugly furniture, mice turds and nasty dust and dirt. So imagine my delight and surprise to find this beautiful set when I walked into the dining room... I nearly fainted! Remember this layout from a few months ago? I made it not long before I struck this deal, so it must have been fate. Anyways, long story short, we agreed on a price, and I'm now the proud owner of this mid-century teak table and chairs:
Don't mind the dirt, it hadn't been cleaned in a very long while when I took these photos, and it's in need of a bit of tlc. The table comes with 2 leaves, and when they're both in, measures over 9 feet long. Now I need to find a house with a big enough dining room. ;) It's only got 4 chairs, but I can live with that, since there's only four of us here. And I like the look of mix and match chairs if the need arises.
There also happened to be 2 sideboards, one large one, ( didn't get a photo, but you can sort of see it in the back of the table in the 1st photo above) and this smaller beauty: again, ignore the years of dust and dirt accumulation, it will clean up just fine:
So, yeah, I bought those too. :) In a flash. And when I got home that night, I spent a few hours on the internet, searching for similar ones. They were marked 'Hugo Troeds,' which it turns out, was a Danish teak furniture house back in the 50's & 60's.After a bit of searching, I came upon a few websites with these exact credenzas I bought, and was excited to see them for sale for much, much more than I paid.
I did good. :)
I'm looking forward to picking everything up in a few weeks, or as soon as my friend's house sells. In the meantime, I'm emptying my dining room, ( where I scrapbook, so you can imagine the mess...) and looking at paint samples to paint said room before the furniture arrives. I'm thinking of a taupe/putty colour, but if you have any suggestions, feel free to send me some... choosing paint intimidates the heck out of me, and I never seem to get the colour I want. I'm also on the lookout for the fixture below, in white, which I think will complete the look I'm going for. I've been pinning things to my Pinterest 'home' board like crazy lately, and there are so many lovely rooms that it makes my head spin with possibilities... I just need some time and a lot of extra cash. :) Maybe I won't want to move after it's finished. I'll have to come up with an idea about where I can store my scrapbook supplies, as I want this room 'paper-free'. ;)
I'll be sure to post some before and after photos once it's all done- hopefully in the next few weeks!
Then it will be on to tackle my '70's kitchen....




5 comments:
So sorry for the house hunting mess. I know how that goes! The furniture is gorgeous. The warm tones are wonderful. I love the idea of taupe/putty but they tend to be a bit cool. Are you going for contrast? Otherwise a warmer tone might work better with the furniture. Just an idea :)
wow, those finds are so perfect for you - so glad you got them. good luck with the house hunting. thinking of you!
How disappointing...when you find the right one it is hard to give up on it!!!
I am about to paint my bedroom a taupe colour called 'Mojave' by Dulux. It's lovely.
Taupe. Yawn. Boring... Try a color? Or maybe grey? But I'm picturing something more colorful. Maybe grey walls on three sides, and an awesome mid-century orange in one wall. Ooh. Yeah. That! DO IT! It's just paint. You can always undo it.
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