In the NAVY!

Just before Christmas- literally Christmas Eve- I finished our formal dining area, and completed most of our informal dining area and repainted the living room.  PHEW!  Yes, it was insane.  But luckily I got by with a little help from my friends. (A special thanks to Stephanie Keller and Jo Crawford- you girls are living angels!)  Originally, I thought I would go with an orange and turquoise scheme.  And while I still love these colors, I worried that I would tire of them too easily.  My husband actually said that he would like to paint the formal dining room Navy?!  Well it threw me for a loop since I had already purchased and created the slip covers, one of the fabrics featured black in its scheme.  I know all the fashion rags say how chic navy and black are together, but we don't really live the "chic" lifestyle.  Nor was anything I previously envisioned very glam, but after some gentle nudging from another couple of girls friends (thanks Andrea Wojiack and Jill Chambers)  I decided to just go for it.  After all, this was a room redone on a seriously tight and small budget, if I ended up hating the black on the chairs or the paint, it wasn't going to break the bank to fix it. 

Redone Formal Dining Room:  Projects include:  Painting (Sherman Williams Naval Eggshell), Parsons Chairs (Six Slipcovers, 4 in Belgium Linen, 2 Captains in Plaid Kravet Silk- plz ignore the fact they still need to be hemmed!), China Cabinet (Refinished in Antique White Valspar, with a Dark Brown/Black Glaze and distressing) 2 vases with succulents ( sand from Hobby Lobby, plants from Home Depot)

Two garage sale scones flank the redone china cabinet. ($4)  I used two different patterns to create my own pattern for the parson's chairs.  I found the chairs- all 6 for $60 on Craig's List.  They are very 1992.  I used the directions for making your own patterns from Bibbidi and Etsy

Crate and Barrel Vases (wedding gift).  I took two succulents from Home Depot, placed them inside the vase and with a funnel I carefully added the fine play sand from Hobby Lobby. 

Our table is a door off of an old mission.  I filled the recesses with vintage liquor bottles.  We topped the table with custom cut plate glass.  Our table is always a conversation starter. 

I purchased simple cream pinch pleated drapes for the space.  They are made by JC Penny's and I found them along with another set on Ebay for ($40 including shipping.)  The hardware is off the shelf from Lowe's.  It is a walnut finish which compliments our table. 

This baby took me months- literally- to finish.  Mainly cause I would only work a little here and there.  I still need to adjust one of the doors since after I painted it sticks shut, but this project is seriously close to being done.  I left the hardware as is.  I actually like the patina of the brass- it even has some greening which I think makes it look older and not as 1970's.

I used a Cole and Sons faux grass cloth wallpaper (Ebay) to cover the back of the china cabinet.  It is super hard to see here, but it looks very nice.

You can see the distressing and glazing on the base doors of the hutch.

This is my dining room before

You can see the China Cabinet in its 1970s state of mind. 

This was the back side of the hutch,  I wallpapered this in a faux grass cloth. 

So here are a couple of pictures and I will follow up with the projects and resources in the picture captions.