I finally found a dining table for our dining room! After a couple years of searching and feeling like I had scoured the internet from top to bottom looking for every possible table that might work, I found it. I really had my heart set on purchasing something on local on Craigslist, but apparently the only dining tables being sold in our area in the last two years were either junky looking or completely without character.

I’d periodically check larger area Craigslist listing to see if something fun was driving distance, but things didn’t ever quite align with my vision of the perfect table. A shop in the Minneapolis area was one I had my eye on for the last several years, Golden Age Design. I’m thinking it’s the same person/company I purchased my chairs from, but before they opened their weekend popup shop they now operate. Conveniently I was meeting up with some friends to check out SR Harris (fabric warehouse mecca) and I managed to convince them to stop in to the showroom. Thank goodness for measuring tapes, friends, and cell phones with husband’s that answer them. I picked out this gem, a simple Danish teak table. I think it’s just the right size and matches my Danish dresser that I had gotten for a steal years ago. The ends each extend and I think it’s going to be a great place to eat when we have guests and great for homework and puzzles the rest of the time. Bill, the owner, and his team were amazing to work with and so knowledgable.

Being a chair collector, I haven’t really had a set of four chairs that matched in a while. There’s not many things more thrilling to me than stopping at an estate sale and finding a super awesome chair – which unfortunately most of the time don’t come in full sets. So I had my eye on these Salt chairs from Design Within Reach. I know there are tons of other similar styled chairs (including these at Target), but I really wanted something that will last and I could finally commit to coughing up the cash. Surprisingly I didn’t wait forever to decide on buying them, maybe because when I bought them they were on sale!

Next on my little list is finding a dog-proof rug to put under the table and having this light fixture installed above it! Let me know if you have any rug recommendations, I’d love to see! Are you working on any remodeling or decorating projects?

It’s been a while since I’ve done much for updating the decor in our house. At the end of the summer I mustered up energy to paint the girls’ room and our upstairs hallway and staircase. I really loved their original paint color (which was a pretty blue), but it had definitely lived its course and was starting to chip and fade a bit. I loved the idea of giving them a fresh little update just for fun.

I tried to incorporate as many things from the room before as I possibly could. The room is pretty small, and for not one, but two girls, makes it a little more difficult to organize. There’s a lovely built-in dresser which is so nice. No closet, but I think we can get by without one for a few more years yet. Bunk beds were really our only option and this set from Ikea has been great. I painted it white before I assembled it a few years back. We had a small square cubby shelf for books and other goodies, but the pressed wood had gotten water spilled on it and was all bubbled up. It took a long time of searching to find the right kind of shelf that would work in that specific area. I am so happy with this one from Ikea. It’s been great and fits the space perfectly. We use the square bins for socks and underwear and a few leftover books. The lamp is so awesome! I get excited about lighting, sorry. I love the modern look and it turned out to be a great replacement for the old nursery lamp (and coordinates nicely with the Katie Daisy print on the wall).

One thing about decorating is that I’m terrible about deciding on window treatments. It kind of drives me nuts! I hate spending money on them, but they’re one of those necessary evils, at least in my mind. I split an Ikea curtain in half and we hemmed the bottoms. Natalie and I each were on a sewing machine racing each other to see who could hem them the fastest. Kinda fun. I ordered the bamboo roman shade and I think it looks great with the original wood trim of the house. Plus the white curtain brightens it all up too. The girls and I strung some beautiful felt balls on some bakers twine and we hung that over the curtains. I love the colors, we picked each one and I think it looks so cute.

The chair got pulled from my sewing room. I had used it for too long as a dumping ground and decided that the girls’ old chair needed replacement. I kept looking for one to purchase (and waited in hope that this Nipprig Ikea one would come back in stock), but of course one day it finally clicked and I moved the gray (see this post) one upstairs. It’s’ a comfy chair for the price and the fabric is really pretty.

Last piece of the puzzle was the gallery wall. I’ve wanted to put one up for so long! The space at the end of their bed is a pretty narrow one, so a fun wall was the perfect choice. I found these awesome clipboards from The Salvage Co on etsy. They’re fairly local to me, so that was great, too! I skimped on buying framing, so I came up with some cheaper alternatives to frames. I love this hanging technique (I use thumbtacks though), worked great for this large Lizzy House poster. I’ve done it for a few other prints in my house and it’s really cute. We sifted through all sorts of artwork and these pieces were ones we chose together. I added a tool from my dad, which filled the little space in nicely.

Here’s the long list of links, if there’s anything I missed just let me know in the comments and I’ll be sure to answer:

Bunk Bed – Ikea
Vittsjjo Shelf – Ikea
Upholstered chair – Target
White wire toy basket – Target
Lamp – Target
Large rattan toy basket – TJ Maxx
Square pull-out bins – Target
Felt Balls for Garland – Corner House Shoppe
Curtain – Ikea
Bamboo Shades – JCPenny
Curtain Rod – Target
Pillows – made by me using a Melody Miller print and Rain Walk
Quilts – made by me, see HERE and HERE for posts with more info
Giant paper mache pencil – made by Natalie

Artwork:
Katie Daisy
Clipboards – The Salvage Co
‘E’ vintage signage – Peppermint Bark 
‘N’ print – Sweet Escape Design
Lizzy House Alphabet poster
Leah Duncan Village Print
turquoise “Peacefowl” print – Native Bear
Seal gold foil print – Sycamore Street Press
“Do What you can..” Print – Sycamore Street Press
Chalkboard speech bubble – Chalk Style 

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this post. I actually love recording this stuff for my own records, it’s fun to look back on! And yes, we have an ever growing beanie boo collection. Next I’m working on our dining room and possibly getting a new window in my kitchen! Exciting stuff! What are you up to decorating wise?