My multi-purpose Dining Room

I hope you enjoyed my post yesterday on my top 5 favorite dining rooms.  You will see small elements of those rooms in my own dining room.  I don't have just one room dedicated to dining in, it has to serve as a multi-purpose space, in that it's my entry, as well as my office space.  You'll see further down. In another post I'll share details on sources and projects, but for now, here you go!

This space functions as my office.

And also keeps my son's musical instrument and a basket for shoes. I need to re-think that basket there. 

I love, love, love this wall lamp.  More on that later.

Now we have the entry way. Typically everyone seems to drop their bags on the floor in front of their hooks.

My gallery wall.

One day I would like to either build a closet for coats or find an amazing antique wardrobe.  For now, this Ikea one does the job.

Here's a little reading nook I created.  I can still see the kids but remain a bit removed from the scene (I wish).

If we ever want to visit the Aquarium, we don't have far to go.  Doesn't everyone have a fish tank in their dining space?

My fireplace.  One of the many reasons why I bought this house.  Eventually all that brick will be covered up with molding as well as tile.  One day!

Close up of a few of my milk glass pieces.

I've had these wedding pictures up for almost 13 years now.

Another blogger showed these x-benches in her home and I fell in love.  More details on a future post.

As you can see my buffet is less than in perfect condition but with young kids, and only a $35 price tag, you can see why it came home with me.  Did I mention I just love chinoiserie?  I mean REALLY LOVE.

This orchid/clam shell was an easy to do project but not a cheap one.

The table we've had for 8 years, don't mind the white paint. We do are arts and crafts in here as well.

My  husband usually answers all his emails at the table.  I think he needs his own little corner somewhere. 

You can see the door to the right, and here's a bit of a wider view of the room.

Here's one little detail I've always loved.  These are just plain target chairs that I adhered vinyl lettering to each chair, so we know who sits where.

I found a seller on Etsy that is embroidering linen place mats for me.  I'll show those when they come in.

Do you have any rooms in your house that double as something else?

My new Ballard Designs Davenport Armless Chair

Yay! It's finally here.  A couple of months back, I placed an order for Ballard Designs Davenport armless chair.I needed to replace this one that I reupholstered myself.  It was my first attempt, and all in all it didn't come out that shabby.  Over time though, my very adorable cat (its the only thing that saved her), decided this chair was the perfect scratching post.  I decided to see what it would cost to have it professionally done. I hadn't counted on other things that needed to be done to the chair, like more padding, and securing the structure of it (which I thought was just fine). I was shocked, putting mildly when I received an estimate for close to a $1000.  Now, also keep in mind I have 2 of these chairs, and that's even before picking out the fabric.  I ended up giving one away to a friend and the other I listed on Craig's List.

So then, I was left with a blank space, and no where to read my magazines in peace.  Who am I kidding?  I have 3 kids and 5 pets, I don't know peace. I wanted an armless chair, because I like the look of them, and it had to be slip covered.  Me plus coffee, you get the picture? I searched on google first through images, and then onto web options.  I kept going back to the Davenport.

It was exactly what I was looking for.  Here's my honest experience with Ballard Designs, which I have been a customer for well over 12 years.  The chair itself, with shipping, plus white glove service adds up to be a lot. Less than upholstering the other chair, so that was a plus. Ignore the sale price stated, because there are NO slipcovers for that price, in fact the slipcover I chose is the cheapest and most basic, because I need to be able to toss it in the wash.  The slipcover arrived in a week but the chair took much longer.  I was told it would arrive February 13th, but it actually didn't arrive until today, February 25th.  Not a major deal, just a slight annoyance.  

The white glove service comes in handy as they will place it where you want, attach the legs, and cart away all the packing materials.  Although it was awfully tempting to keep the huge box and turn it into a fort.

Here it is, in place.  Looking a little low.

How are these slip covers going to fit the chair and the cushions?

These cushions are so soft.

I am so excited to catch up on my magazine reading tonight.  This chair has been worth the price as well as the wait.

Please have a seat....

     Yay!!!! I did it....I finally finished my very first upholstery job on my french chair.  Would I do it again?  I have too, I still  have it's ugly sister and the grain sack fabric I purchased is on its way.  It was a long process and I ran into lots of surprises on this chair. Here's where it all started.

Here's my assistant.  I think she has decided this is her chair, with out without the seat.  While I was taking the chair apart this is what I found.  Also, each of the arms had crumbled packed, red clay.  I had to thoroughly vacuum everything out.  I did remove the straw and the batting material. It was coming off in pieces just from handling it.

I finished cutting the material, using the original fabric on the chair as my guide.  These were my tools.  I purchased the tacks that come on a roll and a special hammer to nail them in.  The hammer was around $15 and the rolls (I purchased 2) were expensive,(I used a 50% off coupon) and as I later found out, not necessary.  More about that down below.  This part of the project was my least favorite.  I found it very difficult to get most of the tacks in straight. Even though it didn't look perfect (I had NO expectations of that), I was feeling confident about how it was turning out.

The brassiness was bothering me, so I took my rub and buff and hand painted each one to tone it down.  You can see the difference in the picture down below.  

Again here is the brassiness.  It just stood out even though I am using gold accents in my bedroom.

Once it was completed, I lived with it for about a week, and I just wasn't falling in love with it. 

 I am a faithful reader of Miss Mustard Seed.  If you haven't read her blog, you should definitely check it out.  Just when you think she is "done" with a space and it looks amazing, she goes and changes things up to look even better.  Plus I have a weak spot for ironstone and she does too.  It was destiny that right around this same time her post on  her slipcovered chair came out.  I fell in love with the french gimp she used.  I checked online and found something very similar at Joann's, unfortunately the day I was there, they had NONE left in the color I needed.  Fate intervened once again, because I fell in love with a beige trim with pink dots.  I bought all they had at a price of $3.49 a yard.  I ended up using approx. 9 yards and still have a couple left over for other projects.  I really wasn't sure how much I would need, and  I just wanted to avoid making a second trip and also possibly running into an issue of it being out of stock.

Off went the roll of upholstery tacks.  This wasn't as painful as pulling off individual tacks, but still a little time consuming.  I used my glue gun, and went through a lot of glue sticks to attach the trim. But in the end, I now have a chair that I LOVE.  

I've created my own little reading nook in my bedroom.  

     I have a much better understanding now as to why it can be pricey to have a chair covered.  It can be time consuming and difficult when removing tacks.  Attaching the actual fabric doesn't take as long but working around any curves can be tricky.  

As you can see my rugs from Furbish studios, came in and I love the pattern and colors.  I did purchase 2 to make them a little longer, much like a runner.  My needle point pillow came from Ebay, and the small wooden, milking stool was purchased from the Sundance catalog a long time ago.  If you read my post here, then you will recognize my little $2 owl. I noticed underneath the owl it had a "Jonathan Adler" label.  After doing a little research via Google, I found the same owl as mine here.  Still being sold online for $88.  Super score for me.  Here's a better picture of this cute little owl.

It now rests on top of my own copy of Miss Mustard Seed's book.  And no, I haven't been paid for any of the sites or businesses I've mentioned.  These are people or items that I have found on my own, and love for my own home.

Leave me a comment below and let me know if you think the fabric trim was a much better choice?