2011: A Year in Review

Happy New Year!!   2011 has brought a lot of success in so many ways!  Of course the greatest is little E that is now 3 and 1/2 months old.  Other successes were finishing up some long standing projects around the home and getting our house sold in a relatively quick manner.  Here are some Green Street 2011 highlights:

DIY bulletin board

Before & After Kitchen Roman Shade

Before & After Kitchen Stool

RIT Dyed Lamp Shade

DIY Painted & Stenciled Ikea Rug

Before & After Kitchen

Before & After Patio

Before & After Hallway

DIY Greek Key Roman Shade

Before & After Renovated Bathroom

Before & After Dining Room

Before & After Sideboard

Make sure you click on the links to see the 'before'.  There are some huge transformations.

All of these projects were completed before Elizabeth was born in September and our house sold in October.  Phew! We accomplished a TON in 2011 and I look forward to a new adventure when we temporarily move to Vienna, Austria (leave this Tuesday).  

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year's Day and the next time you'll hear from me will be in Vienna!!   Bis dann....

My Dining Room (as it stands now)

First, a huge thank you for your sweet comments on yesterday's post.  I was flattered.  Many of you commented on the colors and I was lucky to have an interior designer help me choose the colors of my dining room walls and furniture.

Now, onto our dining room, I wasn't able to completely finish my dining room.   Don't get me wrong - I think our dining room has come a long way, but the finishing details are definitely lacking.

If you remember, this was the inspiration.  

The goal was to lighten up the room.  So, how did we accomplish that? 

- We painted over the current wallpaper.  

- Purchased a natural jute rug.

- Installed custom made roman shades.

- Painted dining room table and chairs.

- Painted sideboard. 

What did NOT get accomplished?

- Painting of chandelier, hanging my federal eagle mirror and accessorizing.  So, here is our 

Dining Room BEFORE:

Dining Room AFTER:

It definitely is brighter and softer.  The wall color provides a calming backdrop, the natural rug is perfect for everyday use, the roman shades (more below) provide that much needed dose of color and pattern and the painted table and chairs help break up all the gold tones in the room.  

Another picture of the painted sideboard with the unhung mirror.  You can see the chandelier I was suppose to paint and never got around to it.

The DwellStudio Gate Citrine fabric used for my roman shades.  Isn't it lovely?  Melissa from Windows by Melissa really did a fantastic job (yet again).  They're perfect for our dining room.

If you need window treatments, don't hesitate to contact her!  She is a pleasure to work with.  Well, that is our dining room - What do you think?

Stay tuned for tomorrow, because I will be hosting an amazing giveaway from Melissa!!  It's a doozy!  

Before & After: DR Sideboard

With all the craziness, I've been slow to post some of my finished projects.  And, once the baby arrives (due this Sunday) I know I won't have time.  So, here is the sideboard I found at a tag sale for $25.

BEFORE (Post Sanding)

It wasn't the best quality, but it was the perfect size for our small dining room.  If you remember from this post, I decided to paint it BM Pale Avocado and add this hardware.

I haven't hung my antique gold federal style (eagle) mirror above the sideboard because we're moving in less than a month and I really don't want to put new holes in the wall.  So, here is the sideboard now.

AFTER

The other day, I placed my mirror on the sideboard to see how it would look.  I'm dying to hang it - I think it would go perfectly above the sideboard.  

AFTER

I found that mirror at an antique store for $45.  I love it.  The sideboard has a collections of items which I love and found at various places.  I know my orchid looks in bad shape;  I can not for the life of me keep orchids alive.  

And, do you spy some DwellStudio Gate Citrine fabric in the reflection of the mirror?  More on that tomorrow - I will reveal my dining room (as it currently stands) and will show you what an awesome job Melissa from Windows by Melissa did on my roman shades!    Stay tuned!