So, before we moved into the house….the dining room looked like this….

The previous owners took the curtains and the light with them….and then until we remodeled the room looked like this….

When we remodeled, we didn’t really do much to the dining room except for replace the crown moldings (making them larger) and widening the openings to the room which you really cannot see in these photos anyways.  We also removed the wallpaper, painted and sanded and re-finished the floors.  (The little bar in the first “before’ image is now the entrance to our butler’s pantry that leads into the kitchen on the other end.)

You may recall that I brought my living room curtains with me from our old house.  I had them re-pleated to be tacked at the top (vs. pinch pleats) and had them re-worked for our dining room windows.  The colorway on this fabric (Lee Jofa) has been since discontinued.  The drapery hardware is from Barbara Barry’s Kravet collection.  It has a bamboo motif on the rod and the rings.  Not recommended if you want to open and close them easily!

Here is the room today after the drapes were installed.

Still haven’t done anything to accessorize and everything is from our old home…..but, slowly but surely it is coming along.  I am feeling motivated to get this room done now.  I am thinking some grass shades are the next order of business….and art!

Sorry, this hasn’t been a good blogging week.  My husband has been out of town at a conference and Tuesday was my sweet Maddie’s 4th Birthday.  Where does time go?  Here are some updates around here.

First, the stone walk is done and phase 1 of the front landscaping is done.  We need pots to sit on the drains in the front and the yard needs to be re-graded and re-sodded as you can see.  Our “seasonal color” needs to bloom…..but it is better than the before I think.  (By the way, I got a bee in my bonnet over the weekend to clean the dirt you can see on the house on the left side…..my husband came outside to find me scrubbing the house in a sundress and flip flops.  Do you ever have urges to start projects at odd times (he was inside concocting the aforementioned Thai feast!)

My parents and sister are coming into town tomorrow for Maddie’s birthday party this weekend.  My mom is a huge gardener and I will no doubt pick her brain on how to further spruce things up…..ourselves because to be honest….I am tired of spending money at the moment on anything that isn’t currently in process.

A few weeks ago, the fixture for our stairway arrived.  It was worth the wait and would look better if I didn’t photograph it with a bath running and two kids chasing each other around, but that seems to be how I roll these days (and I am not complaining!).  The fixture is from Remains lighting….you’ve probably seen it all over the place in blogland kitchens….it is understated here.   I love it all the same.

I love how the webbing in the glass casts a pattern on the stairwell wall…..but, of course, I didn’t get a photo of that!  Speaking of lighting, our kitchen chandelier came today and I love it.  I’ve loved it for a long time.  Our ceilings are 8ft tall so we had it slightly rescaled to work in our space.  I was a bulb short but you can see it didn’t stop me from taking a photograph!

A couple of comments here too….the chair cushions are being re-done.  Just waiting on the Galbraith & Paul fabric to arrive…..6+ week lead time…..  And in the background can you see the horizontal striped fabric from Pindler?  They might be my favorite window treatments in the home at the moment.

Want a closer view of them?  My little Harry is 18 months now….still hasn’t had a haircut…..I think this weekend before Maddie’s birthday party it might be a family affair if my husband has his way.  I cannot tell you how many images I have taken of my little man and his crazy curls!  This was taken after dinner last night….he was tired….and having fun with this chair….which was one of my first “big” post college purchases.  It doesn’t go here….but works for now.

And while Harry was busy re-arranging furniture and pulling every pillow he could find to the ground, my little “pea-pod” Maddie was painting cards for her teachers.  They read something like “Thank you for all of the toys.” and “We all love you.”  Honestly, we are blessed to go to a wonderful preschool and having spent Maddie’s birthday in the classroom for a bit….I am thankful for our teachers and the community we’ve found at the school.

And finally, we found the cutest invitations for Maddie’s birthday party over on Etsy.

We are having a “movie” party this weekend…..should be an adventure to say the least.  Thank goodness the theater has wine for the adults is all I can say.  And with that, I am signing off until at least Tuesday.  My parents and sister will be in town and I am looking forward to some quality family time.

Have a great weekend….

I cannot tell you how many hits on my blog, pinterest pins, etc. come from my renovation posts about our decision to go with quartzite over marble.  It is all such a personal decision and what works for one might not work for another.  But, do you remember this post I did where I did a test on limestone (which I wanted to use on the perimeter of our kitchen) using olive oil, red wine and lemons to see what would happen if not cleaned up right away?

Well, needless to say, I know how we live.  And that fact needed to be considered when we made our selections.  Saturday night was a good example of this.  My husband, who is a great weekend night leisurely chef, was whipping up a Thai feast.  He started it all and then we took an intermission to bathe the kids and get them down.  I came downstairs first and this is what I was greeted with…..

Do you see the big ring/stain to the right of the mortar and pestle?   If this had been marble, I would have been sweating.  Instead, I just did a quick swipe with the sponge…..and that (above) went to this…..

And that is why I love this stone so much.  Now, if only cleaning up the mess (that I cropped so that you couldn’t see more) from the cooking could have been so effortless!  Life would be sublime!

Phew, where did the weekend go?  It seems like the weeks are flying by these days.  Summer will be here before we know it!  Lots going on here around the house but nothing is “done” so I really don’t have much to share that will give any sortof “wow” factor.  Do you want to see things “in progress” or do you prefer a big reveal?  Anyways, definitely no “big reveal” here…..but there is progress….

This is what our front yard has looked like for a while.  Old concrete walk was removed, new one put in and then the front walk and the front porch were covered in stone.  Landscapers are in today re-doing our front beds and then we need to get the front yard re-graded and add pots to the front of the walkway down near the street.  Slowly but surely….

We ordered a new porch swing for the front porch…..I believe it is shipping this week.  It is being handmade and the artisan has been keeping me updated.

We have a set of wicker chairs and a little side table from a little porch off the front of our old house.  I am going to spray them white and have a cushion made for them, as well as one for the swing.  I am thinking of this fabric….it makes me happy.

I don’t have a photo of this, but we had a trellis with a climbing rose bush on the side of our house.  The trellis was removed when we painted and I thought the plant was removed.  But, it was just wacked down to the roots.  Wouldn’t you know this thing is going crazy now?  I know nothing about gardening, and certainly not roses….but I am trying to learn.  It is so pretty.  Chris claims he know this would happen as grapes do something similar….a fact he learned in his wine classes….  We have such a little yard here in Dallas compared to nearly an acre in VA.  I feel like this little yard is manageable for me to practice my gardening skills.  The roses around our neighborhood have been incredible this year!

Anyways, that is about it around here.  Hope you have a great Monday.  I’ll try to do better at blogging this week!

I swear, I need to post about Harry’s room soon for fear you’ll think I don’t care about this poor kid.  Truth is…..his room looked like this for a good couple of months before we remodeled…..(excuse the iPhone photos but these are from an old blog post and it is all I’ve got at the moment.)

While all that time Maddie’s room had an old soccer border (which I am sure was great for a little boy), deep red-backed bookshelves and a perplexing paint color that was all over our house and fondly referred to as “Murky” by my husband.  In any case…..her curtains were finally installed yesterday and they were met with much glee.  I took these photos early evening…..but you get the idea…..just a little peak for now.  Soon the room will be ready for a full reveal….(meaning I will take the time to pick all of the toys off the floor so I can take a wider shot!)

Maddie also found a new use for the drapery rings today…..I walked by her room as they were being installed and she was hanging out with “Mr. Don” with a stack of the rings on her arm.  Not sure if she loves the drapes or the “bracelets” more….Oh well, she’s happy……which means I am happy!

Ah, after a yucky weather day yesterday….today is glorious outside.  Wish I were here, to be honest.  Isn’t it a lovely photo?

Adeline Country Cottage 

It is only 10 and Harry and I have managed to drop Maddie at school, run home and have breakfast and then ran out to the Design Center to quickly look at some drapery rods I am ordering for the dining room, a trip to the post office and then the neighborhood Starbucks.  Now I am ready to get some work done!  It is one of those beautiful days where I think I am going to surprise Maddie and walk down and pick her up after school today at hit the park on the way home.

So, what am I loving today….other than the weather?  First, these curtain rods from the Barbara Barry Indochine collection for Kravet.

I am going with the silver finish (top left), the greek key finial and the bamboo-esque rod and rings.  I am sure the workroom is happy I have finally chosen my hardware since the below drapes have been stored with them since I started the remodel…..waiting patiently to be re-worked for our new space.  I am so glad I brought them with me when we moved though….as this colorway has since been discontinued.  And, I do still love it.  (It is Foile Chinoise by Suzanne Rheinstein for Lee Jofa).

I am also loving today a fabric I found on a recent trip to the design center.  I picked up a sample without a specific project in mind…..just knew I really liked it…it is 100% linen with surprise, surprise…..a leopard print.

It has great texture….and all of a sudden last week I realized it would go perfectly in our master bedroom.  Excuse the pre-move in shot of the room…..but the bed is stripped at the moment as Monday is cleaning/washing day around here…..(please don’t judge the fact that we have a TV on the wall…..it was another one of those husband/wife compromise deals!)

I am thinking of using this fabric for a duvet cover that would be folded at the end of the bed when it is made.  We’ve got a neutral sofa under the windows and our bed is a medium to dark wood tone.

Are you loving anything new these days?