dining room - the (mostly) after

As a refresher, here are the before pictures of the sunroom-turned-dining-room. And, some progress pics here.

As we (David/Randy) made a bit more headway on the room construction, we (I) realized the completion date was going to be precariously close to David's sister and her family coming to visit. They have four kids now, and I knew we would need and want as much space as possible so I encouraged (read: was annoying and persistent) everyone to get it finished before their arrival. Last week turned out to be nutty, but we got it finished. David made the VERY wise decision to hire John Bryant to come help get stuff done around the house. Some things had just gotten a backseat because the room had taken priority (clean out the gutters, put together our new grill), but he was a total lifesaver to have help. He was at the house Tuesday night until 10:30 laying tile because it HAD to get done that night in order for the timing of the rest of the week to happen. Oh, and a tree fell on the house mid-week, and he took care of that too. Whew. It really was a nutty week.

Now, some pictures (and a few scattered words - mostly for my future recollection):

Table score at the Pottery Barn outlet!

Then, this happened. Lovely, right? We actually had someone come give us an estimate to have this tree limb cut down a few weeks ago, and he told us it didn't need to be. Nice. Fortunately it came down very slowly over the course of a few days, so it didn't cause much damage (a dented gutter and part of the deck rail that needs to be re-nailed together).

And, the finished product! Complete with farmers market flowers David brought home on Thursday :).

We got the chairs from Pier One when they were running a sale, but our local store only had five in stock so my parents picked up the sixth one. The brown pillows were on the porch before, and they are a bit faded but who cares? I've had the baker's rack since my Birmingham house, and now it's finally getting more use. We certainly still have some styling to do - oh, and a boat load of touch up painting. Oops. Turns out I'm pretty horrible at painting... But, all in all we can call it complete. Tonight was our first family dinner in there, and it was so wonderful. I'm loving it already!

dining room - the before

This is the current view looking towards the screened-in porch. We're going to remove the door and open the wall to the right of it to the bar counter. 

I definitely am going to miss this relaxing space in our house! Though, let's be honest. "Relaxing" time these days is spent in my bed asleep (or in my bed reading a book, or in my bed watching tv... etc.). We inherited the chairs/ottomans/tables from David's parents and we need to find a temporary place for them because they are awesome and we aren't getting rid of them! Same goes for the amazing heater (a Christmas gift from the Bryants a few years back). 

This is the current view out onto the deck. We're going to move the door from the house to this door space.

And... the wall to the house. And the box. David and Matt moved it into the yard beyond the deck, so we'll be able to keep our storage without taking up valuable deck space.

We have ordered the windows, but now have to pick out:

• paint color (should we repaint the kitchen too [we really don't want to]? the same color as the dining room??)
• tile (should it be exactly like our kitchen tile? travertine?)
• light fixture (probably a fan to help with airflow... we'll need it in there. something like this?)
• table!! yay!!! no idea what we want... or what the space will actually accommodate. We'll probably have to wait until there are real walls and no furniture in there to figure this one out.

The windows have been ordered so there's no turning back!

shoes for Paige

Thanks to Pinterest, I was really motivated to make the babies' Christmas presents this year. I re-made a few things I've done before (the best burp cloths and a taggies blanket for each kid), plus a couple new projects. I made them each a bapron, and they are so cute! I've made several now for baby shower gifts, and I need to make one for Crawford. I just use flannel and store-bought bias tape, so it's actually a really simple project. Flannel is my favorite baby fabric because it's so absorbent. Now I make nursing covers out of it too- it just makes sense! On Black Friday I bought 19 yards from JoAnns (it was $1.49/yard!!), so I'm well stocked for baby projects into infinity. 

Also, using this tutorial (with a few alterations... ribbon for the straps, no faux suede sole, no interfacing... ok, so I took the lazy way out) I made Paige some of the sweetest shoes! The first pair was a pain to make, but as soon as they were finished I had to make a second.

in the works

Oh, the chair. I know this doesn't look like progress, but it is! Making a "pattern" was my step one in the arduous process of recovering this bad boy. I know I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill on this one, but whatever. I'll just be glad when it is finished.

My first attempt at crocheting. I have a ways to go, but I really had fun learning! I'm flying to Ohio next week, and I'm excited about working on a few projects on the plane.

Because we aren't going to be around for Christmas (we'll be gone the 23-30th), we decided not to put our Christmas tree up. Bah humbug, I know. Our house is still on the market and cleaning is already a hassle, why add more clutter to the mix? We did get out my favorite Christmas decor- the Christmas card holder (with ours at the top! They are in the mail!), Willow Tree nativity and Christmas village. Because we buy Christmas village pieces the day after Christmas (there is a store in Columbus that has them 50% off on the 26th), it was so fun to put them out this year. It was like opening new gifts!

shirts for Crawford

Can't wait for a little guy to put inside these onesies!

project for baby Bo

Several months ago we started a big project for Greg and Jodi's baby. Jodi and I found a great glider rocker at Goodwill for $30, but the cushions had all seen better days. We figured we could tackle recovering them

before

Greg and David worked on peeling the wallpaper in the kitchen while we did rocker stuff.

We also thought this would be a good opportunity to teach Jodi how to sew. Turns out, a project like this really isn't the right time for a sewing lesson... we'll have to come back to that. 

So, the project took a little longer than planned, but the good news is: it is finished! And, in time for baby Bo to arrive (he/she isn't here yet... TODAY is the due date!)!

I wanted to make the arm covers removable because, well, they will probably get projectile vomit/poop/spit up/etc. on them at some point. Let's be honest. 

Finished!