First I snagged this:
They called it a buffet, and while it is going in the dining room, that's not what we'll be using it for. We'd already decided that the front door into the dining room was too handy by half, and despite not wanting to turn the dining room into the 'mud room' or foyer, we knew we'd end up using that door most of the time. ('We' being me, Greg, and the kids). The main front door, into the living room, is too inconvenient for everyday coming and going, especially for bringing in groceries; and the door from the kitchen into the garage isn't very convenient for several reasons. So the dining room door was going to be it.
But I didn't want everyone's shoes being piled around that door all the time. We talked about getting one of those entry-way benches with the cubbies underneath for shoes. But when we found this buffet (for only $35), I had visions. For starters, those two sections with shelves on the sides have glass-fronted doors. I intend to install some fabric 'curtains' on the inside of that glass to block the view, and each one of those shelves will be a place to stash shoes. I have old towels which I can line them with in the winter or when it's wet, to keep the inside clean and dry. Then there are the drawers, which will be perfect for hats and gloves in the winter, and for Tyler's collar and leash and raincoat, for walks. It's flipping perfect!
I'm going to paint it, probably - we're trying to get away from the dark wood in this room, although once we paint the walls, and re-do the floor, maybe the wood of something like this won't be 'too much' - so maybe I'll wait and see.
I'm kind of excited too, because I figured the top of this would be an ideal place for a few plants. It's a south-facing window, shaded by an awning and a large tree out front - so it's not going to get a ton of direct sunlight, but it will get bright diffused light, and a lot of houseplants would grow well under those conditions. I've always wished I could have a few houseplants, but at the old house, there just wasn't any place to put them. This will be a good spot for a little experimentation.
The second find was a lamp base which we felt would fit right into our sea captain's parlor decor for the living room.
(And for only $4.00, we figured it was worth trying out. Have you priced lamps lately? Yikes!) It is an electric light, not a lamp ... it is lacking a shade at the moment, which I'll put together as a 'Victorian-style' lamp shade, something like this ...
... courtesy of Antique Lamp Supply. Maybe not quite this 'fancy,' I'll have to tailor the shade to go with the lamp. But you get the idea.
I think it'll go quite well. Speaking of which, I can't stand it, I have to post some pictures of the furniture. This is its current arrangement, although we've moved it around 5 or 6 times since we got it. It'll take awhile to be sure how we're going to put it all together, although this is my favorite at the moment.
There are still a lot of things we need to pull it together. We want to get a rug for the middle of the floor, to sort of 'anchor' that furniture together. We plan to get a coffee table, though it has to be 'just the right one' to fit in. We will be re-doing the window treatments as soon as possible, as those vertical blinds and peach-color valances really need to go. But I think it's coming together nicely.
I think that about wraps up today's finds ... some other, smaller, cool stuff, but nothing else specifically for the house.
I'm dying to get busy on that dining room, but we haven't settled on a paint color yet. We'll have to work a little harder on that this week.
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