Deck the Halls

Now that there is more than a foot of snow on the ground, it seems appropriate to do my Christmas decorating post.  And not to mention the fact that Christmas is only 5 days away!!  

I went with a more sliver theme this year instead of the traditional green and red.  

If you feel like you need some quick and easy decorations, notice the wrapped picture frame as presents (something I have been doing since our first Christmas when we were married and in our apartment).  Also, hanging ornaments in front of a mirror or window, and of course the popular ornaments in a vase or bowl.  

This sparkly tree and reindeer I got from good 'ol Home Goods.  I also got the white tree with the balls that match the wallpaper from there.  

This is my favorite thing I purchased this year.  It's from Etsy, and here is the link to the store.  There are a ton of this type of thing on Etsy, but this was my favorite.  I wanted something to hang in the doorway between the living and dining rooms and this fits perfectly.  

So, that's pretty much it.  I am hosting a small Christmas dinner (8 people), and have been planning the table settings for that, so hopefully I remember to take pictures and post.  

Hope you had  a good weekend!

Flash Back

My aunt found these plates at a thrift store and thought of my green-accented kitchen.  

I really like them.  Even though I have white crate and barrel plates that I love, it is sometimes fun to mix things up a little bit.

I tried to do some research about them because they are stamped on the back.  But didn't have much luck.  I mostly found ebay posts sellling this stoneware- it seems like there were quite a few collections.  This one is called ONDINE and I am pretty sure they are from the 70s . 

It looks like at some point there were enough for 8 place settings.  Some are chipped, and some are missing, but I wouldn't need to use more than 4 for us anyway.  It also came with a few serving pieces, which is also great.  

My mom pointed out how they match my curtains and the bright green matches my kitchenaide perfectly.  

Thanks Aunt Barbara and Mom! :-)  

The Rearranger

We had to do some furniture rearranging due to the size of our Christmas tree.

I have to admit I don't actually hate it.  I thought I would because every time Rob and I try and rearrange the furniture in the living room, it usually ends up with me throwing a temper tantrum on the floor and whining, "I knew it wasn't going to work! Why do we waste our time doing things like this?!!"

I think the reason I don't hate this is because the main problem is that wall is too big and needs more than just the chair on it.  So, with the tree there, it is just right.  

I assured Rob that after we take our tree down, the furniture is going back the way it was, no matter how inspired we are feeling.  Plus, we can only use one of the end tables which is OK for the Christmas season, but not permanently.  

The sofa saga continues

Rob and I were watching one of our favorite shows ("How I Met Your Mother") last week and I was saying how much I liked Lily and Marshall's sofa.   I realize that it is a little strange that I notice decor whem I am relaxing and watching tv, but I will say that Rob said he was thinking the same thing.  

Mostly I love the color of it.  I have been struggling thinking about what color sofa we would get because I really am not a fan of the tan/brown, neutral colors and some brighter colors are too scary for me.  But,  I really like this goldish yellow color.  

I can't find this sofa and if anyone has any idea where this sofa is from, please share!

We were in Crate and Barrel the other day and we really liked The Troy sofa.  I like the lines of it and it seems much more practical.  I think that it would take better wear and tear with kids.  It does come in a similar goldish color and they make a pull out bed version of it which would be ideal for us since eventually, some day (no- I'm not pregnant and not planning to be any time soon) we won't have a guestroom.  

The other thing that is great about Crate and Barrel is that you can pick any custom fabric too for any of their furniture.  You can even buy your own fabric for them to put on a piece of furniture.  

So, there's some more sofa ranting from me.  We're just trying to be very intentional about any furniture we buy in the future so it is important to know what you want!

Happy Thanksgiving

I know I have been horrible about keeping up this blog for a while now.  I really am sorry.  It is just that things have been so busy- Bailey's had fleas, I was doing some part-time work the past 2 weeks, the weather is colder and rainy so I have had to think of ways to keep Aiden entertained.  I am not making excuses, just informing you of why this blog has fallen by the wayside.  Ok, maybe I am making excuses.  But, I am really going to try to be better about this.  Especially since Christmas decorating is one of my favorite things.  I have already been collecting some new things to add to the decor this year and am excited to start decorating this weekend!!  So, I promise you will see more posts on here.  Even though the craziness of the holidays is upon us and there is lots of Christmas shopping/wrapping, etc. to do.

Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend filled with lots of love and yummy food!  I don't know if I will ever host a Thanksgiving dinner, but if I ever do, I would use the above picture as inspiration for the table.  

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I'm back

Sorry I haven't done too much blogging recently.  Things have been busy around the Jonesabode this fall.  I finished an exciting project last weekend that I am finally blogging about.  

So, you remember how I have been whining about wanting the circle cut out chairs from West Elm?  Well, a couple of weeks ago we were up in Lancaster and stopped at the Pottery Barn Outlet.  They didn't have the exact chairs that I wanted, but they had these...

Yes, they are a strange bronze color, I know.  But, the weekend before I found these chairs, we were visiting our friends Peter and Tiffany.  They bought a house this past summer and Tiffany has been working on lots of decorating projects since they moved in, making the house look great!  She was showing us some of her spray-paint projects and so, inspired by Tiffany, I thought to myself, why can't I just spray paint these chairs white?!!  

Now, I have to tell you that the brand new white chairs from West Elm retail at $229 a piece. Which, honestly, I would never spend.  I also know that I have never seen these chairs in white at the outlet, and, even if they did have them, they would probably be pretty banged up.   These bronze colored chairs were $100 a piece at the outlet and were in great shape.  That is more than 50% off the price, plus I had a $50 gift card.  So I ended up only paying $150, which I thought was well worth it.

I did some research and it seemed like the best spray paint for this project would be the "Rustoleum Universal All- Surface Spray Paint".  In addition, I did prime the chairs and just used the Lowes brand, since all primers are pretty much the same.  I didn't do any sanding or anything to the chairs, just went at them with the spray paint.  I only used 1 can of the primer between the 2 chairs and then used 2 cans per chair of the Rustoleum.  

Here are the chairs completely done and drying outside.  

They turned out great and I am so happy that I took the risk and just decided to spray paint them.  Here they are in the dining room.  

I still have the other chairs that were in the dining room and I am playing with the idea of fixing them up a little bit with a fresh coat of paint, since this was so easy, and repairing the arm on the one chair, and then selling them on Craigslist for maybe $50 for both or something....I don't know, we'll see.  

Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone has a spooky and fun weekend!  

I promise I will be back soon....