KnittyMagic in the Dining Room; and a product recommendation
My dining room was a Big Deal to me when I bought my house. I wanted so badly to have beautiful formal dinners. I was going to wow everyone with my fabulous china, antiquated serving pieces, and amazingly huge Queen Anne table.
It's funny to write that now. About 6 years after purchasing the dining room set and getting my dining room "perfect" I had had approximately 4 dinners in there. I found I didn't actually enjoy hauling out (and washing) all those layers upon layers of dishes for formal settings. I began looking for excuses to hold parties outdoors or buffet style.
I tried to figure out why I didn't much enjoy the dining room. After all, I had just what I wanted. What was wrong? I tried a new tablecloth, some new dishes, new curtains...I even spent two weekends recovering the dining room chairs. And once I did that, I realized what the problem was. It wasn't that I didn't like holding dinner parties (although the superfluous china really was kind of silly). It wasn't that the dining room was unwelcoming or awful.
The table was too big. I never realized it. It looked great with the chairs assembled around it. But in order to sit down, you had to carefully pull out the chair (without hitting the wall) and then thread your body in. The chairs were heavy and poofy and the legs were curved out in the way. Could it be that the perfect dining room wasn't so perfect?
Time for KnittyMagic.
1. The curtains I had in there were sheer purple voile ones from Ikea. I had made them into a sort of Roman shade style. The layers of fabric ended up blocking out all the light. I had a beautiful picture window and it was completely blocked off. I decided a simple scarf valance would look nice. I found, however, that Ikea no longer carried the scarf valance in purple. I really liked the fabric of those curtains. Then I realized, what is a scarf valance but two panels sewn together? I ripped out the seams that made them Roman shades, trimmed the rod pockets, and stitched two of them together end to end. I purchased a set of curtain tiebacks from Ikea ($3.99) to hang them. Cost: $4 for tiebacks.
2. Accent wall. This is my new favorite way to decorate. I'm drawn to deep, exciting colors, but often those are just too much for a whole room. I have an open floor plan which means it's hard to tell where one room ends and the next begins. I have dark furniture in the dining room, so I picked a dark mustard color. I painted the wall with the window (it only took a couple of hours) to set off that great purple scarf valance. Cost: $15 for paint. I bought the good stuff that is paint and primer in one. It's worth the extra cost. Cheap paint is no bargain.
3. Rearrange. It's that simple. I took everything out of my china cabinet, set some things aside to sell, and rearranged the rest. Cost: free, although if I can sell a few things I may end up making money on the deal!
4. Table. I needed a new table. At first I thought I'd build one. Then I thought I'd buy one. Then I couldn't decide. I took down the old table and dragged my kitchen table in there. I thought it would look pretty silly, because it was awfully small compared to the old one. Oddly enough, we discovered we rather liked it in there. It opened up the room a lot, leaving plenty of room to walk around the table. It is so nice to walk around the table to open the china cabinet, and not have to thread your body around the chairs. However, that kitchen table, while a good size for the three of us, was in no way big enough for guests. I needed something that could expand a little.
I had planned to buy something, but when I balanced the checkbook I decided there was currently not enough for a new dining room table, at least until I sold the old table. I couldn't really find anything that was the right size that I liked anyway. I decided to scavenge from my grandpa's house. Kitchen tables now are typically 36" wide, whereas the size I was looking for was 32" wide. I took a tape measure over to Grandpa's and voila! 20 minutes later I was hauling that sucker down the attic stairs. It didn't sell at the estate sale---so it was meant to be with me.
There was only one problem. It looked old. The finish was worn in spots and the legs were scratched like crazy. I did a little googling and discovered a product called Howard's Restor-a-Finish. It says that in one easy step you wipe it on, let it dry, and it renews the luster and beauty of the original finish, blends away scratches, and permanently removes water rings. Yeah right I said, but I'm always down for an easy one step makeover.
This stuff is magic in a can!!! I was squealing as I wiped my rag over the surface of the 50 year old table and scratches, rings, and scuffs disappeared. After about an hour's drying time, my table looked great. The finish is shiny and hard. It doesn't look like it just came off the showroom floor, but it looks like its best self. Scuffs and scratches are, to some extent, the charm and character of vintage furniture. This keeps the overall vintage look while minimizing those scratches and blemishes. In one easy step. Highly, highly recommended.
Total costs:
Curtains: $3.99 for tiebacks
Paint: $15
Table: $8.00 for Howard's Restor-a-Finish
That's less than $30. And everyone at last weekend's party marveled at how much the dining room seemed opened up and more welcoming!
It's funny to write that now. About 6 years after purchasing the dining room set and getting my dining room "perfect" I had had approximately 4 dinners in there. I found I didn't actually enjoy hauling out (and washing) all those layers upon layers of dishes for formal settings. I began looking for excuses to hold parties outdoors or buffet style.
I tried to figure out why I didn't much enjoy the dining room. After all, I had just what I wanted. What was wrong? I tried a new tablecloth, some new dishes, new curtains...I even spent two weekends recovering the dining room chairs. And once I did that, I realized what the problem was. It wasn't that I didn't like holding dinner parties (although the superfluous china really was kind of silly). It wasn't that the dining room was unwelcoming or awful.
The table was too big. I never realized it. It looked great with the chairs assembled around it. But in order to sit down, you had to carefully pull out the chair (without hitting the wall) and then thread your body in. The chairs were heavy and poofy and the legs were curved out in the way. Could it be that the perfect dining room wasn't so perfect?
Time for KnittyMagic.
1. The curtains I had in there were sheer purple voile ones from Ikea. I had made them into a sort of Roman shade style. The layers of fabric ended up blocking out all the light. I had a beautiful picture window and it was completely blocked off. I decided a simple scarf valance would look nice. I found, however, that Ikea no longer carried the scarf valance in purple. I really liked the fabric of those curtains. Then I realized, what is a scarf valance but two panels sewn together? I ripped out the seams that made them Roman shades, trimmed the rod pockets, and stitched two of them together end to end. I purchased a set of curtain tiebacks from Ikea ($3.99) to hang them. Cost: $4 for tiebacks.
2. Accent wall. This is my new favorite way to decorate. I'm drawn to deep, exciting colors, but often those are just too much for a whole room. I have an open floor plan which means it's hard to tell where one room ends and the next begins. I have dark furniture in the dining room, so I picked a dark mustard color. I painted the wall with the window (it only took a couple of hours) to set off that great purple scarf valance. Cost: $15 for paint. I bought the good stuff that is paint and primer in one. It's worth the extra cost. Cheap paint is no bargain.
3. Rearrange. It's that simple. I took everything out of my china cabinet, set some things aside to sell, and rearranged the rest. Cost: free, although if I can sell a few things I may end up making money on the deal!
4. Table. I needed a new table. At first I thought I'd build one. Then I thought I'd buy one. Then I couldn't decide. I took down the old table and dragged my kitchen table in there. I thought it would look pretty silly, because it was awfully small compared to the old one. Oddly enough, we discovered we rather liked it in there. It opened up the room a lot, leaving plenty of room to walk around the table. It is so nice to walk around the table to open the china cabinet, and not have to thread your body around the chairs. However, that kitchen table, while a good size for the three of us, was in no way big enough for guests. I needed something that could expand a little.
I had planned to buy something, but when I balanced the checkbook I decided there was currently not enough for a new dining room table, at least until I sold the old table. I couldn't really find anything that was the right size that I liked anyway. I decided to scavenge from my grandpa's house. Kitchen tables now are typically 36" wide, whereas the size I was looking for was 32" wide. I took a tape measure over to Grandpa's and voila! 20 minutes later I was hauling that sucker down the attic stairs. It didn't sell at the estate sale---so it was meant to be with me.
There was only one problem. It looked old. The finish was worn in spots and the legs were scratched like crazy. I did a little googling and discovered a product called Howard's Restor-a-Finish. It says that in one easy step you wipe it on, let it dry, and it renews the luster and beauty of the original finish, blends away scratches, and permanently removes water rings. Yeah right I said, but I'm always down for an easy one step makeover.
This stuff is magic in a can!!! I was squealing as I wiped my rag over the surface of the 50 year old table and scratches, rings, and scuffs disappeared. After about an hour's drying time, my table looked great. The finish is shiny and hard. It doesn't look like it just came off the showroom floor, but it looks like its best self. Scuffs and scratches are, to some extent, the charm and character of vintage furniture. This keeps the overall vintage look while minimizing those scratches and blemishes. In one easy step. Highly, highly recommended.
Total costs:
Curtains: $3.99 for tiebacks
Paint: $15
Table: $8.00 for Howard's Restor-a-Finish
That's less than $30. And everyone at last weekend's party marveled at how much the dining room seemed opened up and more welcoming!
posted by knittykat @ 5:15 AM
1 Comments:
At 9:09 AM,
ladyjanewriter said…
Yay! I can picture you squeeing and dancing around your new kitchen table!
This is fantastic, knitty! Next time I wanna see before and after pics when you try something new - even if it doesn't work. These are fun posts b/c I know it's something you're passionate about.
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