My Black China Cabinet is finished!

It's finished, shining and looking Oh so good!

I sure do wish I had done this a long time ago when I first brought her home.

I still have not replaced the cracked glass and the wood pieces missing on this top left side from when I first brought it home.  Hoping to get those fixed soon.

For now, I am just enjoying having this sweet cabinet refinished in black.

It is two pieces so I decided to keep the top of the bottom hutch unpainted in its original wood oak finish.  I like the contrast and like the idea of it not being visibly scratched should the top piece be shifted or moved.

I also did not paint the inside of the cabinet either as it compliments the top of the lower half.  I also have another piece of furniture on the opposite side of the room that is painted black with a stained wood top as well.  I love symmetry!

I am especially loving the way my white dishes look with the black finish as well now.

I have more work to do in this room and have made some more decisions regarding painting the lower half of the room again.  I can hardly wait for that project.  

But.... it will have to wait because I have already jumped on another project and finished it, and have yet one more redo before I get back to the dining room.

If your wondering what I am talking about you'll have to come back to see my new paint color for the kitchen soon.  Yep, that's right I redid the kitchen again and soon am repainting the den again too.  I'll be back with that another time though.

Please remember this blog is going private again soon and I will need your email to add you to be able to continue following along if you'd like.  See my previous post for more details.

I don't know why I waited so long to redo this cabinet that I purchased solely for the reason of repainting it.  I guess I just got busy.  So glad to have this one finally done!

Done and enjoying it!

Thanks for stopping by, 

Happy Monday!

Painting the China Cabinet

Time sure is flying by..."like sands through the hour glass, so are the days of our lives." 

I can't help but think of that every time I look at this vignette even though there is not one inkling of an hourglass in sight.  Weird!

It's hard to believe I actually made time to blog and was still tablescaping while I worked at Stein Mart. With all the responsibility of that position I am amazed that I even got one post out much less a few years worth.  Looking back now, it's easy to see that I did start to pull back though. 

What's funny is now that I have more time to blog I seem to be less inclined to do so.  It's not that I don't enjoy it, because I do and I do miss the communications with other bloggers.   I just seem to be a bit stuck in the same ole same oles.  Ever been there?    I also really miss one of my most inspirational bloggers ever, Liz at Savvy Seasons.  She always had a way of showing her decor that got me in the mood to rearrange and redecorate my own.  I hope your doing well my old blog friend!  Anyway, that's the long and short of why I haven't posted much at all...I am stuck, just like those hands on the clock above. 

 I have managed just a few changes around here lately though.  I recently purchased two new mercury glass lamps to use in the dining room.  I actually found them at Walmart of all places.  They didn't come with shades so I used some of my old shades and that's not quite what I want. So, I am keeping my eye open for just the right ones.

And....do you remember when I purchased this (new to me) cabinet several years back?   It was bought with the intention of painting it black.  Well, of course I waffled on that idea for several years.  I even let myself get to the point of starting all over and wanting a new dining table and hutch to match.  

But yesterday, as I was feeling restless on a cold Saturday afternoon inside, I decided to start repainting my hutch.  Of course I waited until almost 4:30 in the afternoon before I started.  Yes, really! I guess you know what I'll be working on today now don't you?

I can't wait to see this finished.  I think it will hold me off of any new purchases for a bit.  I still really, really, really want a new table and chairs and have several ideas on that.  

The fact is, I have been feeling very very restless lately as far as my decor goes.  I really want to update the whole house again with a different look.  I am kinda getting tired of older furniture and am wanting new, more modern, but frenchy and classic with a twist of modern.  Does that make sense to anyone other then me?  Unfortunately, the budget doesn't allow for such drastic measures as what are in my head.  So, I guess I will just have to continue to chip away at it a little at a time.  

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

I hope you have a beautiful and blessed Sunday!

Decorating the Top of the China Hutch

Does anyone remember last week when I said I was on a creative roll?  That was when I showed you my picnic basket vignette.  No?  Well, that's okay, that just means you probably haven't stopped by in awhile.  Can I just remind you that I'm still here!  I'm still blogging and styling and have lot's to share. I know I fell off the grid while I was working but I'd like thank those of you especially who have remained constant and faithful blog friends.  It really means a lot to me!  For the rest of you, I'm sending out a sweet reminder that the door is always open around here and I do enjoy hearing from you! So, I hope you come on in!

We are back in the dining room ladies, where I was inspired to create this little vignette on top of my china cabinet.

Here's what inspired me!  

I have seen these herb boxes all over blog land and wanted some for so very long.  I about flipped when I came across them at a Decor Warehouse that I visited with a friend last month.  They were priced so well, that it was no doubt they would be coming home.  I had no idea they would end up in the dining room of all places but I love because it keeps my dining room from looking too formal.

After hanging the three boxes on the wall I needed a place for the fourth box and decided on top of the china cabinet was perfect.

I stored a few platters that I rarely use in the box to give it even more height.

The I also decided that the top of the hutch was a great place to store those other pieces I love that I rarely ever will use too.

I added some greenery and few flowers for color and a nice summer show and I was done.

I love to say it was as easy that, but...that would not be the whole truth.  You see the top of my hutch is very arched.  Getting my vignette set the way I envisioned was a bit of challenge.  I finally ended up using cotton batting of all things to create height and a flat surface where I needed it on the curves.  Pretty crazy huh?

Wanna take a peek inside? I added some color in here too!

This butterflie dish and the forget me not dish were my MIL's.  I just love these!  

Speaking of sweet look what I saw out of the window when I was snapping pics of the hutch.

Do you see her now?  Isn't she just precious!

Speaking of precious, did you happen to notice my new plant?

I had been wanting to get a real plant for my stand in the dining room for awhile now and was thinking of getting a fern until I discovered this at Lowes.  There was only one and of course I snapped it right up.  It's a good thing I did because I had several ladies asking what it was and where did I find it?

It's called a Lipstick Twister, or Aeschynanthus Radicans to be more accurate.  I just fell head over heals in love with those lacy little ringlets.  It does have blooms that will look much like lipstick. 

It requires indirect sunlight so this little spot in the dining room will be just perfect. 

I am joining the following parties today;

Inspire me

Fertilizer Friday

If you happened to stop by thank you so much! It's always a pleasure when you do.  I love company, don't you?

 Be sure and come back again real soon.  I've got several more projects I've been working on for the booth and have lot's to share!

Have a great day everyone!

Fall in the Dining Room

My fall tour continues here in the dining room today.  I told you've I've been putting out fall everywhere didn't I?  Well, this room is where it really shows.  

Before we get into more fall decor, I just have to share this little find with you.  

Look what I found at one of my most favorite resale shops.  I admired this quite a bit when I first saw it but didn't buy it even though it was only $13.00 for the whole set.  After I found out I was going back to work I went back and bought it.  LOL! 

I am so glad it was still there.  I just love the grapes and shape of this one and that is also came with the plate underneath it too.

Here's my other tureen.  I don't have a bottom plate for it, but I absolutely adore this one too.

I can't help but wonder what in the world I am going to do with two soup tureens though?  But, they are sooo pretty ya know.  Yeah, I'm justifying here!  Mercy, I may have issues y'all.  LOL!

Okay, let's move on and get back to the fall decor.

I love the color combinations that I used on this table vignette.

I moved the candlesticks that I usually keep on fireplace mantle here to my side hutch along with a few more touches of fall.

I brought back out the Mr. pumpkin tassel that I made last year to hang on the china cabinet key.  You can go here to see how I made it.

On the top of my china cabinet I took an easy (lazy) way out and just added another beaded garland to the existing floral arrangement.

Inside the china cabinet I added a few more fallish goodies.

I love seeing these colors mixed with the white!

On another entirely different note; are you also seeing blogs on your blog roll that you do not follow?  I am!  It's weird because they are an auto blog link that is showing up with a different post for all sorts of different cars, and there is a lot of them!  It is coming up as Bonafied Southern on my roll.  Do your remember I told you my roll disappeared recently?  Now this!  It's crazy!  I was just wondering if anyone else is seeing this too?

Thanks again, so much for taking my dining room tour.

I hope you enjoyed your visit!

Have a great day friends!