Woodn't this be a great title for a post about Wood

Sorry about that title.  I just wasted 5 mintues of my life googling clever sayings and song titles with the word wood in them.  My bucket list is really coming along nicely.  Not.  I do not have a bucket list and if I did I would come up with a better name for it.  Even if it meant I had to spend TEN minutes googling clever sayings and song titles.  What does all this have to do with today's post?  Nothing, except those are all words that you are reading in today's post.  capiche? Anyway, today I'm showing you (an even number of rooms crazy erin) with wood in them.  why?  because my house is finally looking like it may be close to done and there's not really much wood anywhere so of course all I want now is wood and I want to redo my house.  Let's do this:

And boom goes the dynamite.  I know I'm giving away Christmas right out of the gate with this one but who can resist.  It's magically unstoppable.  I want to eat fancy reconfigurations of comfort food at this table until my head explodes.  Note, it will explode from laughter because I will probably be hanging out with some really funny people.

After my hilarity laugh riot meal of ecstasy I will climb these stairs to burn off all those calories.  ha ha no i won't.  I will turn and look at these stairs and think about what a genius i was for building them.*

*i did not build these stairs.  Please do not write and ask me how i did it.**

**some people actually write and ask us dumb shit like this.  can you believe it?

This perfect potty belongs to furniture designer J.B. Blunk.  He, unlike me with the stairs, carved that sink out of redwood.  Write him and ask your goofy questions, weirdos.

This is old and I don't know what it is but i do know that it is awesome.  I do have an obsessive blog partner who can probably tell you who's house this is, when it was built and how long, down to the minute, they took to furnish it.  You can write her too, she loves mail.

picture 1, picture 2, picture 3, picture 4 is unknown source

P.S. I would like to note that 99% of you who write us are awesome and amazing, please don't take offense to this post.  But there is the 1% out there who will email us with questions like "how did you make that couch" without 1.  letting me know which couch they are talking about and 2. realizing that I am not, in fact, a couch maker.   99%, keep it coming. Love and kisses

Surprise Dining Room Make Over

Yesterday I got a surprise dining room make over.  No, Ty Pennington did not show up at my house with a bus and a bullhorn, but an unplanned overhaul did occur.  My dining room has needed work since day one, but with a kitchen renovation scheduled for this winter, which involves tearing down a wall between the dining room and said kitchen, I figured I would just wait. The Gods had other plans for me, they sent Erin as their petite messenger,  convincing me to buy a table I really didn't even want, but clearly needed.  Let's look at the before then I'll tell you the story.

Ok, so it's a pretty sad before, and not just because I can't hold a camera still for half a second.  Most of the items in this room got placed there when we moved in and just stayed.  Hence the dresser acting as a sideboard and the unhung picture.

I would have moved forward through the next few months with my blinders on if Erin hadn't needed 6 chairs.  Let's clarify:  Erin has been OBSESSED with finding 6 new chairs to go with her stunning new table in her stunning new dining room.  So obsessed, in fact, I've witnessed her squinting her eyes at ebay trying to imagine that some pretty iffy chairs weren't really so bad at all.  

Spending her days and nights peaking at any craigslist posting that offered the promise of multiple chairs she forwarded me a listing with this photo:

The price was right ($250) and I wrote back advising her to get the chairs.  She responded by saying "I don't want those chairs, you need that table." I denied her claim on both counts, and she countered by insisting that I did, infact need the table.  Somehow or another, despite the fact that neither of us wanted the table or the chairs, we decided to purchase the set and split it between us.  I got the table.

Since she got the chairs, and I had none to go with my new set-up, I have her tulip chairs on loan until I'm able to find replacements.  Should I have kept the chairs?  Nope, they look awesome in her house.  

All 4 images on the wall are by my friend, Bryan Keplesky.  I had planned to put them in the office I'm fixing up for myself, but clearly, they were meant for this room.

And that map that had been leaning against the wall in photo 1?  It's frame got a fresh coat of white paint and is now officially hanging on a wall.  Well, at least until we tear that wall down.

Note:  Overt your eyes from the horrid front door, it is getting replaced as soon as the asshats at the door hardware shop send me the right hardware, unlike the last time where they took 2 weeks to send me the WRONG piece.  Photos of that soon I really really hope.

Dining Room Drama Deux

First of all, I want to say THANKS to everyone for your great comments and advice regarding my crazy dining room. Imagine me pasting a big, sticky gold star on your foreheads. I got tons of great ideas, and I'm already mentally rearranging the room 20x over. Now, if I only had a billion dollar budget to match... Since I don't, I'll be carefully watching Craigslist and Ebay, and crossing my fingers that the upcoming Round Top antiques fair will exceed my wildest treasure hunting expectations. In the meantime, I thought I'd throw out a few ideas I cooked up based on your comments. You can always refer back to my dining room pics here to check my mental handiwork. So, I've already pulled all the crap off the window wall, and I'm considering hanging these West Elm curtains wide on either side of the window to add some depth to that space.

I'm thinking I would still keep the gold roman shade... crazy?

In my fantasy (but still vaguely achievable) dining room, this vintage chandelier would take center stage:

It will probably end up being too expensive, but I'm hoping I can snag it, anyway.

And then there's the table issue. For now, I'm planning to keep the white chairs and use a different pair of Danishy chairs to flank the window (have I mentioned I'm a huge chair whore?). They are similar to the ones I currently have in the dining room, but better suited for the space if the table is removed. As for the table itself, I have a zillion pics bookmarked as inspiration. Mind if I share?

So, I'm kind of crushing on trestle tables right now; I feel like something with minimal legs would work well with the white chairs, and I also like how the table ends are uncluttered by chairs. And something rustic-ish (but not too yee haw) would disguise spaghetti stains. Via Met Home.

A more refined version via Domino. Boy those chairs look familiar...

I like a good plinth table, too. This one is kind of reminiscent of Art Deco pieces, but all moderned up. Via Living Etc.

A similar table paired with a very schizophrenic chair collection. Via Living Etc.

This floating, nearly legless table is the bees knees. I love the length, the lack of chairs at the ends, and the airiness. But what the hell is up with that picture collection and the creepy sprinkler system? Via Met Home.

Or maybe I should go oval, but with a simpler pedestal fitting? I like round tables, but they won't fit my space. Love the blonde wood with the dark paint. Via Living Etc.

Same table, different finish. I really need to be able to fit six chairs at my table, though since I like to have my buds come over and entertain me. Karly's getting good at shutting the baby up. Via Living Etc.

I really just want this table. And those chairs. And look -- bish has ANOTHER dining table in the back room! Surely she can spare a set. Via Domino.

And then there's this beauty. Do you think crumbs would get wedged in the cracks? Not sure that I care. She is magnificent, and I'm sharpening my ax already. I've got plenty of trees. Via Living Etc.

So that's all I've got for now, but tune in after Karly and I hit Round Top in a couple of weeks to see if we made out like bandits. Who knows? I may redecorate my entire house. Or I may be under house arrest after leaving baby Ike with the Hunny for a whole day.