The Fat Hydrangea

Sara Michelle - Columbus, Ohio

Dining Room,Flowers

White Dining Room Reveal

Dining RoomSara Michelle B.Comment

Our dining room transformation is finally DONE! 

What a difference a couple of months can make! New paint, new curtains, painted chairs, rearranging the table, removing the shelves. It feels so different and so refreshing! 

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The paint color can be found here, it is my go-to white from Sherwin Williams. 

You can read about the chair transformation here.

The drapes are the Pottery Barn Riviera Stripe Drape in Navy. 

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What do you think? Do you love it as much as I do? Totally goes with the Nantucket Farmhouse vibe I'm going for! :)

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Flowers: Faux vs. Fresh

FlowersSara Michelle B.Comment

For most of my adult life,  I've been all about fresh flowers. Almost every week I would be loading up on some beautiful stems from the grocery store or clipping some hydrangeas from my yard - season permitting - to make a fresh arrangement for my dining room. Nothing too fancy or formal, just a little something simple and pretty to brighten up the space. For so long, it was just one of those simple pleasures that brought me joy!

However, somewhere along the way this joyful activity started to feel more like a CHORE! I think I'm in a season of my life where I have a lot of day-to-day responsibilities to keep my household moving and having the extra task of cutting stems, arranging flowers, refilling water, washing vases, and deadheading bouquets just became another small, stressful task on my weekly to-do list. I've been trying to find ways to simplify my life and make the most of the time, and surprising even myself - this task just isn't making the list! (At least not every single week anymore!) After all, what good are fresh flowers if you don't even get the chance to really take a deep breath and enjoy them? 

So anyway, I'm back on the faux flower wagon and have been searching for some beautiful, realistic looking flowers. As I mentioned, my arrangements are usually very simple, so I want something that isn't too overly arranged. I want them to look natural and real- like I picked them myself! Here are some AMAZING faux flowers that I found online that have just the look/feel I'm going for. They are from a company in the UK, Fox Flowers. Their tagline is "unbelievable Realistic Faux Flowers" and it is the TRUTH! (Not sponsored, just LOVE what I see here!)

They look pretty real, don't they? 

Of course I'm on a 100-day no shopping spree, so I'm not buying anything yet, but that doesn't mean I can't search and find the perfect ones in the meantime! 

What do you prefer in your home? Faux vs. Real, or a mix of both?

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White Painted Dining Room Chairs and a White Pumpkin Centerpiece

Dining Room, DIY Projects, Flowers, Fall DecorSara Michelle B.1 Comment

The project that I thought would take a day but actually ended up taking a month is FINALLY DONE! Yes, my dining room chairs are finally 100% painted white, and I LOVE them! Totally worth the wait. 

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Why did it take so long? I think we started this project a month ago with plans to finish them in a weekend. We got them sanded right away and planned to spray paint them that day, but the wind was so bad it kept blowing back in my husband's face so we had to stop. The next days we had planned to paint them called for rain, so we couldn't bring the chairs out. The weekend after that I was not feeling well and had my scare with the baby, so it went on the back burner again. Finally this past weekend, it was beautiful and we got them 100% done! They ended up needing three light coats of spray paint and some final touch ups. For less than $100, it definitely was a project with a big impact!

(Yes, you may have noticed in my recent fall home tour that the chairs desperately needed another coat of paint... I tried to photoshop and angle the photos the best I could! I just couldn't get them done in time... that's life for you sometimes!) 

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They absolutely achieve what I wanted to achieve in terms of giving the dining room a new look and brightening things up! 

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The classic black was nice too, but sometimes you just need a change and I was definitely at that point!

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I also realized that for my last few dining room shoots (here,  here, and here) I used the same vase for my centerpiece, so I decided to totally switch that up too and go with something completely different. Usually I prefer tall vases and big flowers, but I am kind of liking the understated and low arrangement this time! I also think I'm in super nesting mode (36 weeks, 6 days!) so I am decorating/organizing like a mad woman. 

What do you think? Do you like the change as much as I do? My only question is whether I should put a coat of poly on them... any avid furniture painters have any advice? I think it might help with the durability (though we did use a high gloss paint!) but I'm afraid of them eventually yellowing. I'd love your feedback!

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Design Trend I'm Trying - Painted White Dining Chairs

Dining Room, DIY Projects, PaintSara Michelle B.2 Comments

Lately I've been in the mood to overhaul our house and make it lighter,  brighter, and whiter. I credit/blame (jk jk!) my friend Betsy after watching her give her amazing downtown Columbus townhome an all white makeover ;) Plus after 6-years in this house and nesting like a crazy 33-week pregnant woman, I think I just am craving a change! (As I often say, that topic is another post in and of itself!)  

That being said, I have been super hesitant to dive in and paint any walls white... I've done it before in the dining room, and though it was beautiful it just didn't sit right with me at that the time so painted it back within like 3 days. I also started painting the living room white earlier this winter, but only made it through half a wall before stopping. Scratch that idea! 

Anyway, we've also been on the lookout for new dining room chairs for a long time now but haven't found just the right ones. I like the ones that we have because they are really sturdy and durable, which is a necessity since my boys literally climb ALL OVER THEM! However, I'm kind of over the black furniture at the moment and wanted something a little more fresh. Well, the last few months I've been totally inspired by the glossy white chairs featured by some of my favorite bloggers/instagram accounts - those of Monika Hibbs and Jillian Harris to be exact! In their new (absolutely gorgeous) homes, they both have dining room chairs that are the similar colonial style as mine, just white! I also love the look paired with a rustic wooden table, which is exactly what we have in our dining room. 

Painting my dining room chairs white = Perfect way to incorporate more white/bright without being scared PLUS it solves my dining room chair dilemma! Win, win! 

Here are some of the pictures that have inspired me to try out this trend: 

I even love them painted blue ;) 

Here is the exact chair I would love to buy from Ethan Allen, but they are a little expensive! I'm glad I may be able to pull of the same style for much less!

As a refresher, here is a picture of our dining room with the black chairs:

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I decided to start with just one chair and see how I like it. (We have a set of 6-chairs, but only use 5 at the table. The other one we use in our third floor bedroom, so I figured if I didn't like the result, I could put the white one up there and leave the ones in the dining room black. If you're as indecisive as I am,it is good to have a contingency plan in case you back out!) 

I started by sanding the chair with 100 grit sandpaper since there was a LOT of varnish on it. 

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I literally sprayed it off with the hose to clean it, there was SO much dust! 

Evan then spray painted the chair with Rustoleum's Gloss White Paint and Primer.. It took about a can and a half of spray paint. 

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It is currently drying and I'm currently trying to decide whether to go forward with painting them all white! Such a difficult decision!

What do you think?

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