Fabulous Finds

Yesterday was supposed to be spent relaxing. I make plans to do nothing on the Saturdays that we don't already have something to do (birthdays, weddings, etc). Yet, somehow I find myself unable to just sit around.

I woke up yesterday morning way too early, and despite my best efforts, could not fall back asleep. So what's the best thing to do early on a Saturday morning? Yard and Estate Sales!!!!

I was on my way to an estate sale in East Memphis when I saw this beauty below in passing. I was rubber-necking so bad that I almost rear-ended a car in front of me.

{antique buffet}

I immediately turned around, got of the car, and very quickly asked how much. I took a picture, sent it to both my grandmother and father-in-law. They both have a love for antiques and are rather knowledgeable when it comes to good deals! Once Kyle gave me the go-ahead to get it, and so lovingly handed me his truck keys, I headed back with my final offer.

I talked the lady down by $50 (which I must say I was rather proud of my negotiation skills), and now this pretty piece is in the brick room of our house! I still need to clean it up some, but it feels right at home...

{settled in}

Once, that was done I had an itch to start a project. I was wanting to recover some dining room chairs. My sweet friend Lee was up early too, so she and I spent the day together driving all over Memphis to complete it. When we moved into our house, we literally did not have to buy a single piece of furniture. Between the furniture from Kyle's house and the furniture my mom had waiting in storage, we had plenty. We have two dining room sets. Kyle had a pub set and then my mom had given us a standard set. It's solid furniture and not something I would want to spend money on these days. Furniture has gotten out of hand in price these days. However, there are certain colors that are just not me. Red being one of them. See below:

{dining room chairs prior to being recovered}

Lee and I drove to Michael's, who doesn't carry fabric, Hobby Lobby, and JoAnn Fabrics before finally making a final decision on the fabrics I wanted to use. I knew I wanted them to not all be the same print/pattern. Once I got home with all of them, I was ready to go.

I needed to take the red coverings off first, so I had an easy pattern to follow when cutting my fabric. This is what I found underneath the red covers:

{sick right?}

Here are the four fabrics I chose:

{this one is on the two end chairs with the arm rests}

{this is one of the side chair fabrics}

{another side chair fabric}

{this I used on two of the side chairs}

{four different fabrics for six chairs}

{other end}

{anytime i take pictures in this room, everything has an orange tint. can only do so much with an iphone i suppose}

{best full table shot i could manage}

I woke up this morning, sort of having forgot that I did this yesterday, walked into the dining room, and smiled big. For my first attempt at something like this, I think I did a pretty good job. Eventually, I plan on staining the chairs and table a dark walnut color, but for now it's neat to see how much a small change of fabric can make!