house updates + templeton gray

A few updates on our house...

1. We got the Stendig chairs! As I wrote about in this post, I found such a deal on 4 side chairs (no arms). I then did some digging and was able to find another set for not as great of deal but still pretty good. So we now own 10 matching dining room chairs (5 armless and 5 with arms)!  I have been looking for dining room chairs for so long its sort of crazy that we now have a complete set (remember this post, this post and this post?). Of course, things are never that easy as the chairs are currently in Michigan with my parents and I have yet to figure out how to get them to Missouri...
2. I am still painting the landing. I have put in probably 12 hours so far and I don't even have the first coat of paint on the trim completed. This is the first area where I have attempted to do something with the old, thickly painted trim and it has been much more time consuming than I planned. I opted for what I thought was a partial improvement strategy meaning I didn't strip the molding or rip it out and replace it. Nor did I just leave it alone and paint straight over it. Instead, I used Durham's Pudding to fill in a bunch of cracks and holes and then sanded over it to smooth it all out. What I discovered is that the pudding works pretty well for fixing cracks but not great on major inconsistencies like rough paint areas and damaged plinth blocks. Hopefully, I will finish painting this coming weekend.
3. We have disposed of only one more mouse since the major extermination spree so I am hoping that the situation has been "handled".
4. Our basement took in water AGAIN and this time it wasn't after a really heavy rain. So we put the dryer up on blocks and are currently searching for a recommended professional to advise us on what is going on. Best guess is that we need a sump pump.
5. Our kitchen sink is currently clogged so Jeff will be playing plumber this evening. Because these are joys of home ownership...

Now that we have gotten reality out of the way, I am currently dreaming of Templeton Gray - the sort of gray more greenish Benjamin Moore color I am thinking of painting the trim and armoire in the other guest bedroom. Since pretty much completing the project room, I have been thinking about what to do with the other guest room. I wrote this post and remember how I thought "it just needs a good coat of paint"? Well, after working on the trim on the landing and taking a closer look at the actual condition of the walls and trim its going to be more time consuming than I thought. I haven't decided how involved I want to get with refinishing the trim in the room but my thought is that if I paint it darker and leave the walls light the poor condition of the molding won't be as noticeable. I don't want to give the wrong idea that I don't care about the quality of the work but in an almost 150 year old house you have to pick and choose your battles. You also have to know that part of an old house's charm is that not everything is crisp, clean, smooth, straight or anywhere near like new. 

I also am in love with the below image of Phoebe Troyer's entry. The color is apparently called Greenbrier from Olde Century Colore. I am not familiar with the company and couldn't find any other examples but it might be worth looking into...Darker and a little more green than Templeton?

stampa

I stumbled upon Stampa via Rebecca Atwood's site. Started by Stephanie Pesakoff, Stampa is an online retailer of limited edition prints by a select group of artists. The site is structured a little different than its competitors, in that each week new artists are featured with prints only available for four weeks. You have the option to choose from four sizes, framed or unframed with the same pricing structure for all featured artists. Below is a selection of my current favorites. Happy Valentine's Day!

Rebecca Atwood - Dashes I

Rebecca Atwood - Circles/Plants

Rebecca Atwood - Swirl/Dashes

Stephen Campbell - 5 Bottles

Britt Browne - Zebra

cane furniture + our dining room

One of the items on my absolute love list (along with sheep skins and brass animals of course) is cane furniture. It might sound like an unusual thing to have a deep affinity for but I just love the craftsmanship, texture and airiness of cane furniture. I also love that you can find amazing vintage pieces for a steal. And wow have I recently stumbled on quite the find. I am being a little premature with this post as I haven't officially purchased yet but I found this incredible set of Stendig dining chairs. I haven't had time to fully research them but I believe they were designed by Josef Hoffman and are sometimes referred to as the "Prague" or "811" chair. There are four in this particular set and I really need 8 so I did some more digging and have a lead on 4 more! It does seem that these are to be our dining room chairs that I have gone back and forth on a million times! Before I purchase all of them sight unseen and un-sat, I wanted to put together an inspirational design board just to better visualize how I am imagining the room. 

The main piece in our dining room is our farm table. Its a dark finish and has parson legs sort of like this Restoration Hardware Drifted Oak Parson Extension Dining Table. 

The next major element and the reason for this exercise is the chairs. This particular chair was originally sold with arms as an option so some of the chairs I am looking at have arms and others not. If I went with both sets I would use six armless on the sides and two with arms at the respective heads of the table. 

The other element that I have been dreaming about since we moved in is the paint. I am pretty sure I want to keep the walls light and paint the trim (door casings, crown and base molding and chair rail) dark. I really like the way this room looks by Brian McCarthy. 

The other two big pieces would be a rug and a light fixture. For the rug, I like the idea of vintage, however, it would be a real hunt to find something the size we would need and in our budget. As such, I have been thinking about a simple strip. Something like this Dalton Striped Flatweave from RH Baby. 

For our chandelier, I really like the idea of a large brass sputnik. I love the Atomium and Cliff Suspension from Lambert & Fils. 

Although the space might need something denser like this Lina chandelier by Rosie Li. 

Put all together it might look something like this...