Dining Room Revealed!

I thought I'd never get pictures of my dining room posted! I had jury duty ALL last week....can't believe I got picked, knew all the attorneys, knew the judge, been a legal secretary 20+ years, but I still got picked!

Enough of that...

I don't know if it's my monitor or what but I finally got some pictures that didn't look either (1) washed out or (2) too yellow-ish). The dining room is awash in soothing neutrals but for whatever reason, it doesn't translate too well in these pictures.

I painted the lower half of the wall, under the chair rail, Pearl White. Bought the pre-made picture molding at Lowe's cause I just didn't have enough confidence (not to mention time) to try and attempt to make them myself, so I guess you could say I cheated a little! The color above the chair rail is Antique White. There's just enough contrast between the two to see a little difference.

I had two mahogany ledges I got at Ross that I was going to put on the wall adjacent to my sideboard but when hubby saw what I wanted to do, he said he'd hit his head and knock stuff off them if I put them on that wall, plus I really don't think I had enough room. The ledges are 36" long and the wall I wanted to use really could not have worked with two ledges that long....so, next to the sideboard they went. Previously I had a couple of sconces on either side of my mirror and since they went so well with my furniture, I hung them under the ledges and put a little cup and saucer on them. Use what you got, right?

Okay, now, without further ado, here's the dining room! I have not put up drapes yet, just a roman shade. There are two chairs waiting for slipcovers, and we are installing crown molding, but other than that, I think I'm done. I just go in there and sit and look around, I'm so pleased with it. When my daughter came by the other day, she said she could not believe I had painted a room "white"! She knows how I love color, and maybe it's my "old age" but I have been gravitating toward more calming colors lately.

I'm still loving these Ballard slipcovers and seagrass rug we ordered last year

A closer look at the picture molding

I love how delicate this cup looks

With the exception of a few pieces of cremeware, all other pieces came from flea markets or Goodwill! The most expensive piece in here is the tureen you see on the dining room table, and I paid $40 for it.....more than I normally would consider but I believe it really sets the tone and is such a statement piece.

I have had some great suggestions on drapes, the best one coming from Joni at Cote de Texas, who suggested I use creme colored silk, 2-3 times the width of the window, heavily lined. However, I have not found anything like that thus far, and I really do not want to have them custom made. If any of you know where I might find some really pretty, ready-made drapes for this room, please let me know.

I think the laundry room is next on my list to get a little face-lift! Stay tuned.....

Gone With The Wind.......

Last Friday my mama and I took a little day trip to Lowndes County, Alabama where my grandparents settled after their retirement in the 1940's. Two of their sons were in the military in Montgomery so they moved a little further south to Lowndes County, Alabama.

Lowndes County is smack dab in the middle of the Black Belt. The most prominent community in Lowndes County is Lowndesboro, where I grew up and went to school for many years. There were some beautiful antebellum homes built in Lowndesboro back in its "hey day" and while many of the homes and churches still survive, sadly many of them have fallen into disrepair over the years.

The first home you see as you come around the bend in Lowndesboro is this stately home. Built in the Greek Revival style, it is what many people consider a true antebellum home. It underwent a significant restoration in the 1960's but now it appears the owners have not kept it in the style to which it had become accustomed.

You can almost picture Scarlett O'Hara running down the driveway holding up her hoopskirts

This is the Methodist parsonage

The local cemetery. Some of the earliest settlers in Lowndesboro are buried here

We counted more than 6 churches built along a less than 3 mile drive!

The dome on the church below once sat atop the first capital of Alabama located at Cahawba, Alabama. Cahawba is found near Selma, Alabama. Due to Cahawba being situated on the Alabama River, it was subject to flooding so eventually the capital was relocated to Montgomery. I wish I knew how this church acquired the original dome.

Marengo is a home that has been beautifully restored and maintained. It is now used to host special events but when I was in school, the children of the family that lived there went to school with me. As a matter of fact, I had a crush on one of the sons and remember being invited to Marengo!

Looking down the driveway leading to Marengo

The original home was dismantled and brought over on the Alabama River to its current location

This is a new home built to look old

This aging beauty belonged to a doctor and his decendants still live there. It appears that it, too, has seen better days

Front entrance to the above home

Now we'll leave Lowndesboro and head down the road a piece (as we say here in the south) to where my grandparents lived.

As you can see from the sign on the church, the original structure was built in 1840 and burned on March 18, 1967. This was at the height of the civil rights movement. During that time, many churches were burned. I distinctly remember the night this church burned. It seemed our whole community stood by helplessly as it was completely destroyed.

Here is the church as it appears today


Just a stone's throw from the Presbyterian church was the home of my grandparents. My grandmother passed away in 1969 but my grandfather and bachelor uncle stayed on at the homeplace until approximately 1971 when they moved back to North Carolina. When the place was sold, the new owners changed many things about the home, both inside and out. My grandmother spent many hours, and many years, making the grounds a showplace. Sadly, all of her hard work is no longer evident. This roofline is basically the only thing left of the time my grandparents lived here. I spent many hours on the front porch, rocking, shelling peas, and taking naps on the metal glider that was outfitted with soft cushions!

The home as it appears today. My grandmother had a beautiful pathway lined with "thrift", and the grounds were wonderfully landscaped. There was a large tree in the yard where my uncle hung a wooden swing. All the grandchildren loved to swing on that old wooden swing!

This white fence was not part of the original yard but has been installed by the present owners

My uncle planted this tree over 50 years ago.

I had an encounter with a rattlesnake right at the base of this old tree! Luckily for me, my dog saw it and started growling and barking and when I saw that snake, I ran for my life!!!

My mama and daddy got married standing right here in front of the fireplace in the formal dining room on January 11, 1946. Walls have been torn down to combine two rooms so it really looks nothing like it did when my grandparents lived here. Here's mama posing at the same spot she stood in all those years ago (no big screen tv's then either).

I hope you enjoyed this little trip with me and enjoyed seeing My South!

Almost Done....

I can't wait to show off my "new-to-me" dining room! This is such a change from what I've done over the last several years.....I've always prided myself on having lots of color in my home....from reds, golds, chocolates, etc. and while I am still drawn to those colors, lately I've been on a mission to use a more neutral and calming color scheme throughout my house. It started in the kitchen, then on to the master bedroom. It is now time to transform my dining room and foyer.

The only glitch so far was this morning when I got up the picture frame molding was pulling off the walls! Painter guy said we put them up before the paint dried enough but he quickly remedied that problem by pulling them off, scraping the walls and backs of the molding, and reattaching and caulking them. I don't know why I never thought of using the molding before, it's just beautiful! The only thing missing now is crown molding which is on "the list" and will be installed very soon (I hope).

So here's a little peek at the dining room......I couldn't wait to start putting out all the pretty dishes I've been collecting. I played around on the sideboard and came up with this little vingette........

Can you see the picture frame molding on the bottom? Love it!!

Here's all the other stuff just waiting to go on these shelves (below)

....that I got at Ross for $10.99 each!

Put some shells in this pretty bowl on the foyer table but that's already changed. Not sure what I'm going to do there.

I hope you are enjoying this transformation as much as I am. I'll post more pictures just as soon as I get all my "stuff" put in just the right place. My only dilemma right now is trying to decide what to use as window treatments. I have ordered a tortishell roman blind (for privacy) but I have no idea what kind of drapes I'll use? Suggestions would be appreciated!!!!

It Works!

Remember these water marks on my sideboard I posted about recently? I put out an SOS in blogland and got some wonderful suggestions. The one I tried first, using a mixture of fireplace ashes and mayo, worked like a dream! If I had not seen it myself, I would never believed it really worked, but just take a look.......

Here are the marks on my sideboard before.....

...and now look! Do you see anything???????????? It worked like magic.

Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions on getting rid of those marks. I want to give a special thank you to Susan over at Thoughts From Over The Rainbow who suggested the ashes/mayo combination.

Can't wait to show ya'll the finished dining room. The painting should be completed by the time I get home today and then it'll be time to let the decorating begin!

Met Monday (a/k/a Let The Changes Begin)

While this is not the typical "before and after" Metamorphosis Monday post, I'm still joining in and posting before pics of my dining room in it's current stage. My header picture shows how it looks now....nothing wrong with it, but I'm still on my mission for a more neutral palette here at home. Please check out Susan at Between Naps On the Porch for some fabulous before and after posts.


Inspired by many other bloggers out there who've been adding that gorgeous picture molding under the chair rail in their dining rooms, I decided that it was time I did the same. I knew I would never have the patience or skills to cut, measure and install my own so I cheated and got these pre-made ones at Lowes. I got 10 of the largest ones they sold (14 x 23) for about $12.00 each. It was well worth the price not to have to buy the molding and try and cut them myself, just to have to have them redone by a pro - - so here they are "eye balled" in an arrangment I liked.



Painter guy and I will start around 8:00 a.m. Monday morning with the ceiling in the dining room and foyer and work out way down to the walls, ending up with the picture molding installation. I'm hoping by the end of the day I'll have my new dining room and I can start the decorating process. I'll be using all of my cremeware and tureens and I can't wait to see the new paint color with my hardwood floors, seagrass rug and dark furniture!


Here are some pictures showing where I leaned them against the walls trying to get an idea of where they will be installed on the walls. I think they will add a touch of elegance to plain boring walls....

See the water stains on the next two pictures? I promise I don't know how that happened!!!! Obviously something got placed on there (probably at Christmas) that was wet and left this water mark. I'm hoping some of you wonderful folks out there can give me some idea of what I can do to get the stain out, i.e. is there some kind of product that will "erase" it? H-E-L-P!!!!