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Problem Solved...er...Maybe Not

We will go with Bentwoods (#2 Viennas - sorry to change lingo on you but we found out that's what the style is actually called) for the formal dining. We actually never really said it out loud. We just started buying chairs. At one point I did ask (after several purchases were already made), "So are we going to do all bentwoods?" (I just wasn't sure if Nick had ruled out the mismatched thing.)

We bought 1 chair at Benbrook Antique Mall. Then another the following day at Handley Antique Mall (sorry they don't have a web site so here's their location).

I'm sure you notice that they are different. Oops. Of course the color but that won't matter because we are going to paint them anyway. We failed to see that our first chair had little arm-ish brace to the side while the second chair was clean just like the Viennas from Crate & Barrel. We thought okay not a huge deal. We like the cleaner look, so we will pay more attention when we look next time. We will focus on the cleaner look and hope to find more beautiful ones in no time.

We started to feel a little discouraged because we weren't finding any. (That's the way antiquing go - Ron Washington voice). We headed back over to Handley because they had 2 there that we didn't buy the first time because we thought we could find sturdier ones somewhere else. They had 1 left! The guy who owns the store asked if we were looking for more bentwoods. (I think he could read it on our face.) He said the lady up the street had 4 chairs yesterday at $5 a chair (cue mouth drop to the floor pose). We bought our 1 chair there for $18 (since we still needed more even if we bought the ones up the street) and headed up the street.

There were 4 bentwood on the lawn of A Little Old, A Little New with a sign $5 a chair. One of the chairs was broken at the back, so we though okay we will just get 3 of them. The owner was so sweet she said she'd throw in the 4th in case we needed it for parts (haha as if we are that handy). She said they were in her carriage house that she is trying to remodel. (They come with a story too bonus.) Plus they were having a sale, so our total was just under $13 when we checked out.

We skipped the whole way home. Then we noticed something.

Oh yes friends there was like no attention to detail on our parts here. I noticed there weren't side arm brace things and that the seat had sort of an emblem (which I thought was cool and wouldn't be noticeable enough in relation to the other chairs). I blame the price tag. The chairs are actually like the ones DWR sell for $175 a chair. DWR calls them the Era chair. So now we have 3 chairs that look like the Vienna style bentwoods from C&B and 4 (technically 3 since 1 is broke) that look like the Era style bentwood from DWR. What are we going to do now? Find more Vienna's? Eras? Actually learn from our mistakes? (haha no that last 1 is way overrated)

Seat Situation

What chairs are you thinking for the dining room? What about...

Oh the topic of much conversations these past couple of weeks. We currently have 4 chairs from craigslist which we have talked about slipcovering but will most likely end up back on craigslist. We've always wanted wingbacks to flank the end of the table like these discontinued beauties from West Elm.

Wingbacks for the end is pretty much a solid, going-to-happen-eventually thing. It's the rest of the chairs around the table we need to figure out. Here is our brainstorming thusfar.

1. Faux Eames (because we are too cheap/can't afford real ones/not worth the extra $$)


These are 99 per chair, so roughly 769 (with shipping) total since we need 6. I was sold on getting these before we decided to overthink be thorough on this decision making process. We could get these chairs from overstock for 139 cheaper, but they only sell white.

2. Vienna Side Chair from Crate & Barrel

I dig these chairs. It might be my new found love of Boardwalk Empire (thank you HBO). Originally I thought we might just round up a bunch of these from flea markets, etc, but I don't know if we can find 6. Then we would have to paint them. However it may be worth it since our grand total would be 821.40 if we purchased these new.

3. Jackson Metal Tub Chair from World Market

The more we think about this option the more we think it's not for us. I like them yes but I'm not sure it's the feel we want. These are 109.99 per chair, so 659.94 + tax. Overstock has some similar that are 197.99 for four (dirt.cheap.) which would put us at 395.98. Overstocks look shinier plus we don't need 8.

4. Random collection of chairs from random places painted the same color
Of course there is no source for these said random chairs, but here is some inspiration for you so you don't think we are crazy to envision with us.

This is Sarah Jessica Parker's Dining Room

via Decorologist *Note I can still have a Vienna chair

There is no defined amount for this option since you never know what you're going to find. The price per chair could be from $15 to $50 which is cheaper than the previous option. However we then need to factor in painting the chairs which for materials, etc shouldn't be too terrible. Rather it shouldn't be more total that all the previous options. Of course this option is appealing because it means we can have 6 different chairs that we like (in addition to the wingbacks). We found a chair when we were antiquing in Denton this weekend that I loved, but sadly I had no purpose for. This would give me an excuse to buy it and other exciting chair finds. Coincidentally, this is also slightly unappealing because it may lead me on an extended search for 6 "just right" chairs that seemingly has no end in sight. Okay I take that back it doesn't sound that unappealing after all.

Dining Room

We are attempting to get back into the swing of things here at la casa. We took a long hiatus after the 1st birthday bash. We were just worn out. Add in new job (for Nick)/budgeting to be single income (yeah that's right I'm staying home...yikes)/life into the mix, we are just now mustering enough energy to deal with the massive amount of things left to do around here.

We are focusing on the formal dinning room of all places. We found this really cool piece at an antique mall in Dallas, so we've been bouncing ideas off each other ever since. (Side note: Yeah big step for us that we didn't buy it immediately without having a clear direction for the remainder of the room. Hope it's still there when/if we decide to pounce.)

We both love it. Nick fears that the room could go uber shaddy chic or traditional in a hurry if we aren't careful. This would go to the left of the window and serve as a mini buffet - a place to decorate and a little more storage. We are still debating on the "real" buffet for the long wall. Here are a few options.

The Concord Media Cabinet from Room & Board (in walnut, not the ebony that's shown)

We both really loved this when we saw it in LA. We don't so much love the price. In fact it makes me short of breath thinking about it. Maybe I can find one on craigslist in the free section.

The Luna Buffet from Organic Modernism

Nick passed by a store in New York that carried Organic Modernism. It immediately perked his interest thus spurring him into research on this option. A huge plus for this is it's reasonable and modern. Two things that rarely go together (unless you are talking about cheesy modern). It's 18.5 inches deep though which might be too deep for the room.

Of course that all depends on the chairs we go with...

Bring in the New

Here are the reupholstered cane chairs that we bought from the Dallas Flea last spring. We got some charcoal linen (and washed it twice per Emily Henderson). Gave it to someone who knew what they were doing and ta-dah beautiful.

I bought the pillows from Target because I thought they were cool. Plus I didn't have time to make any pillows and I don't think I'm good enough to pull off ruffle pillows.

2010 was filled with lots of changes for the family and la casa. I hope everyone has a happy new year. Here's to more projects at the Wills Casa and goals achieved in 2011.

1 More Thing

I forgot to mention the landscaping clean up we did before R's birthday too. We took out all the overgrown mess that was crowding our beds. We haven't tackled the re-landscaping action yet, but we are enjoying how much brighter the dining and living rooms are.

I was using an electric chainsaw and definitely chainsawed the cord.

Landscaping = not my thing

Layout Set in My Corner

I think I have the bones in place for the sew corner. The decor and details aren't there yet, but here's what we are working with people. I moved the table against the other wall. My heart still pounds a little fast when I think about it, but I'll just have to lock the door when I'm sewing so no one can sneak up on me. I stole Ramona's 4x4 Expedit shelf. Sorry baby girl. Actually, I think she will like it better because when we get a 2x4 Expedit for her room I think there will be enough space left for a slide of some sort which is her hearts desire.

My punch list for this room includes but is not limited too...

• obviously a task chair (I like the Jules from Ikea, but I don't really care for the color choices.)
• a better solution for the thread
• more fabric because well I have 2 empty slots and that's just not ok
• mount a shelf above the table
• add decor like maybe a letter A and possibly a drawing from Nick

I think this is definitely a starting point. I feel like I can cross craft room off my to do list and just work on the punch list as I find things that fit my needs.