Favorite Thing Friday: My Dining Room

We jabber a lot on Fridays about all the pretty baubles & threads & what-nots we’re lusting over.  But…  how’s that little quote go?

So today I thought it’d be fun to rap about one of my favorite things I’ve already got: the happiest of happy, cozy dining rooms.  It’s taken a little while, a little trial & error, and a lot of layering things I love over time…  but isn’t that what a space you love should be?  Collected and curated?  I really am breaking my arm patting myself on the back here… what a hooker.  Whatever.  Almost everything in this room has either sentimental value, was sourced from a thrift store or Craigslist, or is a refurbished antique.  Here are s’more bits from the room:

Super sentimental stuff on the wall: Old family photos of my parents and grandparents around the dinner table…  a gigantic spoon that I scooped up antiquing with my Nanny…  a framed copy of “La vie est faite de petits bonheurs” (Life is full of little pleasures)…

And, hand-written directions to my favorite restaurant in Florence (Il Latini) scribbled by an obliging shopkeeper when my college bestie and I were trying to find it again on our 2nd trip to Italy.

Mix & Match seating was a must for me.  I generally want to ralph when I see a fully matched dining set.  This isn’t Rooms-to-Go, yo.  Linen Settee is from World Market (on sale right now for $299! #stealing).  Tufted chairs are from Nest in Chicago – I finally snapped them up after months of pressing my nose against the glass and drooling over them.  Louis XIV chairs are sommuh my favorite refurbished antiques.

Ikat Pillows: The navy throw pillow covers are from Interwoven… she has some pretty great stuff in the form of kanthas, ikats and otomi textiles for great prices.  I also follow her on Intstagram for daily updates and sale alerts.

Framed Mia Beach Photography & Vintage Dresser: I remember the day I saw this dresser at Habitat for Humanity in Mt. Pleasant, SC with a $125 sticker on it.  I literally lunged for it and carried it out the door… à la that 2 lb. weiner dog from the Grinch carrying a 875 lb. bag of toys.   It took a little elbow grease to clean it up, but I love it.  Such a great piece.  The old barnwood frame was about $16 from the Broadway Antique Mall in Muncie, IN, and the photo is my very oldest friend Mia‘s little boy frolicking through a field.  She was sweet enough to send me a copy.  It makes me so happy every time I look at it.

Louis XIV caned dining chairs: I picked these up at an antique store in Charleston, SC about 8 years ago…  at the time, they were a yellow-y bone color covered in mauve velvet.  Wuf.  They’ve seen a few cans of spray paint since then, but I finally ended up with a few coats of rose gold spray paint and the most delicious charcoal grey velvet from Calico Corners.  Big thanks to Begley Upholstery on High Street for doing such a bang-up job on these.  I love a good DIY, but some things you gotta leave to the experts.

Vitrine of antique flutes, coupes & tumblers: Muffie Faith, who owns ESD in Charleston, inspired this collection.  I saw candy-colored glasses perched in her kitchen window about 7 years ago and thought it was the greatest thing I’d ever seen (remember this post?).  So, every time I’m in a thrift store, I sprint to the glassware section, and there is ALWAYS something delicious there.  This collection makes parties and holidays REALLY, really fun.

And look how amazing these bad boys are…  I think they were 50 cents each. Where’s the karate chop emoticon??

Here’s my newest addition:  A $20 buffet from Goodwill.

I ended up painting the outside cream, and the inside is this color.  #bangbangbang

What’s your favorite room in your house?  Or your favorite thrifty score?  Shoot it over to us – we wanna see!!

Have a great weekend, Campers!