The unveiling of the dining room suite!

Okay, here it is. In all it's glass-topped table and white-laquered glory. A glass-top table is a little 80's, I know, but here I am going for Palm Springs circa 1966.

Now, as I mentioned, I was planning on getting a wooden table and sideboard, but they looked kinda cheap. I guess you can't expect much from Ikea, but this one was so shiny and bright beside the brown one. Now, I need to get another light fixture, replace the curtains (that took me like 6 months to find a pair I liked) and take the plates down.

Speaking of curtains, you know, this is the first room we painted after we moved in. I matched the paint to some Amy Butler fabric I found online at this fabulous site reprodepot dot com. It was brown, green and pink, and sorta looked bohemian. Anyway, when I got around to ordering the fabric, it was sold out. So I looked and looked for something similar. I found these chocolate brown curtains with a dot pattern at Target. They do make it pretty dark in the room, so I'm thinking some white sheers. I have some plain ones, but I think if they were patterned, that would be pretty awesome. Target has some with dots just like th brown ones, but they are white sheers.

Chrissy Evans, our fabulous realtor, gave us a bottle of Lambrusco and a $50 Lowe's gift card as a gift at our closing. She loves Lambrusco--which is a whole other story. Anyway, so we go to Lowe's a day or two after we move in to get a big garbage can, paint and some supplies. I pick out this color, but of course, I pick out the expensive stuff--it's a Martha Stewart signature color called Wild Artichoke. But we figure since we have a gift card, what the hell. Well, we get to the check out, and the woman doesn't even charge us for the paint. She totally missed it. Score.

I also found another light fixture, but its $800. I don't care how much I like it, I'm not paying $800 for a light fixture. It's a drum pendant, just like this one, but chrome instead of wood grain. We'll see if I can find something similar for cheaper. The problem was it was a pain in the ass to get this one up. I just feel sorry for Jeremy when I do find the one I want, cause I'm sure it will sit in the box for a week or two before my nagging gets to him, and then it'll be a lot of cussin and swearin as we're hanging it. Although, I might try to do it myself this time. That chick on "Get It Sold" on HGTV makes changing light fixtures look pretty easy. Yes, I'll remember to cut the breaker first.

Here's some before and after of the dining room with furniture. I still need to get a china cabinet. Baby steps, though.

Swedish furniture makes me happy.

After finishing the legislative session, I was in much need of a little get-away. Last Friday, Jeremy and I took off for Pittsburgh, and most importantly, IKEA!

I have been saving since last fall for a dining room suite and I had been waiting for a chance to go get the one I picked out at Ikea. This whole saving up thing is sorta novel--Ikea's in-store credit is only 90 days. I asked myself what kind of furniture store has only 90 days same-as-cash? But then again, the economy being what it is, maybe that's not such a bad idea. I only had to dip into my dining room fund once to supplement my Vegas trip in January, but it was totally worth it.

At any rate, we had an awesome weekend. We met two of our friends who live in Pittsburgh now for dinner at Ditka's. I couldn't figure out why Mike Ditka had a restaurant in Pittsburgh, but he's from there and played college ball at Pitt. Boo. The company and the meal were excellent, though.

Next morning, we headed to Ikea to pick up the dining room suite I wanted. But when we got there, neither me nor Jeremy really liked the one I had picked out. It didn't look that great in "real life." There was a table on sale, that I kinda liked, but I was really surprised when Jeremy said he liked it, too. We ended up getting that table, 6 chairs (the same ones I picked out for the other set, but in a different color) and a side board for cheaper than the other set since this table was on sale.

Now, I have been saving up for this particular dining room suite for months, and I have been planning on a "yellow brown" wood table, chairs and sideboard. So, my dining room is green, curtains are chocolate brown, and the light fixture is brown. The dining room suite we got might not match quite right with that. I haven't decided yet, since we are still assembling. That's the only drawback to Ikea... Once I get it all up and together, I promise I'll post pictures and hopefully get some feedback as to what I should do about the curtains and such. Advice is always helpful. Stay tuned...

While at Ikea, I saw LOTS of things I want to get for the rest of the house. Like new furniture for downstairs. I'm not sure what to call it. The "family room", I guess. Although, we mostly call it the "red room." Though, I think the next thing I buy will be a head board I've had my eye on at Target dot com for some time. Then hardwood floors upstairs. New front door. Hardwood floors and drywall downstairs. New master bath. New kitchen. The list goes on and on.