Todd Oldham loves Charley Harper and so do I.

I remember seeing a photo of the inside of Todd Oldham's home, or something, on some blog, and he had a bunch of Charley Harper prints up. I tried to find that picture again but couldn't! I have a few prints myself (copies of) and have hung them up in my dining room too. I was surprised to find an adorable planner at Barnes & Noble a week or so into 2008. So since the year had already started the planners were on sale and mine was only $4! Love it.

I bought a table!

So I decided to visit another huge antique mall. I moved through it pretty quickly, as I was keeping my eye on the prize. I saw a pretty neat red and white metal table with leaves and 4 chairs. It was $75 plus the store was having a 15% off everything sale. It would have required two trips, at least, and even then the table might not have fit in my car. I have a suzuki reno, which is a hatchback and the seats fold down. Also the chairs were not super cute and most needed the vinyl repaired. In the same booth I found a good size gray dinette table for only $25. A little while later I found the cutest mid-century modern, blonde wood desk. It was $45. It's very girly looking, I love it. I decided I would forgo the teal table at the other store and instead get these two things. I was able to get the table in my car and I have to go back and get the desk...tomorrow maybe. It will look great in my craft room/studio...Now all I have to do is get rid of my old craft table and the dining room table...

My search for the perfect dining table

Today I dragged my boyfriend to my favorite four-story antique store. I was on the hunt for a new table for our dining room. I guess I should say right now that I am a bargain hunter. All my furniture is pretty much used with the exception of like the bed, some bookshelves and some tables from ikea. I started gathering furniture when I moved into my first apt with two other girls in 2006. I have accumulated a lot and have bought and sold on craigslist and the like. Anyways, I got the dining table I have now from this antique store. It's round and pretty big and it was like a teak, I believe. I painted it black and got some mismatched chairs which I painted teal. When I moved out something happened to the little slats that hold each side of the table up, so now it's more of a half circle shape. It was like $60 when I bought it. I mean I know I could just get some pieces of wood from like Home Depot to fix it, but I'm a little creeped out by the table ever since my dumb cat decided to pee on it. It's never been the same since.

So yes, I went to the antique store and they did not have too much in my price range of $50 or less. I kind of wanted to just get a vintage dinette set but the cheapest set was still about $150. I found an apartment sized (small) metal dinette table with like a fake wood finish on it which came with one 60's styled flowered chair. My boyfriend pointed out that it would be too small for the room. I said that wasn't necessarily a bad thing plus it was $24 (with a 25% discount that the dealer at that booth was running). But I think he's right. Plus the wood is kind of tacky...on the next floor I found a teal, metal dinette table. A beautiful color! I mean, I love teal. Of course, being 50 or more years old, it was discolored in areas but still I liked it. It was $45. This dealer also had this sweet mid-century modern style chair that said "as is" on the tag. But it's only $15! The material is in decent shape but it would look great recovered. I don't know how to sew (I know, gasp!) but I'm quite capable of stapling.... Anyways, this is my inspiration for my dining room...I mean I'm putting a different spin on it, and not copying it exactly.

Damn I can't wait till I can take photos of my dining room. This was a reader submitted photo from Domino's website.

Next up on my shopping list? A new couch. My 60's couch leg broke off...it's repairable, I'm sure, but I want to go in more of a mid-century modern direction. I'd describe the couch I have now as "Hollywood Regency"....Love this one that's on Ebay now, but like 1500 miles away.

Post numero uno

This is my first post! I originally made the blog in November and have since deleted it and decided to start fresh. First, a little about me. I'm 23 and live in Kansas City, Missouri with my boyfriend, Adam, my cat, Cornbread, and our mini dachshund, Hashbrown. We live in the top floor of a duplex of a nearly 100 year old building. The apartment is pretty large- it has 2 small bedrooms, a craft room, a large dining room and an average size living room and a pretty spacious kitchen. The fixtures and appliances are all pretty old school, the apartment hasn't been updated that much, retaining all it's original character and grandeur. We even have a large staircase in the apartment that leads down to our front door and the shared basement. There is a large balcony on the front of the duplex but we really never spent much time there because we are on a very busy road and the traffic is constant. There is a back balcony that leads down to where we park our cars. As soon as I can find my camera cord I want to post some photos. I'm also very excited because I'm getting a Nikon D40 on Tuesday! My first DSLR, I've been wanting one since forever. A little more about me....let's see, I work for a newspaper syndicate (and publishing house)- it's a fun job, and I get to take home free books and calendars all the time. I'm going to make another post in a minute. This will do for now.