Dining Room Acquisition

Happy New Year everyone! First of all I am sorry that I have been so lax in updating this blog but sometimes life takes over everything and things get pushed back. This will be a small update mainly to let you all know that we are still alive and working/kicking. I will be doing a long delayed kitchen post soon I hope and I think you will like the changes. But for now you will have to settle on another one of our infamous 'plop designs.'
Please don't forget to plug your email in to the thingy on the right so you can receive emails when I update the site - as you can tell by my lack of updates I won't be flooding you inbox anytime soon.
I also wanted to mention that six of my larger paintings will be featured on HGTV's 2013 Dream Home Giveaway television show. The first airing is Jan 1 @ 7pm EST. So tune in if you get a chance - there will be several other showings in January, try and check it out if you can.
And now to the photos: 

This was our original Mission style dining set. It saw a ton of use at our old 1920's bungalow especially on poker night. It looked really good in the craftsman-esque home we used to have. It doesn't look bad here but still wasn't quite right.

And here we are now! The carpet is from Flor - the squares are interchangeable and we can take ones out that get soiled or if we want to add new colors. The table chairs need recovering but look ok for now. We acquired the dining set from our now defunct favorite auction house. I told K when we put the new dining set in that from a distance it looks like Captain Kirk's MCM command center had landed in our front room. Jerome is quite pleased with the rug. The cats tend to want to hang on individual squares and don't like to lay across two or more squares. Interesting.

Please excuse the ironing board in the background - we were getting ready for Christmas and it makes a good work surface.

One more little thing. I received this comment from a viewer and wanted to respond in the main text:

Smithe Arvinnese October 24, 2012 10:09 PM

Well, believe it or not but I am really fascinated and hooked when it comes to the flooring of the house. Simply because, I believe that it has a great effect not just on the interior design but also with the lifestyle of the house owner. Anyway, I had a great time reading and watching your post and hoping that I could also hear or read an article about bamboo floors from you. More power and more related articles soon. 

Here is my response:

Clarksdale December 31, 2012 12:07 PM

We absolutely LOVE our bamboo floors! They integrate very well with the existing hardwoods in color and tone. There is only one area where the bamboo meets the hardwood so the effect is minimal. I would recommend this product to anyone. It is affordable, durable, and beautiful - exactly what I used to look for in a date before I got married haha.
If we ever re-do another home and have to put in new flooring we will probably go with bamboo.
Thanks for the comment!