Dining Room Makeover

We used our dining room for the first time this weekend since moving in {we need to get entertaining!} so it felt like a good place to start for a renovation sneak peek! When we first saw the house we loved the amazing light in this room, the great size and, despite the horrible paint color, even the corner cabinets - they just seemed so New England to us!

Yellow floors, shiny drapes and lots of green paint! 

But those cabinets were already sneaking their way into my heart!

First stop was redoing all our hardwood floors. Jeff from New Age flooring was amazing - fast, affordable and such beautiful work. It truly transformed the entire house. Even four months later sometimes I still just sit and stare at how beautiful they are. Don't be offended if you come over and I make you put on booties {kidding!}

Trying out stains - Jacobean on the left and Provincial on the right

In order to move from the 60's feel of the room to something more updated we added molding to the door opening to the living room {those 60s cut out entries are so strange to me!} and also a chair rail to tie in the cabinets and crown molding.

Priming and trimming

Chair rail going up

To make them look more like cabinets and to give the room a more coastal feel we decided to paint the cabinets Super White like all the trim but paint the inside back of the cabinets the same color as the walls - BM Sea Foam.

Finally coming together!

With an awesome hand me down Pottery Barn table from my cousins, all our wedding glassware finally unpacked and filling the cabinets and our Monomoy Designs Nantucket painting hanging on the wall it's starting to feel like the perfect space to entertain! This room makeover really showcases the amazing power of a little paint!

Loving the dark floors and dark table against the aqua walls and white cabinets!

Our Monomoy Designs painting is the perfect way to fill a big wall and add a pop of color!

Still on the to do list - a new rug, bamboo blinds {does anyone have any good sources for these? Having a hard time finding the color I'm looking for}, a new chandelier and perhaps switching the dining room chairs out to white ones...I'm also hoping to introduce some pops of coral, my favorite combo with aqua!

Here it is all set up for YWCA Winetasters this weekend - inviting 10 people you've never met over to drink wine at your house - add that to the list of bizarre things people do to meet friends in a new town! : )

Ready to taste wine!

Pure Joy Paperie

Just before we moved into our new digs Liz Joy from Pure Joy Paperie shared this adorable Rowayton poster on her Etsy site! We decided it couldn't have been a more perfect way to share that we were moving to our favorite town!

Photo from Pure Joy Paperie

But we wanted her to tweak it just a little to fit better as a 'We've Moved' card and it came out so perfectly! We also got her anchor address stamp and couldn't have been more thrilled with the way the whole thing turned out! We're also getting a big Rowayton print to hang in the new house. 

Address removed - but you get the idea : ) 

Liz is also now offering custom home watercolors which are super adorable - check out her new home renovation journey on her blog Pure Joy Home. 

Photo from Pure Joy Paperie

And just in time for the holidays she's launched a line of holiday greeting cards and until Thursday she is offering 25% off! If you don't have your photo chosen yet you can still order your cards and decide on the photo later by emailing lizjoycreative@gmail.com. It's never too early to start getting organized for the holidays - get this checked off your list and it's one less thing you'll have to worry about so you can kick back and relax in December {yea right!}. 

I've got my eye on this one - to stick with our anchor theme. Check out all her offerings for holiday cards here! Be sure to check out the custom return address stamps as well! 

Happy Shopping! 

Pure Barre Darien Coming Soon!

FFC411 is very excited to announce that one of their besties is opening a Pure Barre studio in Darien! This is very convenient as Pure Barre is the only exercise, aside from some recreational bike riding, that  I've done since college so I'll actually be able to support this venture with my attendance and not just my writing! And hopefully that speaks volumes to how much fun and addicting Pure Barre is, even to a non-workerouter!

The new studio will be located at 313 Heights Rd in the Noroton Heights Shopping Center. Perfect for FFC411 as we can grab a delicious hot dog from Franks & Frites after our workout : ) My moto is calories out, calories in!

Plans are to open in early November and until they open they are running these great pre-opening specials! All customers are considered new customers and if you have a mindbody account from another studio you can use that to sign in.

5 WEEKS UNLIMITED :: $150
4 MONTHS UNLIMITED :: $500

Available on their website http://purebarre.com/ct-darien/. Even if you only attend 6 classes in 5 weeks the special is a better deal!

They are still posting their schedule but will be offering classes all throughout the day - targeting 6am, 8:30am, 9:45am, noon, 4:30pm, 5:30pm, 6:30pm and 7pm. I also know a few of the instructors and they are peppy, fun and sure to run a great class!

They will also have a retail space offering lululemon and other awesome speciality work out brands. The perfect holiday gift - a PB gift certificate and some new gear!

So join now to Lift, Tone, Burn into the holidays!

Follow them on Facebook for studio updates. How cute are they?

Getting the studio ready!

Winter Street Reading

*UPDATE* This event has been cancelled - wishing Elin a speedy recovery!

My favorite author is coming to town - so exciting! - but I can't go because of a meeting - so sad! - which means everyone has to go out and support her for me. Elin Hilderbrand is releasing her first ever Christmas novel, Winter Street, and she's doing a reading and signing at the Darien Library on Thursday night at 7pm. I'm pretty much crying on my keyboard that I can't go. While I love Elin as my favorite summer beach author, I have a soft spot for Christmas novels so this is the best combo ever to me. I'm going to save it for Thanksgiving weekend to enjoy by a big fire and get in the Christmas spirit!

RSVP via their Facebook events page - books will be available for purchase at the event.

Darien Library
1441 Post Road
Thursday, Oct 16th
7:00

If you can't attend the event, visit their website for a list of bookstores that will be carrying Winter Street, if you can, support your local booksellers!
http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/elin-hilderbrand/winter-street/9780316376112/

Barrett Bookstore
314 Heights Rd
Darien CT

#iheartbooks

RHS Chili Fest

Join the Rowayton Historical Society for their 4th annual Chili Fest next Saturday. Want to put your cooking skills to the test .... submit your best chili to be judged for $50. Not feeling the culinary talent ... $10 to enter your carved or decorated pumpkin in the festivities. Or my preferred option, come between noon and three to taste all the entries and vote on your favorites! You'll also be able to enjoy cold beer and live music. Come see who's the big winner! 

Deadline to enter chili or a pumpkin is Oct 12th - rowaytonhistoricalsociety.org 

Saturday October 18th 12-3 

The Blaze

There are still a few nights of tickets available to check out this fun Halloween event - The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-On-Hudson. Come view over 5,000 hand carved illuminated pumpkins as you walk through the grounds of the Manor. Spooky and spectacular! 

We always like to check out a fun area restaurant for dinner before we go - two years ago we visited the adorable Ocean House Oyster Bar in Croton-on-Hudson for oysters and a charmingly cozy dinner. 

www.oceanhouseoysterbar.com

This year we're headed to Red Hat on the River in Irvington to soak in the beautiful views of the Hudson river and feast on some tasty French-American fare. 

www.redhatontheriver.com

Check ticket availability here...
http://www.hudsonvalley.org/events/blaze/tickets

Boo!

Good Goods Fabric Sale

Don't miss out on this rare opportunity to get all in-store fabrics at Good Goods for 25% off! I was lucky enough to catch their summer sale to buy the fabric for our beautiful new headboard! {photos to come} Be sure to check out the back room for their wonderful selection of pillows as well - we added these great aqua ones to our new den. The girls from Good Goods were the ones who finally inspired me to start blogging again so thank you to them for that as well!

Happy Shopping!