A little bit of this.....

I love reading blogs of people who can decorate with whatever they find or have on hand (Epbot and On the Banks of Squaw Creek are my two faves - completely different styles, so inspired, and make me wish I was more artsy!)

I've got spring fever BAD and since I have no money to paint (it's coming, it's coming) and no money for new things, we're making do with what we have.  We rearranged the living room.  And Saturday I completely re-did the dining room.

We now have an artsy/multimedia dining room.  It holds our record player, bookshelves, reading chair, has an art gallery wall for my kids, and holds our family table where we eat our meals as well.  I'd like to fit my kids art easel in there, but that will happen this ACTUAL spring, when the bird feeder my dad made us for Christmas can finally be put outside (it is so beautiful!).

So, here are some pics of my "new" dining room:

This is an "in process" shot.  The bookshelves used to be on either side of the hall entrance. 
The bookshelf on the right side of that door had a rocking chair in front of it.

Here you see the bookshelves together. I think Mr. Curly tolerates that top left shelf of books of mine (all history books, 9 of them which are about Doc Holliday or his contemporaries), like I tolerate his stack of truck magazines on the bottom left.



This is the cushion chair that my children and I adore and Mr. Curly
would rather get rid of.  It used to be in our living room.
It needs a lamp, but I think it looks quite cozy here.



The rocking chair that used to be in front of the
bookshelves.  While the blue blanket on the seat
might look funny, it actually ties the rest of the
room together nicely.  I'm looking for that color
material to make a nice cushion for that chair.



And a close up of the art work above the cushion chair.  Mr. Curly
drew the large picture on the left while in college. I've wanted to frame it for quite awhile, and decided this last weekend just to make it a quick cardboard one.  It doesn't look as half as bad as it sounds!
The top right mountain picture was a parting gift from a friend,
and the lower right mountain picture was painted by my dad while
I was in middle school.  He made the barnwood frame himself as well!

The cushion chair is now the perfect bedtime story spot - all three kids and I can cuddle close for that time.  I'm thinking I'll check out some of our flea market stores for an old lamp.  I mean, when you have an old record player and use old record player speakers for plant stands, the lamp has to be vintage too - right?