Gift with Purchase

Sometime this summer either at a flea market or a garage sale, I don't remember, I bought this little framed print. I think I paid a $1.00. I liked the print, but as you can see, it has quite a bit of water damage. I mostly bought it for the frame which I thought for a $1 was a good deal as it looks pretty old.

Yesterday I took the back off and look at what I found under the doggy print. My favorite: pink roses! The matting is damaged, but the picture is perfect. I can't figure out if it is a print or a watercolor. It's hard to tell. It is signed, H. Small. Couldn't find out anything about this artist when I did a google search so if you have ever heard of H. Small. Let me know.

I also listed about 8 things on craigslist that I need to get off my porch. Just don't have room for them at Monticello and I am tired of storing them at my house so they need to go. I had a couple of calls on a dresser that I am selling and got a couple emails on other things but so far everything is still here. While on craigslist posting my items, I did a little searching too and found a listing for a dining room table and chairs that required some refinishing for $35. There were no pictures so I sent an email asking for some. They emailed me back pretty quickly and I was so excited to see my dream dining room table. The best part (other than the price) was that the people were only 8 miles away, really the next town over. So I hopped in my car and went over to check it out. After two trips to get it all home here it is.

As you can see, it needs a little work. They started sanding and got the top done, but then gave up. So now my dilemma is do I refinish or paint it a shabby chic white. I kind of like the rustic look it has. Any suggestions? It has the coolest legs and I love the scallopy edges. Not something I would have bought even 5 years ago, but I love it.

The five chairs it came with are another story. I can't decide if I love them or not. They all need to be reupholstered and I actually considered doing each one in a different barkcloth, but then I dug through my stash and found this Ralph Lauren fabric I bought on eBay awhile back and thought it would be perfect. What do you think?

Close up of fabric.

Close up of chair leg.

Another dilemma I have is do I try to do the chairs myself or bite the bullet and pay a professional. Ugh! So many decisions. As if I didn't have enough to do already. The dining set I currently have I got on craigslist about a year ago. I like it okay, but now I will have to sell it to make room for the new one. It is a big round oak pedistal table with a huge leaf and six spindle back chairs.

Yesterday morning after doing the craigslist listings, I tackled the mess that is my front room. You can see a little of it in the table pictures. This room is suppose to be a sitting room, but I kind of turned it into a staging room for items coming and going. It really was a huge mess. Now I have an organized mess. I have piles of stuff to go to Monticello, stuff to take to the flea market I am doing the 21/22 of this month, stuff to sell on ebay and just stuff I still haven't figured out what to do with. My mom came by too. She lives close by and will find stuff for me to sell from time to time. She had a cute little bookshelf that I had admired so she brought it over for me to sell. Guess what? I'm keeping it. I already put it in my living room and threw some stuff on it.

Here it is. Much cuter in person! Well, as usual, so much to do today. Don't even know where to start. So often I have so much to do that I really end up doing nothing. Do you know what I mean? Lists are great when this happens. I guess I should start by making a list.

Is it really Wednesday already?