Modern Age Solid Wood Chairs...

...at least, that's what the Craigslist ad says. I'm not really a DIY-er, to say the least. I prefer to buy furniture that's ready to go with as little assembly as possible. Sure, I can handle Ikea items, but when it comes to stripping, repainting, reupholstering...I'm way over my head. However, when I saw these chairs on Craigslist, I was sorely tempted to give real DIY a try.

We currently have 2 chairs in our entire house, and we have visitors coming in September, so we definitely need furniture, with chairs being the most important. I don't think our guests would appreciate eating in shifts! Although it may come to that! The above chairs are listed at $25 in the ad title, but the body listing says $200 for a set of 4. I think they would look great in a lighter wood color and reupholstered in either a modern print or even just plain linen fabric. Anything but the current faux leather.

Another style that I'm considering are these Eames-style dining chairs. I'm trying to keep the casual dining area off the kitchen spare and modern without being too cold.

Option 3 is this Oval Back Dining Chair from West Elm, but in the middle color shown below, or maybe the white.  I'm trying to avoid the darker wood colors for the entire house.  .
 

I realize with no picture of the actual space, it's hard to imagine which chair would be nicer. I don't have any pictures of the space the way it looks right now, but I do have some photos I took with the previous owners' furniture. These were taken with my iPhone so the quality is not the best.

This is the kitchen with a view to the breakfast nook (that's what we're calling it for now).  You can barely see the space, so a close-up is coming next.

The breakfast nooks is currently empty except for a dining table and 2 chairs that H brought with him from Calgary to Vancouver, and now to Western Mass. This is what it looked like with the previous owners' furniture.

It's not really to my taste.  Of course they took all their furniture and just left the light fixtures and the fan (which also need to go), as well as the window valances (is that what those red striped things on the window are called?).  The walls need to be repainted, the valances and the ceiling fan replaced, but the most important thing right now is to decide on chairs.

I'm planning on getting 4 of the same chairs for the long sides of the table and then a different set of 2 for the ends.  That is, if we decide to keep our current rectangular dining table.  The space we have seems to be calling for a round table, but that's not on the priority list right now.

Sheesham birds

It's funny how I have such a hard time dediding on what furniture to buy for our new house, but it's so easy to buy random accessories that I don't even know where I'm placing, haha. Case in point, this cute sheesham bird from West Elm.

photo from West Elm

I love how they're so cute, yet the wood makes them seem not precious cute for the house. Since West Elm had free shipping that day, I quickly placed an order. Unfortunately, the larger bird was and still is out of stock, so i was only able to get the smaller one. It does look a little bit too small to stand alone. It looks better as part of a pair. See it perched on the post of the staircase heading down to the basement.

So what is sheesham wood anyway? I never noticed it before I started shopping for the new place and now I see it in chopping boards, accessories, etc. My trusty friend Google says that "Sheesham (also known as Indian Rosewood) is a fast-growing hardwood, sourced from sustainable, government managed plantations. Being a hard wood, it can be used to make functional furniture that copes with the stresses and strains of everyday use."

How did we ever survive without Google?

Anyway, despite it's small size, the bird is a very solid piece. Look at it in profile! I think I'm going to have to buy the bigger one as well! I'm sure it will fit somewhere. For some strange reason our fireplaces (both of them!) don't have mantels for display.

Rainier cherries

Thought I'd take a little break from unpacking. I am currently swimming in paper...can't decide what to toss and what to keep. Also need pretty magazine holders, storage boxes, etc.

When I'm not unpacking, I'm munching on these. Aren't they lovely? I'm always happy when rainier cherries are in season. Their color cheers me up, and the flavor is unbeatable. Sweet and juicy, with just the slightest hint of tartness.

I'm also having fun discovering where I can take good pictures in the new house. Maybe next time I should position the container so you can't see the grout lines. :D

Oh, and I just adore the bowl the cherries are in. It was part of a wedding gift set from a friend. The color is just what I wanted and I'm planning to build the kitchen colors around it.

Okay, break's over. Back to sorting, organizing, and unpacking. Hmmm...a little snack right about now sounds good. I'll go grab some more cherries.