"Tonight, we dine in hell..."

Well, we used to.  It's looking a bit more heavenly these days.

The kitchen opens up into the dining room.  You'll start noticing from here on that each room was just painted a slightly different shade of skin...yum.

BEFORE:

Um...pretty horrid, yeah.  Computer desk shoved into one corner, stripper pole lamp thing in the other, and we can't NOT bring attention to that totally sick movie poster decor.  Shakin' my head.

AFTER:

Not a bad improvement!  We re-painted the walls in a very light blue-ish gray.  It's Behr's Silver Screen.  I really wanted this room to be a little more gray than blue, but it's working for me.  For now.  :)  The color definitely worked wonders as far as lightening and brightening.  I love how the other colors really POP against it.

Speaking of "pop.."  Meet my favorite thing, which also contains some of my smaller favorites, my china cabinet from Great Aunt Iris.  (Oh, and just ignore the rifle in the corner.  I assure you, it's not real!  That happens to be Shaun's corner arsenal for Nerf and air soft guns.)

I knew that it needed something when I acquired it 2 years ago, but I wasn't sure what.  And I think verrrrry carefully before I put paint to an old piece that isn't in terrible shape.  I never want to mess with or cover up a perfectly good finish if I don't need to.  I decided to just paint the inside white to brighten it up and really showcase the contents.

I was going to go gold with the dingy old hardware, but spray painted it white on a whim.  I've ended up LOVING IT.  I think it looks so cool on the wood.

And don't scroll away without peeping that amazing tiered tray with the kitty on top!

DIY'ed for me as a Christmas gift by none other than Ms. Christine D.  For obvious reasons, it is now one of my most prized possessions.

In the opposite corner sits my bar area.  Very necessary.  I love mixing crazy concoctions when I have friends over and collecting antique, or just plain interesting, decanters.  The painting hanging above was a gift from my husband's step-father.  "Now this is a Betty picture!"  Thanks, Bill.  :)

Now I'll give you a moment to marvel over the technology...

And you gotta love the old church pew...

I want to get around to adding some decorative pillows.  If there's one thing this room is lacking in, it is decorative pillows.

I don't keep too much on the table because, well...there's no room considering it's normally filled with shit when I'm not taking pretty blog pictures.  Although I do love this cute little Michigan tray that I picked up at a yard sale for about $1.

Time to wrap this up, baby.  Last, but certainly not least, my great-grandmother's piano.  You don't need to see the whole thing.  The important stuff is on top.

Those are honestly just weeds from my yard.  I panicked, okay?  They look good though!

Even though there's no smoking in the house (and I quit the cigs anyhow) I have an ashtray fetish.  This sexy little number is something I picked up in a vintage shop in Columbia, MO on our honeymoon.

Now that's my kind of souvenir.  None of that key chain b.s.

Until next post, my peeps!