Not Thrifty...

...but  worth every penny.  We bought the Darjeeling dining table from CB2 after almost a year of considering whether it would work.   We sold our old dining table a few months ago but I still couldn't commit to buying the table.  If you've been following this blog for a while you already know that most of the furniture in the house is vintage and inexpensive.  I won't use the word "cheap" because vintage furniture is generally much sturdier and of better quality than new furniture.  Anyway, about a year ago I first saw the Darjeeling table on the CB2 website and I fell in love with it.  I also knew based on the reviews that it was a sturdy table and well made.  the only issue was that it was almost $900!   I hesitated to buy it also because  it was almost 15 inches longer than our old table .  Our old table was only 65 inches long but seemed to take up the entire dining room.  It was also very wide (45 inches) so it seemed massive.  After a year of living with duct tape on the floor outlining the dimensions of this table (80 inches x36 inches) we finally took the plunge and bought the table.  It is more amazing that I had imagined.

It is made of Sal wood reclaimed from old Indian railroad ties. What is great about old wood is that it is much sturdier than the wood used these days to make furniture. The older wood was harvested from older more mature treas which means that it is much  stronger than wood that doesn't get a chance to mature.

Since getting the dining table the whole room looks different. I painted our old dining room chairs which somehow makes the dining room look a little bit sophisticated.


The table arrived unfinished and I applied several coats of beeswax to protect the table. The table will probably need a new coat of beeswax every year.

I was worried about the length but it fits perfectly in the dining room. I have always said that larger pieces of furniture generally make a look larger than smaller pieces. The dining room doesn't look like a corridor any more and we use it a lot more to just hang out. Also the table seats 8 but we could squeeze 10 which is great for parties.

I've hung more "art" on the walls and the room looks a lot more cozier than it used to.  Kiran uses the table to do a lot of his art projects and I generally work at night from this table.  What makes a home comfortable is having furniture that works for you.  This table fits that bill. 

The fashion drawings to the left of the picture above were done by Scott's mother.  The picture of the girl on the grass is by Tierney Gearon (purchased from 20x200) and the pink swirly painting is also from 20x200 and is a print by Jennifer Sanchez.  The nude charcoal drawing is also by Scott's mother.  The black and white painting to the left of the picture above is a collage Kiran and I did with Indian Ink. 

I look these pictures in a hurry and I didn't get a chance to clean off the table.  That big piece of paper in all the pictures in this post is a painting by Kiran.  I love the muted greys, pink, blue and green.  I was in the process of framing it when I took the pictures of the table.  Another reason why I love this table it is a great place for me to do lots of projects in addition to eating. 

Isaiah Zagar Mural.

Ever since my first visit to Philly in 1995 I have been obsessed with the Isaiah Zagar murals coverning numerous buildings and walls in South Philly.  When we moved to Philly in 1999 we went for a walk down South Street and spent hours admiring all the murals on the buildings.  The colors were amazing the details stunning and the best thing about them was that they were accessible to the public for anyone to admire.  Never did I ever imagine that I would have one of Isaiah's fabulously beautiful murals on the side of my house!


Our Mural up close.

Our house has an extensive side wall that is clearly visible from the street.  While the old brick walls of our house are beautiful, the cinder block wall separating our house from the neighbors was just ugly.  So on a whim I started to research how I could get one of Isaiah's murals on the side of our house.  It turned out to be much easier than I anticipated...which really shows that sometimes all you have to do is try and you could get something amazing. 

Isaiah started the mural by making the larger pieces in his studio, then attaching the larger pieces to the wall and drawing the outline for his students to complete. 


Isaiah starts the mural (as Kiran watches). 

Then one weekend his students started working on the mural and they finished it in two days under Isaiah's strict guidance.

Isaiah and his students working on the wall.

Scott and I Help with the Mural.



Isaiah adds the finishing touches.

The completed mural.

We've had a lot of people give us their comments on the mural.  Most of them love it and some people  think that we have reduced the value of our house.  Neither Scott nor I worry about the "value" of our house while we renovate it.  We are renovating the house to accomodate our lives and our tastes.  I think that the value based approach to renovating is unnecessary not always necessary and prevents people from being creative in their living space because they want to play it safe for resale purposes. 





Ending Summer and Beginning New Projects.

I haven't done many new projects since my last post.  I spent some time organizing drawers, cleaning out my closet, and in general clearing out cluttered drawers, cupboards, etc.  Summer has officially ended and I've started  a few projects.  My first project was framing some "Art."

"Art" means a lot of different things to different people.  For me everyday objects, shells, letters, notes, photos and Kiran's paintings are all Art.  I like to include these personal mementos with more tranditional works of Art that I've bought at auctions, on eBay or at thrift stores.  Art can be anything that evokes a sense of beauty and nothing does this better (for me) than objects that evoke beautiful memories. 

I used to scour eBay and thrift stores for old frames which generally needed a lot of work.  So framing things would always be very time consuming.  Then I discovred the Ribba frames at Ikea and framing is now a snap! The smaller sized frames are made well, come in a variety of sizes and include a great matt. 

So here's what I framed yesterday:


The painting to the left is something Kiran did last week using blue acrylic paint and some water.  He doused the paper with a lot of water and then lifted the edges up and watched all the water roll off onto the floor.  I love this painting because I love the way it looks and also because it conjures images of him squealing with laughter and delight when the water kept rolling around on the paper. 

The painting to the right is a drawing I found in my father-in-law's attic.  It is a drawing by Scott's mother in 1966.  While it is sad that Kiran will never meet Scott's mother (because she passed away when Scott was young) it will be nice to have her drawing in the house so that Kiran will at least know something about his paternal grandmother through her drawing.