Mr. Prof designer home

We finally got around to hanging the “Rendre grâce” sign.

It’s centered in our dining space for a daily reminder to give thanks.  

What feelings or words does this room conjure up for you? 

Peacefulness?

Rest for the weary? 

Calm serenity?

 
Well…….. at present, it’s screaming CHAOS! MESS!

Just when one project is done, another begins.  Always!

The only thing that keeps me sane amidst it all is the anticipation of the next thing coming.  Like this 8 ft. hardwood door we found for a steal at Habitat’s Restore.   It’s gonna be good!

In one of my earlier posts, I described the dramatic tale of how I acquired two of my dream Rachel Ashwell dining chairs via Craigslist. Turns out the person who bought the other chairs from the salon was an antique store owner. She bought them to resell, so I got her number and we worked out a deal.

She was kind enough to allow me to buy them on a layaway plan. In addition, she bought an upholstered bench from the salon which she also resold to me. When I saw it, I knew it would be just the touch to complete the set.

It's lovely on its own, isn't it?

But even lovelier sitting amoungst friends.

Once upon a time I saw this chair while perusing Rachel Ashwell's online store. To me it was the perfect chair. Feminine yet rustic, pretty without being frilly. Perfect. For me. For my house. But completely out of my budget.

A few years went by, and I was thinking how nice it would be to find two chairs to flank the ends of our table. Two that are different from the other ones. One day while searching Craigslist for random goodies, I found someone selling six of these very chairs! Gently used and for a steal. I immediately emailed her, and it sounded something like, "Please oh please, please, please, pretty pretty please, as soon as possible, at your earliest convenience, whenever possible, PLEASE let me know if these chairs are still available, they would be so perfect for my dining room, just PERFECT. Please." Okay, it wasn't quite that desperate, but close.

Turns out I was too late. The chairs were taken. Someone was planning to pick them up the following week. Sigh. I'm not exaggerating when I say that these chairs and the loss of them remained at the forefront on my mind. I emailed the lady the next day just to ask if the person buying them truly wanted all six? Perhaps she only wanted four. Maybe the person selling them misunderstood my first email to mean I wanted all of them. That was possible.

Yes, the buyer wanted all six. A few days later, my obsession increased to scary levels, and I emailed her yet again. This time I asked if it were possible that she was a store and perhaps she could order more of these chairs at the same price? An agonizing day went by while awaiting her reply and when it came I couldn't believe it.

She wasn't a store, just a person with a salon business (the chairs were used at manicure tables). She actually owned eight of these chairs, and was planning on keeping two of them for herself. She told me she would like to sell them to me after all, after seeing how much I loved them so. I about jumped through the screen to hug her. There was an exorbitant amount of exclamation points in my email back to her. But I probably don't need to tell you that. :) I was thrilled beyond belief, and was reminded that obsession pays off. I mean, persistence.