Lack of Patience Decorating

Good morning!  Just popping into the blog for a quick minute to share a little decorating trick I just used.  Its nothing earth-shattering, but maybe some of you out there are in the same boat I was in, and this could be a temporary solution!

We have this big room in the front of the house that I've blogged about a lot recently.  Ultimately it will turn into a dining room + library/study.  I don't know if its because the room is so big, or the fact that it's the first room you see once you come past our entryway, but I just kept staring at it and hadn't been able to figure out how to make it work!  Nothing felt completely right.  Eventually our dining room furniture was going to live in here, but in the short-term it was just this big room that I didn't know how to fill.  

One of my biggest pet peeves is spending money on things that won't have a long life in our house.  So as much as I wanted to add library couches or a beautiful antique wooden table to fill this room, what would I do with those pieces down the road?  Instead I stumbled upon this round folding card table at the Goodwill:

Luckily I live in a city with a Ballard Designs outlet center (it's in West Chester, in case anyone in Ohio doesn't know about this!).  I waited until they were having a sale on tablecloths and got this camel-colored one.  Its not an exact match in size but close enough!  Then I hemmed some scrap fabric I had in the basement to make an overlay for the tablecloth.

There is something so satisfying about making something work with limited resources and budget!  Its like shopping the house or finding a killer bargain at a garage sale or Craig's List.  I am just such a firm believer that we don't all have to be out there spending crazy money to make something pretty!

So then last weekend we decided it was time to move the dining room furniture over (in preparation for the kitchen remodel which will take, oh, roughly two years to complete...but we've gotta start somewhere!).  So now this front room is looking a bit more like I always envisioned.  But I can't tell you how glad I am that I didn't give in to my complete lack of patience and buy a bunch of stuff that would be obsolete now! The card table went to the basement without any guilt on my part, to be used when we need extra seating down the road.  The tablecloth will have other uses as well.  My husband, sweet as he is about all my projects, won't be grumbling about finding a place to store some other huge piece of furniture that I don't have a use anymore for but just can't bear to part with because someday I might need it again!  (Please tell me I'm not the only one who has this affliction.)

So if you've got a total lack of patience like me, perhaps a Goodwill card table and discount tablecloth can help get you through!  :)