I borrowed that pink chair from where I'd posted it in the Cottage thread in the Gallery. I've been having fun over there. I thought you'd get a kick out of it! It's cute as can be and twice as gutsy. Your room is shaping up just great. I love the cozy feel. Formal is lovely but can look un-touchable sometimes, you know? Everyone loves a good kick-back casual room, especially if it's pretty. Reno ~~ I really do like the shape of these chairs better than the other chair you asked about. These are more graceful. If they're comfy, I say go for it. You could re-cover them a kazillion ways so they should always find a place in some room or another. They will probably work just fine in there as they are. Just toss a red pillow on them and drape a throw over one. You can always re-do them later if you want. Go for it! Rhonda ~~ I love your chair! I've spent a lot of time all over your blog and you are SOOO talented. Your home is just gorgeous. It's the perfect combination of elegant and casual. It's a real art to put that together the way you have. You're an inspiration and I wish you'd post a lot more of your pictures here. I hope you didn't mind that I took the liberty of posting your Laundry Room pictures in the thread about that in the Gallery. I was hoping you would do it but you weren't around.

The wound has been getting worse instead of better. On Saturday, I noticed that it smelled bad, and I called the vet. They told me to come in on Monday (today). As I'd feared, the infection is bad. The vet thought it smelled "almost like gangrene." The focus now is on saving his leg, although I donÂt think IÂd consider amputation to be an option at his age (15). We went through that with a dog years ago. It was quite an ordeal for her, but she was a lot younger. And we had a lot more money then. The vet gave him fluids under his skin and a DMSO treatment. She gave him two shots of antibiotics (two kinds), plus a steroid. I have to soak his leg with warm water and Epsom salts, for 15 minutes, four times a day. Then I have to squirt DMSO on the wound. I have to keep the bathroom floor mopped, and change his bed every day. And give him a liquid antibiotic twice a day. So far I did one of the soaks. Mickey tried to lunge out of the sink a few times, but mostly he didn't fight. I was hoping he could just stand in the water, but he had to sit. I had to bend over, and it was harder on my back that I'd anticipated. Afterward, his towel and my apron went right into the washing machine. All I can say is IÂm glad IÂm off work all week, and IÂm glad I hadn't planned to prepare and serve a Thanksgiving dinner. Let's hope and pray this works. Since you said the wound was healing at the time you discovered it, why is a collar now needed? Good question. The wound looked much better when I first brought him in a week ago. Today the vet took his collar off and said maybe he can get some of the infection out by licking. Then she changed her mind and said cats' mouths are filthy and their tongues like sandpaper, so they can do a lot of damage. So she put the collar back on. I pointed out that he must have been licking it before I discovered it, and it looked not bad a week ago, but she said it looked much bigger than it should have because of licking. What are you opinions on licking?

Thanks for the link Erikanh, I'll check out EA. Katieob- I've seen the Avalon. If I wanted black it would be great. I'm looking for an espresso color. Glad to hear you love it. IT did look cute in the store. Krissd= Thanks for the honesty about the seam. Maybe if I'm prepared for it, it won't be so bad. Dh works at night so most of the time it's me and the two kids at the island. Maybe that will cut down on the crumbs and grunge! Fori- that's too funny your parents left the leaves in all the time. Good advice to check out the weight of the leaf first. Here are the two I'm considering. Crate and Barrell Allegro 48 inches to 72...little sleeker looking OR Pottery Barn Harvest Table 48 to 68 slighly distressed so may be good with the kids. My local pottery barn has a floor model on sale. I'm going to check it out tomorrow.

Some photos would be helpful as "old worn look" is not specifically descriptive. Do you know what type of wood it is? I'd hold off on the steel wool. Some woods (for example oaks, that contain a lot of tannin), will react with the iron in the steel wool and leave black spots. First, your finish will never be better than your preparation. Just cleaning and sanding will not effectively remove the old finish, in general. And a finish will not smooth out a splintery surface. Second, be aware that most products called "Tung Oil Finish" are not tung oil, and most do not even contain any tung oil. Most are either a thinned varnish or a linseed oil-varnish blend. Unless it says 100% tung oil and contains no petroleum distillates, you are getting an imposter. Something that "looks sort of like tung oil." Tung oil, the real stuff, is not very protective and if you don't apply it right and allow sufficient inter-coat dry time, it will not look good and need to be stripped off. Varathane is a brand name, not a specific product. It's sort of like saying, should I buy a Chevy? Well are you talking about a Volt, a Corvette, or a cargo van? Varathane makes both urethane and acrylic (water-borne) varnishes, as well as stains and other things. It would also be helpful to know the look and feel that you are aiming for. Since we don't know that the current appearance is, it's hard to say what is going to change it.