Where We Eat

Rooms are starting to flow a whole lot better around here and I feel like it’s just added a greater sense of (superficial) peace when we’re constantly moving from room to room…which we do A LOT.  Of course that sounds ridiculous and you can’t really gleen peace from a house, right?  Or maybe you can?  Who knows.  Either way, I might be crazy but here’s the old view into the dining room from the “new” kitchen:

It’s like there was an invisible line at the doorway in which all the fun stopped and all the boring started.

But now, NOW it’s one continuous space where decor harmony flows in, out, and all around:

White walls did the dining room good.  I painted them the same Pure White (Sherwin Williams) as the walls in the kitchen which was key in getting this pretty choppy room layout to feel, well, not quite so choppy.  Maybe cohesive is the word I’m looking for…

Here’s a better view of the whole dining room taken before we moved in:

Old, heavy curtains, tan walls, and all.

And here’s what we’re currently working with:

…complete with high chair and booster seats galore because that is reality.  ;)  It’s not “done” in my mind because I’m currently on the hunt for some new chairs to pair with our dining table and THEN, maybe it’ll be done.  The current ones are the same ones we’ve had since we were first married.  They and the table set us back $100 at a local thrift store in Steubenville, Ohio and they have served us well for the past 10+ years.  Kids have not served them that well though.  Nor has a wine and spaghetti sauce incident…let’s just say they’re in need of another reupholstering job.  It’s hard to see in the photo above but I found this chair* at Dirt Cheap for $15 a couple of months ago and my plan is to find another one there hopefully soon-ish so that, together they can flank the ends of the table.
  Then we’ll find some mid-century-esque wood ones to fit in the middle and all will be well with the dining table.  (These* might be fun with new seat upholstery and these* are just a wee little bit more expensive but right along the lines of what I’m looking for though I kind of question their comfort…)

Under those chairs you’ll see the rug* we used to have laying in our old home’s screened-in porch.  We gave it a good cleaning and brought it in here and let me tell you, it hides accidents SO WELL…maybe too well.  Thankfully, it’s also easy to clean and matches the carpet almost perfectly which is great since anything colorful might clash with that painting…

The chandelier isn’t really our style but it’s grown on us.  It really is beautiful and instead of replacing it, I thought it’d but a fun challenge for me to work around it. 

You might recognize the oil-painting we’ve had for years and it’s mirror friends from our old house.  I love the way they look together so much that I made it happen again.  And can I just get an amen for bright, colorful paintings on white walls?  That makes me swoon.  <3

I’m all about simple centerpieces that are kid-friendly and don’t necessarily have to be moved for every meal and these two planters I found at Old Time Pottery ($6 each!!) fit that bill just right.

The other side of this room has become our multi-purpose room…after many back-and-forth thoughts and ideas of what kind of a space it could be (I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be a formal living room), that’s what it’s kind of fallen into being.  I have a couple of things to hang on one wall and then I’ll call that one done and get it up here to show you too!  Until then, here’s a peek (or two):

By giving the walls a fresh coat of paint, adding in our well-loved furniture, and making some pretty curtains, we’ve completely transformed this boring-before to a bright after that jives so much better with our fun kitchen.  I grabbed the paint with a rebate attached at Lowe’s a few months ago and used a half gallon in here – $23 for the whole can which covered both this and the multi-purpose room.  The curtains I made with some remnants I found at a local fabric store (buyfabrics.com is their website) and, including the grommets and drapery header, they cost about $45 for the pair.  (The fabric is called Waterpolo by Kravet in the Cloud colorway.  It’s amazing.  The grommets I bought off eBay work fantastic but they look like they are spray-painted plastic…probably because they are.  So, they’re not the nicest grommets I’ve ever seen but they’re so high up that I’m not sure how much “quality” matters as long as they work.)  Basically though, the only $$ we sank into this room that we won’t be able to get out of it once we move is the paint cost.

And I’m totally ok with that.  :)

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