Our Dining Room Is Almost Finished

 Happy Monday everyone.  Hope you had an enjoyable weekend.  It is countdown to Thanksgiving and we are supposed to get some sleet this evening.  I have bread, milk, and eggs, so I guess we are good if things get slippery.  Don't you wonder why everyone rushes to the grocery when there is a threat of bad weather and the bread, milk, and eggs are all gone?   Guess everyone is going to make French toast.  What other reason could there be?

Yes, I have been working on Christmas projects and I will share those with you later this week.  I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but you must start early to get them all done in time.  Today, I wanted to share our dining area with you before it gets all gussied up for Christmas.  We moved here in July and I have been taking my time getting pieces that I wanted to use and that would fit our budget.  Sometimes it truly pays to be patient and wait for the things you really, really like and great prices are a bonus.  I like comfort and I guess what would be called a shabby chic look - very eclectic.   I don't necessarily follow convention or what is popular, but that is your prerogative in your home.  Do what makes you happy!

Because we now have an island on the kitchen side with bar stools, I no longer needed the huge table and chairs that we enjoyed for many years.  I knew it would be too big for this area and not what I really wanted, so I sold it to the young couple who was bought the house we lived in.  They were thrilled, I was thrilled.

Sometimes you have a vision of how you want a space to look.  We are living in a 1500 square foot condominium that is all on one level (yay!).  That is the same square footage as our former home, but it is laid out differently and seems much bigger somehow which is good.  There are more ways to use the space with furniture placement.  The kitchen/dining area has ceramic tile floor which is great for the working side of the kitchen, but a little "hard" for the dining side.  Therefore, I wanted an area rug to soften the space and that took me a little time to find one that had the colors I liked in the size I wanted. But, find it I did.  Price was right too!  Thanks Old Time Pottery.

The first thing I purchased for the space were two old wicker chairs.  I have a thing for wicker.  I found them at a second hand store at an amazing price - $35.00 ea.  They were dirty and needed a little TLC, but that was an easy fix.  Otherwise, they were in perfect condition.

Dan gave them a cleaning with some soap and water and then spray painted them in a nice, bright white.  They look so good now.

Amazing what a little paint can do.  Then the hunt was on for the right cushions.  Of course, it was the end of the summer season and the pickings were a little slim.  I found just the ones I wanted at Pier 1 (on sale of course).  They are a teal blue microfiber and I sprayed them with Scotch Guard because we have lots of little boys running around here on a regular basis.  They look more blue in this picture, but they really are a turquoise/teal color.

This is my favorite place in our home.  I love to sit and read here.  It is light and comfortable - sort of like sitting on a porch.  I am still working on what art piece to put over the chair on the left.  The table and lamp were things I already had.

We needed a table and chairs and I went back to the same shop where I found the wicker chairs.  Oh happy day!  When I walked in the door, there sat a marble topped bistro table on a wrought iron base.  It was love at first sight and boy was the price right!  It left in our car.

I cleaned up the top which is 36 inches in diameter.  I knew I would get a glass top to put on it to extend it to 42 inches.  That is the perfect size for the space and to seat 4 people if not more.  You can see it with the glass top in the other pictures.

Now, the chair dilemma.  You find tables for sale, but rarely find a complete set of chairs and chairs ARE NOT CHEAP!  I had in mind what I wanted.  I wanted French bistro chairs, but even old ones can be hundreds of dollars each.  That was not in my budget, so I started searching the world wide web for ideas.  I found a great chair on the Sears website of all places and it was  - are you ready? - $19.00.  I thought it had to be a mistake, but it said they were sold in store.  We have a Sears store 2 blocks from us.  We headed there immediately and they had them in stock!  Happy, happy day.  This is how they look.

They are a natural color and match a set of tv trays.  Yeah, 4 of those came home with us.  Four chairs under $100 is almost unheard of and they are brand new AND they fold up.  A coat of Zinsser and a couple coats of white paint later and they are the perfect chairs for the table.  I still have to make some cushions for them, but that will happen in due time.

Dan, Dan, the painter man, did these and they are awesome.  Look how great they look with the table.

He also painted the cabinet under the tobacco basket for me.  It was formerly a light cream color.  It looks so much better white with the wall colors and the other furniture.  Things are coming together!

There was no overhead light in the dining area and no electric box to hang one from.  I decided we would make our own hanging lamp using a shade I found at Target that I really liked.  I used a pre made hanging light kit from World Market to make the lamp in the corner (you can find directions for making it on my blog), but they are only 15 feet long and the switch is on the cord. We needed 25 feet of cord and I did not want the switch on the cord hanging on the wall where you could see it. I wanted to be able to turn the lamp off and at the bulb. So, we bought a three way socket, some clear wire and a kit that would attach the socket to the wire to make our hanging lamp.  We got most of it at Home Depot.  It's amazing the things you can find these days.  Great for when the existing things don't meet your needs.  We can now hang the light from hooks we put in the ceiling because it is light weight, not like a regular dining room fixture. 

This is a chalk board we made for the grandsons to play on.  This is my Thanksgiving board that I did with some of their sidewalk chalk.  Just a little reminder for all of us.

Next week, everything in here will be transformed for Christmas.  I am starting to get excited.  How about you?   We get to have a wonderful time with family celebrating our gratitude for all that we have been given on Thanksgiving and then it's on to the most wonderful time of the year.

Hope you enjoyed the little tour and pictures today.  You will be seeing the dining room again all gussied up for Christmas.  Thanks for looking.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

I am grateful for what I am and have  My thanksgiving is perpetual...O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches.  No run on my bank can drain it, for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment.  Henry David Thoreau