Dining Room (In Progress)

Well, we can finally add another room that is somewhat finished. The dining room is at least presentable this week, nowhere near finished, but presentable. Last weekend we had a crazy storm that blew through, and with it brought flooding rain into four different windows in the house. One of them being the dining room that the paint was literally still drying on the walls. My handy man was actually washing the paint out of the rollers and brushes when the storm hit. After having two companies come out to evaluate things, they both decided it was a fluke incident. 80 mph winds can cause some flukes here and there, I suppose. Nevertheless, we've got some caulking to do around here, just to ensure (hopefully) that it doesn't happen again. Ahh, home ownership, ain't it grand? :) 

Okay, so I spent today cleaning out the dining room of all the tools, paperwork, toys, etc, etc that gets piled there daily. Why do we do this to ourselves? If there's a flat surface in the house, it becomes a landing strip for junk. And it's so easy to leave it that way, because we've been eating at the island just about every meal it seems. Can't complain; it's a nice place to have a meal with the monkeys family, but the dining room deserves to have a meal eaten there every once a while. Otherwise it's a total waste of square footage. And there's something about sitting down at the TABLE together to have a meal as a family. Not at the bar, not in front of the television, but at the table. So here are some pictures of where I'm committed to having our dinners from now on, and more importantly to have conversation with the kiddos and make those memories.

The dining table and 6 chairs were a garage sale find here in Indiana. I paid $125 for the entire set. It is a very solid set, but  not in perfect condition by any stretch of the imagination. The lady I bought it from ran an in-home daycare so the furniture took a daily beating.

My big helper loves a clean and organized house. He is one happy fellow today.

The above pic is taken from the living room and is looking into one doorway of the kitchen. See that hole in the cabinet? Yeah, we do too and we thought we had the solution: a wine fridge that was the perfect dimensions. Turns out, it's on back order so the hunt continues.....

I chose things from other parts of the house at random just to get something on the buffet, but I may leave it this way for a while. The mirror is a freebie from my mom, who I think got the mirror from a garage sale. The lamp is another garage sale find. The three candlesticks are from Hobby Lobby a few years back. The letter "G" is from Gordmans several years ago. And the decorative boxes are a clearance item from the Dollar General. Yes, I am so cheap frugal I usually just shop the clearance at the DG.

These chairs have undergone a major transformation, but unfortunately I don't have a before shot. Just trust me on this one, they were nasty before they were recovered. I chose a faux silk vinyl that I love, in a sage green color. I found it on clearance for $3 per yard at Hancock Fabrics. Be forewarned though, it is nearly impossible to reupholster with a fabric that is this thick. I chose it for durability and clean-ability, but man I thought my husband was going to give up on this little project. And he's not a quitter, folks.

The light fixture is the most expensive element in the room. It is from Menard's and I paid $139 for it. It puts out a whopping 600 watts....perhaps a bit much so I scaled down to 60 watt bulbs so we're a little less Christmas Vacation over here.

Before the room is complete, we need to hang the window treatments and install the stone on the fireplace, but the like the rest of the house it's a work in progress. Have a good weekend, friends. Hug your children and tell your loved ones that you love them. And thanks for stopping by.