house to home | the dining room

Here's the dining room on the day we moved in. I would have loved the red walls in 2008, but my how my tastes have changed since then. We weren't quite sure what this room would become...although I've always dreamed of having a formal dining room and this room definitely added to the pros of this house. 

Since then we have used it for parties and special dinners. I really like getting away from the stress of the kitchen to enjoy dinner as a family. And while maybe this room will evolve into something else someday, for now, we are using it as a dining room. And heavens knows I love that I can set up for parties days in advance ;) 

Before: 

We painted the top to match the kitchen and entry way. It took 2 coats of primer and 1 coat of paint to cover up that red. 

The only photo I can find after we painted it was from our Halloween party: I scored the large rug at Goodwill brand new for $40 in May when we went to California for my cousin Becky's wedding. Yes, we hauled that all the way home from California. :) But we have since moved it into the family room.

After saving up, we decided to add wood flooring in there as well since it's much easier to clean than carpet. We love that the floors are seemless into the kitchen now. 

Here's handyman Brandon prepping the floor. 

After the floor was installed: 

After waiting for good deals and finding pieces from thrift stores, this is how it looks now. (I still want to change out the chair rail and maybe add some board and batten, but someday.)I love this room. We actually eat dinner a lot in here and so I'm so glad we have made it a room we love. Who wants to come for dinner??

With the help of my dad, we made this frame for the map for Brandon for father's day. My dad was so kind to help me do it because I definitely couldn't do it alone. We've always talked about having a map we could pin and after years of thinking I would do it for this holiday or that, I finally got my act together. 

We've had so much fun pinning the places we've been. Plus, it's already spurred many conversations about the world from Blake, so I think it's a winner. And the great thing is that it's easily removable when I want to decorate for a party. Important things, right? :) 

I found the buffet at Savers for $20 and painted it and added new hardware. The table is the one redid forever ago. Maybe someday we'll switch it out, but there's no budget for that right now. 

And that's the dining room! I'm so happy to have that one tackled...for now. Brandon knows I'll probably switch things around again.