Our Dining Room (a.k.a. "where we have school")

This was what our dining room looked like when we bought our current home in March of 2010.  SCARY!! 

It had gorgeous country blue and pink flowered wall paper.  After taking all of that wall paper down (that seemed like it was glued with super glue!) my dislike for wall paper has only grown.  It's evil stuff.  If you've ever had to remove it, you feel my pain.  I won't let you use it in your home.  Friends don't let friends hang wall paper. =D

Notice the picture frame in a very odd place??  It's where somebody had cut the drywall and to fix the plumbing in the bathroom and didn't feel like fixing it.  They just stuck a frame around where they cut it.  Nice touch, eh?

There was a long wall with a tiny doorway that opened into the kitchen and dining room.  We took it out and opened up the whole space, but that's another post for another day! =)  See the woodstove to the right with the faux brick?  It was HUGE and took up alot of the floorspace so we removed it. 

 

This is the dining room now!  The walls are painted Ivorie (Sherwin Williams) and we refinished the floors with a floor sander and then coated them with polyurathane.  (Bowl and Pitcher-yardsale: $2/ flowers, yardsale: $0.25.)

I absolutely LOVE my kitchen table.  We bought it the summer we were married for $100.  It has six chairs and two leaves.  When both leaves are in the table, we can comfortably seat 10-12 people.  Several years ago my husband refinished it black for me with bit of distressing.  (Hey, with kids it's best to just distress it because it's going to get that way anyhow!)  

The bench was built from some scrap wood and sat outside the back door at our previous home. When we moved here I spray painted it "Blue Ocean Breeze" (by Krylon), clear coated it,  and then gave it a home at the kitchen table.  Definitely one of the best things I have ever done!  It's so much easier for my children to get at their place.  They just climb up instead of having to scooch a chair all around.  Plus, it is really handy when we have guests over...you can get a lot more people on bench than you can in chairs!

I bought my chandalier at a yard sale last summer for $5 and spray painted it black.  The little shades came from the thrift store for $0.40 each and then I added some trim to them that I found at Hobby Lobby.

 

The "Bless our Nest" picture, which I adore, was a gift from the Nester.  Well, we techinally traded (long story!)...her picture for one of my muffin recipes that she loves.  But since I got the better end of the deal, I still say it's a gift. =) 

My huge 4'x6' chalkboard is AWESOME for school.  We made it for $8 and it is used on a daily basis.  The clock was a $1 yard sale find that I spraypainted red and changed out the timing mechanism.  I was so happy to find a large clock without Roman numerals!

 

I love this cabinet. My husband built it for me about three months after we were married. We had hardly any cabinet space at the time and nowhere to store food!  Over the years it has been used for many things, but right now it houses most of what we use for school.   See the school supplies box on top?  That's where I store it when school is over.

The drapes are by Waverly I think.  I bought the pair last fall at an awesome yardsale for $15.  Yay! 

This is probably my favorite room in the house...we eat here, have school, play games, visit with friends...I love it.  While I do dream of one day having a designated "school room", I'm so thankful for this nice space that we get to enjoy!  

What other functions does your dining room have?  School room, office, crafting space? 

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