Year 1, A Look Back - Dining Room

We have had our little house for just a little over a year now. It's crazy how fast a year has passed! So many weekends spent fixing up the little 1940 bungalow. Since we seem to focus on our ever growing to-do list I thought it would be good to stop and reflect back on everything we have accomplished in such a short time so we can pat ourselves on the back and see how much all our hard work has paid off. The next several posts are going to be about everything we have accomplished in 2010 but I'm also going to list our project goals for 2011. This first post is going to be about our dining room since it is the most completed room in the house I thought I would start there.

This is a photo of the dining room when we moved in. When we first looked at this house our biggest concerns were the tiny kitchen and this tiny dining room. Although we looked at many houses that had no dining room at all so I was excited just to have one! My fiance didn't think we would ever be able to fit a full sized table in this room but I was convinced we could. This photo below shows the small table the people who were living here before us had.




This is our dining room after. As you can see we fit a table that seats 6 plus we have an extension piece to the table so we can fit even more if needed! What we accomplished in 2010:
1) Refinished hardwood floors
2) All new paint
3) Refinished windows
4) New molding around windows, door and baseboard
5) New dining room table and chairs, a great find on Craigslist!
6) New mid-century modern light fixture (won on ebay!)




All new molding around the bay windows gives the house more character and brings more attention to the windows.

New baseboards really finished this room off nicely.

New molding around doors includes a pediment and plinth blocks.


And of course I can't forget all the finishing details!

I found this metal trough at a local modern home store and planted colorful succulents in it. I think it makes a great centerpiece on our table!

New light fixture and woolly wall planter. I love how the hanging plants are like a piece of art and they add a punch of color to the room not to mention plants are great air purifiers.

Our collection of vintage camera's and a mid-century pot given to us by our very good friends help fill this little nook.

Dining room projects for 2011:
1) Window shades