This project is actually almost a year old. But I never quite got around to taking proper pictures of the "after" product. And then when I did I couldn't find any of the before photos. But here I am finally with both!
Our dining room sat lonely and empty for over 2 years after we moved into our home. Sadly I don't have before pictures of the room but picture a big empty room with a dog crate in it and you're pretty much there. We own one proper table - a farmhouse table that we love and are sentimentally attached to as our first collective furniture purchase as a couple. It was sitting out in our breakfast nook where it fit perfectly and made more sense as we rarely have formal dinners that necessitate the use of the "formal" dining room. Hence the empty and sad dining room.
I often say that entertaining is the best motivation for decorating and that's definitely what happened with our dining room. We were hosting a New Year's Eve dinner at our house last year and were looking for a more formal option than having all our guests sit down at the breakfast nook. So we moved the farmhouse table into the dining room and converted the breakfast nook into a Starbucks-esque lounge nook with 2 big arm chairs. It is perfect for reading the morning paper or enjoying our breakfast.
With the table relocated, I set out to find a buffet for the room to round out the furniture pieces. I was looking for something that could serve as a display surface for desserts and coffee, accessorized with some lamps and perhaps a mirror.
I came across this piece at my favorite secondhand furniture store and loved the silhouette but not the horrendous blonde wood color, the really bad hardware or the totally unnecessary gray "inlays" that added absolutely nothing. But it was $75 so it came home with me!
It sat out in my garage for a week or so while I decided what to do with it. I finally settled on a pretty blue color from Benjamin Moore (Santa Monica Blue) Yes, I primed the whole thing as I wanted to be sure to cover up those terrible gray "inlays". I also removed the hardware, filled the holes on the doors with wood filler and sanded it all down. I used an oil based paint on this piece as I wanted a durable surface since I planned to use it for serving, etc. Once it was all painted, I also did 2 coats of matte poly to harden it further.
I moved my flea market score alabaster lamps & mirror in there to help finish it off a little more. I'm always amazed by what a can of paint and some hardware from Anthropologie can do! I love how the brassy edges to the knobs pick up the old gold in the mirror frame (that mirror was $40 at the Raleigh Flea Market. I dug it out from behind a pile of cardboard boxes when I saw just the top peaking out. It's huge and I love it!)
Here it is getting some use at our baby shower. Thanks Nicole for taking these pictures (oh...and for hosting an incredible shower)! This is also a good shot of the only other thing we've done to this room - switching out the builder grade nasty chandelier for this Parisian inspired one from Ballard Designs.
Don't get me wrong...the room is far from finished. It still needs window treatments, I would love some Louis side chairs for the table, and a rug to anchor the whole space. But for now I'm happy with the progress and it has definitely been transformed from the previous "dog crate dining room" we lived with for 2 years. And yes, we actually do eat more dinners in here as a couple. Amazing how that happens.
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