As I mentioned in my previous post, we have a living room/dining room combo. However, because of the way the house is laid out, the dining area is off to the side in its own designated space as opposed to one big room with a dining table directly behind the sofa as in other home layouts. I like this sort of "separation" where everything is open yet it's still clear what is the living room and what is the dining room. Shall we take a closer look?
This is the table that I had at our old house, the one I gel stained and put new cushions on the seats. I took the leaf out since we don't need it right now and this space is smaller than what we had at the old house. I can fit the table with the leaf in just fine, but I decided to keep it compact for the time being. The rug is a new addition that I picked up at Ross for $30. The plantation shutters, curtains, even the little flower decor above the window were left by the previous owner.
The decor on the table is also from the old house, though this wasn't how I had it decorated in the past. The tray was a Target clearance find for $12, as was the pitcher. The flower arrangement is simply some Dollar Tree hydrangeas and some eucalyptus from Target. The owl is a candle holder, though I've never burned any candle in it. I got it several years ago from Walmart for under $5.
The salt and pepper shakers were a great score from the Walmart clearance aisle. They are from the Pioneer Woman collection, and I got the set for $4. They go beautifully with my dishes. The runner is from the Magnolia line at Target. I believe I paid $15 for it, a bargain considering the quality and it's a nice neutral design appropriate for all seasons.
The opposite wall is mirrored, a popular design style in the 80's. I don't care for it myself, but I understand removing it can be pretty pricey, and it's not a project I'd want to tackle on my own. Not only is it dangerous, I'm concerned what the drywall behind it will look like after 32 years. I try to look on the positive side: it makes the room look way bigger than it actually is.
If you've seen pictures of my previous home, you know that I also stained the china cabinet that went with this dining room set. It was a beautiful piece that I'd had for 19 years, but in the end I chose not to bring it with me, so I sold it. In its place I put this cabinet:
It's not a buffet or sideboard. It's actually a tv cabinet that I had in our family room and which houses our DVD/CD collection. I downsized quite a bit of our DVD's but we still have a lot. This cabinet was purchased off of Amazon back in 2016 for $210. I've gotten compliments because of how well it looks with the dining room table; I've even been asked if they are a set, which they definitely are not.
I decided to keep the decor on top simple, since everything reflects off the mirror. That gorgeous decorative bottle has been with me for 20 years. We purchased it at a fair and watched as the flowers were painted on it. Beside it are pictures of my kids when they were younger.
One of the things I did change was the light fixture in the dining room. This was original to the house and didn't match anything else. It's pretty, but it looked out of place.
This is the ceiling fan in the living room. The bronze finish on this, as well as the style, clashed with the brushed nickel of the light fixture in the dining room and open to the living room.
I found this lighting fixture on Home Depot's website. Since we were in the middle of quarantine I wasn't able to go to the actual store, so online ordering was the next best thing. I wish I hadn't been impatient, because while I like this light fixture, I don't love it. It is a way better match than the old light fixture, but it's just okay. I may change it again in the future. Or I may keep it. I haven't decided yet.
You're probably asking, so if the cabinet holds DVD's and CD's, where is all the stuff that was in the china cabinet? Let me show you:
Across the dining room and behind the living room is this gorgeous dry bar. I didn't know if this was something the previous owner had built in, but I've since learned that it's original to the house, as are the mirrors and glass shelves. She did upgrade the countertop to granite, though, and in doing so gave it a high end look.
On the left there are two drawers which I use as my "junk" drawers. There are no drawers to the right, because this cabinet is plumbed for a wet bar. The previous owners didn't care for one, which is fine since I have no desire for a wet bar either.
There is plenty of storage space inside, so that not only am I able to put away everything that was in my china cabinet, but also some of my cookbooks and seasonal decor.
Again, I wanted to keep this area uncluttered, so I took out my cake stand (which I've had since my days selling Kingdom Treasures 15 years ago) and put this pitcher full of tulips on top. I love these tulips that I bought off of Amazon. They are very high quality and look realistic. I bought the pitcher from Kirkland's a while back. I love white pitchers for flower arrangements, and they always have pretty ones at Kirkland's.
This decorative plate has special meaning to me. It is from Puerto Rico and was given to me by a very sweet Puertorican lady who was one of my vendors whenever I worked as a purchasing agent years ago. That company went bankrupt during the recession in 2008, but I kept in touch with the lady who gave it to me. Sadly, she passed away unexpectedly in 2015, making this gift an even more precious treasure.
When we first moved in I wondered what in the world I would do with these glass shelves? They are attached to the mirrors, so unless I remove the mirrors I can't take the shelves off. As I mentioned before, I'm not the biggest fan of the mirrors, but taking them down would probably mean extensive repairs to whatever is behind it. It wasn't until Christmas that I came to appreciate them. I set up my Christmas village on this sideboard.
I wish I'd taken a picture of the finished product! I began putting little pine trees to make it look like a mountain overlooking the village. Unfortunately I decluttered a bunch of my village pieces, thinking I wouldn't need them. I didn't want to spend a ton of money, so I went to Walmart and purchased some small village houses which I put on the shelves. It turned out so cute! I guess I'm gonna have to recreate it this Christmas so I can post proper pictures. After Christmas I decided to put my wine glasses up there instead, along with some dessert plates that were a wedding gift from a dear friend and a few other decor pieces. It's simple yet elegant.
I'm so glad I was able to keep my dining room table. I was afraid it would be too big to fit in a smaller home, but here it works great, and I can still host our small Thanksgiving day feast. Next, the room that isn't really a room. Can you figure out what that is?
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