I shared in my previous post that the eat-in area of my kitchen has driven me crazy for years! I finally did something about it and I love it so much! This room has had several looks over the past few years as I’ve worked to figure out what works best for our family. We have gone from having second hand furniture out of necessity to a dining area that truly works well and looks great! I am so happy that we tackled this space and even moreso, that we took the time to select pieces that will function beautifully for the season of life we are in. 

Here is a reminder of what the space looked like just a few days ago. We had a rectangular shaped table that was taking up so much space in this small area, spindle back chairs that were a pain to clean with three messy little boys, two floating shelves that were not sufficient enough for my growing houseplant collection, and a cabinet that was a home for junk, clutter, and wedding gifts that we never use. 

What We Did

The first thing we did was change the light fixture. We replaced it with this gorgeous mid century modern light and I love it so much. I wanted something that would make a statement but that would also not obstruct the view out of the windows. This light fixture was also super inexpensive which is always a plus in my book!

Next we ripped out the cabinet and removed the floating shelves. We knew that our current flooring was not underneath it so we grabbed a few pieces from the garage to patch it up. It’s not perfect but it looks good. 

The walls behind the cabinet were obviously not going to work. Instead of going through the trouble of repairing it or doing drywall we decided to carry the board and batten that we have in our homeschool room over into this space as well. I love the continuity that it gives this space. It is essentially a big open room but now it flows so much better. We used yucaboard and trim to accomplish this look. After caulking (the worst job ever!), priming, and then painting this room was really starting to take shape. 

Hubby helped me out by building the etagere while I was painting and I love it! I really wanted something that was taller than the standard 72 inch pieces I was finding online. I want all the space for my plants! When I came across this etagere I was immediately in love. It is large enough to fit tons of houseplants (80 inches tall), yet narrow enough to not be super cumbersome in this space (it is about 12 inches deep). My plant babies are going to be so happy here, I can already tell!

Finally, it was time to add in the last pieces. I really wanted a round table to maximize the space in here and give us more conversation style dining experiences. This table is perfect for our family’s current needs and fits this space so nicely! I was also over having to scrub chairs on a daily basis to keep them just halfway clean. I grabbed these chairs off of Amazon and I think the simplicity works so well here. I am contemplating scotchguarding them as an additional layer of protection. 

Finally, the space feels perfect in our home. Is there a room you’ve been avoiding? Now’s your time to refresh that space. I hope these notes motivate you and confirm that you can make any space the best fit for your personality.