A Dining Room Dilemma

Once upon a time. When I started this blog. I promised to share renovating tips. Helpful hints. And a list a mile long of things NOT to do.


You know... in case you were interested in purchasing a house from the 1970's that may or may not have been involved in questionable activities. Activities where disco balls, glitter, shag carpet and a bowl of keys were in attendance.


So, I'm sure you were hoping that I would forget this promise and spare you the gory details. And believe me... they were gory. But this renovation was a major event in my life. Blood, sweat and tears. Literally. And telling you stories about my life... no matter how intense... is my job. The reason for this blog.


That being said..... this post is more about decorating than it is renovating. So, really I just wasted a bunch of your time rambling on and on about nonsense.

Decorating is a passion of mine. When I was little... I mean young... because I was never little.... I wanted to be an interior designer. I have always LOVED looking at homes and decor. I LOVE watching tv shows about it. I LOVE daydreaming and planning about what I want to do.

However, these days the only things that I can seem decorate is Christmas trees ( we now have 6), cupcakes, and my neck with necklaces and scarves. You see... I have an issue with decorating. I get overwhelmed. I over think everything. I have trouble making decisions. And then there is the whole MONEY part. Why is everything so darn expensive? Take, for instance, Pottery Barn. That is my dream place to shop. I could seriously decorate my entire house with the delights from their catalog.

But then I would be living on the streets. Because that is where Kev would banish me to. Because is it really necessary to pay $98 for a wooden candle holder when I could go to Target and spend $30? $30 for a candle holder? That even sounds ridiculous. And this is why my house is NOT decorated.

I want a deal. I want it to look nice- but I also want to be able to say what a bargain I got and how I creatively fixed it up. It is more rewarding. And better for my marriage. And WOW, I sure know how to drag out a story about a dining room dilemma.

REFOCUS.

So, here is my favorite room in the house......

It is our "Wilderness Lodge" room. It is the reason I HAD to have this house. It is like walking in to a big hug and a bowl of banana pudding. Huh? Anyway, I have an obsession with Lodges and the wilderness and Yellowstone National Park. This room was/is SO easy to decorate. But that is the problem... because I am constantly drawn to moose/pine cone/bear/lantern decor. (I seriously would buy a lantern EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. if I could) I have had to put myself on Lodge decor restriction by notifying all of the places that I shop about my addiction. They threaten to arrest me if I put even just one piece in my cart.

And then I put just one piece in my cart for the heck of it. Just to test them.

Kev is tired of bailing me out of jail.

So, in order to prove that I can focus on other rooms.... AND to behave more like a grown up and get the rest of my house "put together".... I have given myself the challenge to get the other rooms finished. As much as I can without buying major pieces of furniture.

AND NOW WE GET TO THE DINING ROOM.....

Here is my dilemma......

This is a picture of the living room/dining room combo when we first bought the house....

( I hope you enjoy tiny pictures - because that is all my mad computer skillz could do for some reason). The room was all blue (obviously) and had a divider in the middle.

We tore down the divider, put in wood floors, and painted the walls a dark chocolate brown.....

Picture of the foyer/entry way. (This is the first room that you walk in to when you enter the house)....

We have had two dining room tables in there for a while now. They are "hand-me-downs", don't match... but are definitely usable. Apparently, one of them is usable for dominoes... because as you can see... it has been moved in to the "entertainment room". Regardless.. .Kev and I have been discussing our "plans" for this room - decor and furniture wise. And are thinking of making it one large dining room instead of a living/dining split. That way we could seat our entire family at once and use if for parties. You know... because we have SO many.

I would like to do one ROUND table that seats 8 (up on the platform) and one RECTANGLE table that seats 10 in the sunken area. Or I could do two ROUND tables. ( And yes, I felt the need to YELL the shapes at you just in case you didn't know how serious my plans are). I know that a lot of you are excellent with decorating and I would really appreciate your thoughts on the matter.

Keep in mind that we have other "living areas"... so, we would not be losing any "living" space by making this room all for dining.

I thank you in advance for your assistance in this "life changing matter". I could use another reason to sleep at night.