The Dining Room

It's coming together! And I have some big plans for this room. It used to be my least favorite room in the house, but it is quickly becoming my very favorite. To refresh your memory, here are the boxes that took over my living room:

Dining room furniture was a very difficult decision for me. A lot of it seemed either outrageously huge or outrageously expensive (and there was a lot of both). I didn't want anything too traditional with crazy carved legs in some sort of ugly oak finish. Craigslist is crawling with those. I also didn't want anything glass topped because I just don't like the feel of chilly glass under my arms and it's so noisy. Then I was thinking maybe I'd want something round with a pedestal base because I could squeeze more people around it and it wouldn't seem to take up too much space. So, I wanted a contemporary round table in black or white.

The only thing I was finding was this, and it looks cheap.
But after lots and lots (and LOTS) of scouring websites and spending a little time in overpriced furniture stores, I came across this:

Simple lines.

Very dark finish.

Not too big or small.

The price was more than right.

The reviews were fantastic.

It arrived yesterday and when I opened the box with the table in it I'm not sure if I gasped or squealed or a little of both (there were no witnesses) but I was really excited. Check this thing out! It is beautiful! It is HEAVY and really solid (it has a maximum load capacity of 400 pounds, aka the Chicken Heart That Ate New York City). There is not one scratch on it (which was impressive considering how the UPS lady was trying to get it out of the truck but makes sense since it was wrapped in 3 cardboard boxes and some styrofoam padding). LOVE.
The chairs are also fantastic. They were really easy to put together, and they have simple lines with a little curve to the back which I think makes them look pretty classy. They are also quite comfortable. Again, solid construction, and they're completely level.


This is my third "grown up" furniture purchase and I couldn't be more pleased with the quality of the pieces.

One little snafu though (you probably noticed the absence of one of the chairs)- one of the chair legs was broken. It looks like it was sawed diagonally so I can't just glue it back together because I don't think it would hold up. I called Target and they can't send individual parts so they're going to send an ENTIRE new set. I can pull out the part I need, box it back up, and get UPS to pick it up and return it for free. YEESH. What a waste of resources! Not to mention time and money for Target. Although I guess this will work out okay because I also need to pull out another seat- one of mine had some tiny little cracks that I don't think will look too good in a few years.

Anyway, that's the saga of Christmas at Heather's House this week. It was so exciting! And now I'm not allowed to buy anything for a couple of months!

Next project? Either vinyl tile in the kitchen or painting the upstairs bathroom. I did the downstairs bathroom a couple of weeks ago and it turned out great. (The color is Valspar Classical Violet, in case you're interested- it looks sort of brown in the pictures but it's more of a smokey eggplant.)