A New Dining Room Table and the Design Plan


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First of all, let me start off by apologizing for being ALL OVER THE PLACE lately! Last week I chatted about our new couchย in the family room and then this week I gave you the updates on our nursery. And here I am today starting to chat about a whole new room — the dining room. I hate to be so scattered with these updates, butย the fact is that we have all kinds of random things happening around here and I don’t want you guys to miss a thing. Add in there a dose of disorganized pregnancy brain and I’m officially all over the place.

Dining Room Updates

Maybe I’ll focus on one room at a time (ahem… I’m looking at you first nursery) when things slow down but for now, a hodgepodge of updates it is. Which brings me to today’s SUPER exciting development — a new dining room table that is giving me all the heart eyes and finally a place to sit upstairs and eat.

Lesson Learned

But I can’t fully talk about the new table until you understand a little bit about our old dining room table. I spoke a little about this design regret here, but long story short, I learned a lot by living with our dining room table from our old house. It was one of the first things we purchased when we moved in and we got a great deal on it. We bought matching chairs to go with the set (mistake #1) and chose a dark table to go with our dark kitchen (mistake #2). It was way too much matching, I don’t even like the color brown, and I realized over timeย that the rustic style just wasn’t “me”.

Ya live and you learn, right?! We sold off the matching chairs on Craigslist and bought these chairs instead. That simple switch made me like the table SO. MUCH. MORE… although I still didn’t feel like it was “me” (even though we got tons of compliments on the table).

Fast forward to after we sold our house and we ended up selling the table on Craiglistย for a good portion of what we paid for it 5 years ago! That was the day I really loved this table (haha jk… kinda) but also vowed that our next table would be a more intentional decision and a design that was more our style.

Our New Article Dining Room Table

Enter Article’s Seno Oak Dining Table for 6.

I knew I wanted something simple with clean lines and a hint of mid-century modern. When I saw the shape of this Article Dining Room Table, especially the sleek legs, I was in love. Then I learned that this table comes with two extensions that allow the traditional 6 place settings turn into 10. But a sidenote for those who may be looking for a larger “everyday” table, the Article Seno Dining Room Table also comes in 8. So many options!

Our house isn’t huge so I loved the idea that we can make this table larger when we entertain without having the compromise space in our dining room for the everyday.

And just like everything we have purchased from Article over the years, the quality is amazing.

Deciding On a Color for the Dining Room Table

This dining room table also comes in a dark walnut, which was also a tempting option. But I ultimately decided to go with the light oak because the floor is dark and I didn’t want to make that “matchy-matchy” mistake again. Plus, I eventually want to add a buffet or credenza of some sort in this space and figured the light wood table would be a good way to add some contrast once again. Side note, is it weird to have a dark credenza with a dark-ish floor?

And last but not least, I also thought about our future kitchen design when making this decision. The kitchen is a total eyesore right now, but in the somewhat near future, I have big plans to make it light and bright! I thought the light table would be a great way to tie it all together and maintain that light, bright look I love throughout the entire first floor.

Obviously, I may have overthought the process a bit but I’m so glad that I did because I’m so happy with our new table. It’s so “me”, the color is perfect, and the function for both the everyday and special occasions is spot on for our family.

What’s Next?

So what’s next in this space? Here’s my tentative game plan:

Like I said, I’m currently on the hunt for a large credenza for some extra storage. Ironically, Article has some great secret storage options that I have my eye on. I mean, how gorgeous is this Envelo Sideboard, V Bar Sideboard, and Seno Sideboard. I’m not against investing in a piece that I will LOVE (and that will last) for a long time. Do you guys have any favorites?

I’ve always loved the idea of putting a large piece of art above it with a picture light, partly because I love that classic look and partly because it would be the focal point of the room (and directly what you see if you look in our home from our oversized dining room windows).

I’m also toying with the idea of selling the chairs we have now (although I still really like them!) and replacing them with black ones instead. What do you guys think? Too much black? Perfect contrast? Maybe I’ll wait to see how the kitchen turns out before making that decision.

The project I’m working on in this room next is deciding on and buying a light fixture. I have a few in mind that I love, but my options are limited because it needs to be a swag light instead of a traditional pendant/chandelier. I’ll explain later because it’s a long story and already I feel like I’m all over the place (story of my life lately!) but I promise I’ll check in once I have more details.

In the meantime, you can probably find me sitting right here on any given weekend catching up on blog work while sipping on a decaf coffee (my weekend treat).

Bridget


The Year of Casey

Hey there!

Iโ€™m Casey Finn, the voice behind The DIY Playbook. I’m a Chicago gal teaching you how to design, DIY, and maintain your home…by yourself! Learn more about me right here.