Our Dining Area

This week on Kelly's Show Us Your Life Friday, we are touring dining rooms! I've had SO much fun seeing everyone's rooms! My husband has always told me I was nosy! ;)

For this post, you are going to have to bear with me and remember we just moved into a tiny studio apartment in New York, so our "dining room" is nothing more than a small corner in our long studio space. It is definitely not our forever home, so it has been so much fun designing a fun space that fits our young personalities and the exciting location our home is in.

Here is the inspiration board I made for our dining area before moving. I changed a few things, but am still happy with the result!



We decided to get new furniture at Ikea after our move so we wouldn't have to haul it to New York, and I am so glad we did. I LOVE our new stuff! I knew I needed some sort of buffet to not only display our china and crystal, but also to store all of our entertaining items (not that we've done any entertaining yet!) I ran across a picture online a long time ago, and knew that was EXACTLY what I wanted for our fun New York apartment.


(I'm terrible, and have no idea where I got this picture...I'm sorry!)

It's a little modern and funky, but that is just how I like it! Even if we don't use it as a buffet in the future, there will be a million other uses for it. It is actually an Expedit bookshelf from Ikea that is meant to stand upright, but we turned it on its side, and drilled stainless steel legs into the corners. I love how it turned out! I love being able to see all of our beautiful things displayed! I also used the picture for inspiration and found some sconces to go on either side of a charcoal drawing of bamboo I did in college. Also, don't you love the rust colored vase? It was one of our most special wedding presents. A sweet friend actually made it, as she was also an art major, and we will definitely treasure it forever!








Our dining chairs are one of my most favorite purchases ever. I've had those for a few years and still love them as much as the day we found them. I had been searching everywhere for antique chairs that I could paint white and distress. My mom and I accidentally found these at a cute little antique shop near our lake house. They were already painted exactly how I wanted them, and they were $50 for the set of four! I sure do love finding a good deal! If it were up to me, all of our furniture would be white, but my husband wanted dark furniture in the dining room. Love how the chairs contrast with the dark table and buffet!





I love having a neutral base to work with, and having lots of fun, colorful accessories to jazz up the space. It's all interchangeable, and I love switching things up when my mood or the occasion changes! Right now, our table is set with our fun Fiestaware and funky placemats. We got the crystal candlesticks as wedding presents, and I would love to collect more! Can't wait to use my fine china and set the table up with all of my pretty, formal things!





Well, that's about it for our little dining area. It may not be much, but we love it! It sure will be nice to have a real dining room someday!