Making our house a HOME {The Dining Room}

I've been wanting to show y'all the work that Brian and I have very slowly been doing to make our house a home. We've been here two years this May, and we're finally checking a few items off our to-do list! We'll start with the dining room...

If I invited y'all over for a cup of coffee (or a latte), this is the first thing you would see when I open the door and you step foot in our home. We live in a "reverse ranch" which means that the main floor is as high as it goes. Our dining room is just to the left as you come in the door. Beyond that, and to the right, is the kitchen, living room, and the little hallway you see in the picture above, leads to the garage and the basement. 

I LOVE that everything in this room has a special meaning/memory for me. The gorgeous hutch, and old school desk were given to us by a very special family that lead our church home group when Brian and I had just moved back from California and Miss Hannah was a baby. They made us feel so welcome, encouraged, and were very generous to us. I filled the hutch with dishes that are constantly being swapped out as I use them. The bottom half is used to store my scrapbooks/photo albums on one side, and Hannah's art supplies on the other. The wall hangings were collected over our first 4 years of marriage. I cross-stitched the embroidery hoop, and the print is from Little Light Prints (LOVE her work, and have several more prints throughout our home.)

The GORGEOUS farmhouse table was built by my wonderful husband, after I showed him pictures and ideas of what I wanted. The vintage doilies are from my Grandma, and although I have every intention of actually stitching them together at some point, they are currently just arranged that way and get fixed on a daily basis. I also collect antique blue Ball jars... so you'll see more of them throughout my home!

I am sad to admit, after MUCH searching and searching for a vintage/industrial light, I succumbed to buying our chandelier at Pottery Barn. I'm well aware of how overpriced they are, but this particular fixture was PERFECT. It was just what I wanted and it was actually pretty affordable. The light is on a dimmer switch, and I love the warmth it gives the room when the sun goes down. 

The rugs and chairs are also Pottery Barn, but were bought during a CLEARANCE sale that was way too good to pass up. There are actually two 5x8 rugs laid next to each other, which saved us a TON of money on an 8x10 area rug. I also planned on stitching the rugs together, but that's one of those things that happens when you have two littles running around. 

The cute little distressed bench was a great find at an antique show with my Mama. The moment I saw it, I knew just where it needed to go! I love the big windows in this house... all that natural light makes me so happy! I also love that the window are low enough that Miss Hannah can peek out them and watch birds play, and snow fall. 

The antique church pew is actually from an old church down the road in the small town we live in. It was converted into a delicatessan when I was in elementary school, just a block away. My Mama worked there for a while and she brought it home when the Deli closed. It now lives in our dining room, and I love that it has such a rich history! 

Here's a much better look at that farmhouse table! Brian used 2in steel piping, primed and painted a textured black. For the top, he used 2x12 pine boards, that he distressed, stained and clear-coated. I'm so in love with that table, and we get lots of compliments on it whenever guests are over. 

I'll post the rest of the rooms we've finished as I get some time!