Dining room and kitchen makeover

I’m so so excited to share with you our dining room and kitchen transformation today. I’ve been dreaming about this for a very, very long time and everything functions so much better for us now.

I always love dreaming up a plan which sometimes takes days but most of the time months. So here is the mood board of what I had planned:

The wall molding morphed into a simpler version because  I knew that the above version would have looked strange with our countertop. The chair rail would have ended too awkwardly right where the kitchen countertop begins. I also remembered that I had the antique oil painting which used to hang in this exact spot when we moved into our house 19 years ago and I decided to bring it back downstairs from the upstairs hallway.

And here are two cellphone photos our old dining room with the glass table right before the room was cleared out completely.

If you remember, I had purchased the glass table at an auction 20 years ago for $25. It has served us well and I still think it is a great table but there are several things that drove me insane about it, Tthe number one thing is definitely keeping it clean which was impossible. No matter how often I cleaned it, it always looked cloudy and smeared especially when the sun would shine in. It was impossible to make it look clean. Oddly enough it has gotten worse as the kids got older. I now have teenagers who love to hang out there with their friends to eat and chat and the glass table was not a good fit at all anymore.

Another reason I disliked it and felt restricted is the fact that I couldn’t move it and slide it around. It was completely immobile and super heavy. I craved flexibility especially when we have people over.

I always dreamed of having a round table with a leaf in it so we could have more room when we wanted it and on the other hand seat more people when needed. Remember we live in a small duplex and I have to make every inch count.

Oh, and the chairs were also auction finds but the swiveling function drove me crazy with the kids. I made it all work and look good but it all wasn’t functioning as well as we wanted.

Dining Room and Kitchen Makeover with Raymour & Flanigan

With everything that I mentioned above, I was pretty stoked to see that Raymour & Flanigan sells a customizable dining table when I visited their big showroom. It is hard to find the dimensions and look you want or need sometimes and being able to customize your furniture is a major plus.

I can’t share a link of the table because for now, they are only available in their store. When you visit one of Raymour & Flanigan‘s locations, you can see the color samples and custom options. You can find their other dining tables that are available online HERE.

So let me explain a little more about my new amazing table. You can pick the shape, size, base, color, and tabletop profile edge! You can even have a two-toned table where the base is a different color than the top! How cool is that? I could have picked a colored table or wooden one but I knew I wanted a white table to compliment the rest of my house while letting the other dining room pieces stand out.

We love our vintage dining room settee (click HERE to see how I added casters to raise it to dining height) and I wanted a table that would work with that settee.

Our New Customizable Dining Table

Guess what? I now love when the sun shines into our dining room which it does every evening. Our table looks clean and beautiful. No more struggling with glass.

And I just have to share photos of what it looks like when the warm sun shines in.

Below you can see a photo of the base/foot I picked. Isn’t it beautiful? The pedestal makes it a lot more usable for us too because I don’t need to struggle with the table legs being in the way anymore.

The other features I chose were a straight edge on the round top with a leaf to extend it to an oval size.

Black Whishbone Chairs

Why did I choose wishbone chairs you might ask? Well, I have loved them for a long time and besides their pretty shape, they are actually super comfortable. I adore the woven seat and black finish (click HERE to see).
You guys know how much I love black and white and the white table is the perfect backdrop for the beautiful black chairs and the silk velvet settee.

I mean look how lovely it is when the sun shines in during the evening hours.

And speaking of black and white and woven seats. How could I resist these beautiful counter stools from Raymour & Flanigan (click HERE)? I did giggle with joy when they arrived. I’m not kidding. They are everything to me and then some. Since the seats are woven it makes them a lot more comfortable to your behind than the wooden ones we had before.

Oh hey, and let’s mention the green cabinets too shall we? (click HERE to see my cabinet painting post for tips and tricks) I love the color even more than I ever thought I would. It is the perfect shade to compliment the settee without being too matchy-matchy. And it was a cheap makeover that cost me a bucket of paint and varnish.

Willy agrees!

Different table set-up options

Now if I would stage our house to sell (which I’m not) I would remove the settee and just have the table and chairs.  I definitely wanted to show you guys that arrangement too. And I’m going to show you all the versions of how you can change things around with my new versatile table. I even took the painting down to show you guys the subtle detail of the new wall molding.

I love everything this way and it makes the room look much larger than it actually is:

The new mirror is also from Raymour & Flanigan (click HERE) and the perfect addition to balance out the black chairs, stools, and lamps. Isn’t the shape great? It is metal made to look like bamboo.

I love the molding on that side of the room with the mirror and sideboard as well.

I mean look at that unique shape.

And lastly, I want to show you what the table looks like with the leaf extension inserted. It is a cozy seating area that comfortably now seats 7!

I’m so much happier with a curved table than I was with the rectangular shaped glass table.

Can you tell that I do crave the look of summer? My table setting definitely reflects that, doesn’t it?

I’m thrilled with how this new dining room set-up is actually making our life function better now and I can be more flexible with the layout while not stressing about a dirty looking glass table anymore.

Here are the pieces from Raymour & Flanigan again:

mirror (click HERE)

chairs (click HERE)

stools (click HERE)

table (only in store, find other tables HERE)

Following this blog post, I’m planning on writing a tutorial about how I hung the molding and believe me it is that easy that anyone can do it. And also such an affordable project. Find my cabinet painting post for tips and tricks HERE .

Tschüß,