haus to home: our dining room, again

Upon reviewing my *haus to home* posts, I see that our dining room is a popular room to update. Really, this space has been a work in progress since we moved into this apartment just over two years ago. We added the wallpaper in summer 2014 and even though we got a new table not long after that, it’s taken awhile for the rest of the room to come together. In fact, one wall remained completely bare until February.

Here’s where we started two years ago, just after we moved in . . .

The Ikea shelf was initially a good idea, but it ended up bowing under the weight of my growing cookbook collection, so it was sold via Ricardo (i.e. Swiss Craigslist) to a quirky Swiss guy who had a thing for solid wood Ikea pieces and already owned four identical shelves. It was replaced by wall shelving that makes for a perfect coffee/toast station, holding all cookbooks, and still leaving room for other pantry items.

Our original dining table was perfect in our old apartment. I still love it, but it was too small for our new space (and our Thanksgiving dinners). It is now on long-term loan to some friends and is perfect in their dining room. In the end, we chose a long oak farm table that easily seats 8 and definitely could squeeze 10. (Hello, Thanksgiving dinner party!) And, it even has a drawer! We still plan to add a few more black Wishbone chairs, but until then we often use some woven Ikea chairs when needed.

Finally, we added the glass vitrine cabinet to contain the rest of our serving dishes, favorite ceramics, glassware, and dishes. I’ve been slowing bringing my china over from the US and now we have 8 place-settings ready for our fancy dinner guests. It is also nice to know that we now have more safe storage to keep things out of Reese’s future path of destruction. And, I love seeing all my favorite things and being reminded to use them.

The wall scones alongside the cabinet are a final addition in the last few weeks, especially necessary for late night game nights in winter when more light is needed across the length of the table.

So, here’s the room as it is now, including the rest of our kitchen and the live baby model who was only interested in gnawing on her favorite bunnies while watching me photograph the room (until she wasn’t interested anymore). All in all, we love the room and look forward to many more hours enjoying it over a shared meal or game in great company.

Sources

farm table, Heerenhuis //  Hans J. Wegner wishbone chairs, Carl Hansen & Son (via Holm) // glass vitrine, Oliver Furniture // wall shelving, String // wall sconces, Frama wall lights // pendant lamp, Secto Design // wallpaper mural, Etched Arcadia mural