Dining Room Sneak Peek

If you can’t tell by my erratic posting schedule and Instagram… we’ve been super busy moving! It’s been a few months since we moved in to my Husband’s family’s property and started our own little twist on multi-generational living. We decided to put our house up for sale and live with my inlaws for a while (they live in a small cottage on the five acre property- we are living in the “big” house next-door with my husbands Grandma), and buy some rental properties – and then either stay here or start working towards building a dream home.

Moving is always complicated and emotional- and moving in with family is even more interesting! It has been an exercise in patience and compromise as there are four strong opinions on this house – as well as three people we need to work around (our 3 and 5 year old, as well as my husband’s Grandma who has Alzheimers and limited mobility as she walks with a walker). Not only are we merging three generations of people- but three generations of STUFF! The “big house” was full of my husband’s family’s antiques- some of which are older than the State of Colorado! 

It’s been a challenge, but we really love living at this farm. It’s great for the kids to be near their grandparents, my husband and I are excited to have such gorgeous views, and I’m thrilled with being closer to school, church, and a lot of our friends.

We’re still very much in the moving process- there are still boxes everywhere and we’ve still got a bit to pack up at our old house- but I wanted to give some quick updates before I start my big holiday reveals this winter- and share this Dining Room Sneak Peek! There is still a LOT to do in this room, and it’s not complete, but I wanted to share the direction we’re going in so far! 

Can you believe when we moved in at the end of August the room looked like this? We’ve been living in a construction site for a little bit, but it has come together SO well. We sped up our move on my poor father in law who did a lot of the work himself so that the kids could be in their rooms before school started. I’m happy we didn’t give him a heart attack over the timeline- because I would have had one! 

For a quick hint of fall, I adorned the top of our (gorgeous!!!) new LIATORP cabinets from IKEA with some pumpkins and fall garlands. We also have our two festive little foxes looking out from the top (you’ll see more about them soon). If you look closely, you’ll see some other pumpkins around the room and some fall flowers. Next year though… when I can find the rest of my favorite fall accessories…. 

One of my favorite finds from my new “antique shop” (the basement) is this lovely milk stool! How cute is it in the corner? We wanted to get another cabinet, so they went all the way across the back wall and looked built-in (they match our new kitchen cabinets with the beadboard detail inside), but it was just a little too short. With two small spaces on the sides of the cabinets, I wasn’t really sure how to decorate them- but I love the dairy themed antiques that my husband’s family actually used! 

As for the cabinets themselves, we’re still styling them a bit, but its an eclectic mix of my stemware, food photo props, antiques from my husband’s Grandma, Great Grandma, and Great-Great Grandma – and his giant wine horn he received at his brother’s wedding in the Republic of Georgia this last spring. 

I’ve also been hunting the house for more antiques. Here’s one I’ve taken quite a shine to- my husband’s grandma’s butter churn! There are tons of family heirlooms around the farm that are fun to display and still functional for our little hobby farm- once we take the plunge and get some animals. 

One of my favorite parts of the room are my twin Hundi Pendants from Pottery Barn. We actually started with the one, and didn’t realize we had installed it wrong, so the glass was sitting wonky in the base- making it look crooked. We thought it was defective, and Pottery Barn quickly sent us a replacement. We added the second and realized that we had set one of the chains up wrong- and then we had the idea of putting the two up instead! Our electrician thankfully had no problems adding an additional lamp, and it balances perfectly over the table. I can’t imagine it any other way! 

The lights look awesome over our famhouse table (which was purchased at American Furniture Warehouse in 2008- I don’t know if it is still stocked). Our rug is a Safavieh- and I am really pleased with it! It is soft and full of texture, and looks like it will hold up well with our wild bunch. Doesn’t it look perfect with that plate wall? 

I’ve also started hanging up my plate wall- and this time, I am going for a multi-wall cascade. I want to fill it in more, so I am always on the lookout for interesting blue plates at antique and thrift shops! (To see how I hung my plate was with no hook, head here). 

As for the table, I am not set on a final “everyday” style, but for now I’ve added some of my favorite touches- grain sack style table runner and napkins from World Market, as well as my favorite gold chargers from World Market. This changes often (and often looks imperfect- I have a 3 year old, a 5 year old, and my husbands Grandmother with Alzheimers in the house! There is not much time for straightening!) but it’s where I am for the moment- and the backdrop of a lot of my new food photos. 

We still have boxes all over upstairs, as well as piles of laundry (redoing the tile in the laundry room came with a rather unpleasant surprise of being greeted with a ton of mold all over the laundry room floor- which had to be replaced, and the 1970’s washer and dryer thrown out- so we are quite literally drowning in laundry at the moment- I might hug the poor washing machine installation man today.)

The joys of renovating! I think we may never, never move again after this:)