Christmas 2016 - Dining Room

Happy Gaudete Sunday friends and welcome back to the blog!  I know it's been ages since I've posted, but better late than never for 2016.  I couldn't let the year go by without posting Christmas decor.  I just finished some updates to our dining room, and am ready to share.

First off....we sold our mahogany dining room furniture!  Table, chairs, buffet - all gone!  We sold them to some happy folks via Craigslist.  If you recall, our dining room used to look like this.

Here it is today:

Right now we have our kitchen table in here until we find a new dining table.  We're looking for an old farmhouse table, hopefully authentic and well-loved.  My husband reminds me not to 'settle' on it, so I'm patiently looking.  This cute vintage kitchen table functions fine in the meantime:

The 4 dining chairs were scored off Craigslist over a year ago, and I finally painted them this fall.  The color is Sea Breeze by Benjamin Moore.  I kept the same slipcovers from our former dining chairs, and they fit just fine!
Here's a close up of the back of a chair.  I made a simple decoration with upholstery webbing, a $1 reindeer ornament from ACMoore, and a plaid bow I found a Dollar Tree (3 for $1).  Easy!

Tucked behind the table you'll see a new-to-us settee.

(see that runner on table?  It's a $3 clearance valance from Homegoods!)

The settee was part of a parlor set I also found on Craigslist last month - one settee, two side chairs and one arm chair.  They've all been painted Sea Pearl, and the chairs are in the garage awaiting new upholstery.  I did find time to upholster this settee right after Thanksgiving.  I used a hemp sheet from Miss Mustard Seed for the seat and front.  I attempted to tuft the front, but it isn't perfect.  I also added a loveseat cushion I found on Amazon, which adds height and protects the hemp sheet from stains.

You may recognize the pillow on the settee - it's a Society 6 purchase from Miss Mustard Seed's watercolor collection!  She's so talented.

I thought the pillow went well with my paper mache rocking horse nearby.  And this year we put a real tree in here!  It sits atop a Craigslist carpenter trunk.  The trunk isn't too old but I loved the gray color and vintage feel (and storage for homeschool stuff!).  I also knitted a chunky tree skirt, inspired by Maria of Dreamy Whites.

Here's the view from another corner.  That huge wreath was a $5 thrift store find, and I raised my two gray shutters to hang alongside the window.  Now the window looks bigger and has more impact.

Back in the corner you see our white cabinet.  Here's a closer look:

I went with a soft white and sparkle theme here, with some touches of yarn creations.

Love this new ornament I found at Marshalls:

On the other side of the room stands our homeschool dresser.  It is packed to the brim with homeschool books and supplies inside, but I cleared off the top for Christmas!

Lastly, I added a few Christmas touches to our vintage shoe rack:

Hope you're enjoying your Advent season, friends.  I'll be back to share the living room soon.  Yesterday I finished a project in there that's been on my to-do list forever.  I 'German-smeared' our fireplace bricks!