dining and decorating

[warning: lots of pictures ahead (: ]

in march i moved from this apartment...


to the one next door. i have a dining room in my new place, a room i've never had in an apartment before. it's such a treat! over the last few months i’ve been working on acquiring pieces for it and decorating the space. and now i'm ready to share (:


first came the dining room table. after a few weeks of scouring craigslist and visiting stores to see what was available new, i finally settled on a set from big lots. [note: i had no clue big lots even had furniture – and nice stuff at that! – but had mentioned my search to a friend and she told me about them. thanks, rachel!]

i have some pretty awesome handymen in my life, and they had this bad boy assembled in almost no time.

i love that it came with a bench. (: 

you may remember the shutters i found at a huge garage sale in april. i had envisioned putting them in the dining room windows, but also wanted to find curtains that would coordinate for a nice summer-y feel! thanks to a trip home to jersey last month and my two lovely sisters who let me drag them to IKEA on the one night we got to have sister time, i found curtains!


my stud installed all things window-related for me last weekend. have i mentioned how incredible he is? he helps with all my home projects… mostly because i don’t think he trusts me with power tools! just think how much we can do when we're married and have our own place together! [if i were you, i’d imagine him rolling his eyes at this point.]

add a couple of decorative pieces i already had or picked up...

and ta-da! i am so happy with this room so far!

i'm still on the hunt for a buffet for the wall currently occupied by our bikes, but i’m holding out for a good find at a wallet-friendly price that could use some tlc and provide me (and john!) with another project. [sound good, babe? (:] and i have a huge mirror clock to hang on the wall above the bench, but it arrived with a piece broken and we just made some adjustments to it this weekend to take care of that. i'm also looking for a way to update the light fixture, either by spray painting it or finding a DIY to replace it. so there are still a couple of things left to do to finish the room [in my mind at least!]. 

for months this room held the overflow of boxes and things i didn’t know what to do with when i moved. for months i’d walk into my apartment, pass through the kitchen, sigh and shake my head at this room and settle in for the evening in the living room. but now?! now i love walking in and seeing this room. i love sitting down at the table with my dinner or my laptop or a card game. and having made this room into a place i love has made my apartment feel even bigger and made me feel more at home!