A new table, a new dining era...

The last time Eliot and I bought a table, we were moving into our 300 square foot studio apartment in Pioneer Square, downtown Seattle. I'm pretty sure my dad bought it for us on a trip to ikea, for all of $125 for the set. That was over 7.5 years ago.

Flash forward to today... We have moved 3 times and had two kids. One of those moves broke two of our table legs, for which my dad rigged up a repair. The kids have pounded on it and we've been uncomfortably cramped with guests at our teeny table for YEARS. So, since I've been attempting a "love the one your with" attitude towards our much-too-small house and subsequently redecorating the dining room, I decided enough was enough. It was time to have a REAL table made with REAL wood and everything.

Of course, being the budget-happy Dave Ramsey fanatics that we are, I scoured/stalked Craislist for days, looking for the right table at the right price. And we found it... A table and 4 chairs (with leaf) for $150. And my amazing husband managed to talk them down to $120. Ironically cheaper than our Ikea special and no assembly required this time around.

I decided to reupholster the chairs since they were the only part of the table that looked shabby. So, armed with coupons, I headed for Joanne's and shopped the clearance aisle till I found the perfect home decor fabrics, altogether $17 (and I got about 6 yards so I can make several more things from it).

I set about reupholstering, and this is the before (top) and after (bottom).

This all matched pretty well with the chalkboard paint I put on the walls a week ago. Here are the before and after pics here:

And so tonight I designed and sewed a runner using all that leftover fabric. I had an idea for birds going off into the distance, so that is sort of how it ended up.

So there you have it! A new table. And a new dining room. It will do for now I think. :-)

Oh, and some cute pics of the kids because I can't resist...