The Progression of a Dining Room
It’s been a while since I’ve shared any progress when it comes to our home. That’s because #1: there hasn’t been much happening and #2: the things that I have changed or swapped out have been minor and I haven’t felt they’re worth sharing. I think I feel that way because these days it seems that transformations happen overnight and they’re whole spectacular room transformations etc. That’s social media for you. Sharing the big & extravagant is the norm these days, but I think we all know that for the majority of people the progression of home can be, and is, slow. And that’s not a bad thing. That’s normal. Real life.
All that to say, today I’m sharing the current state of our kitchen/dining area & where we started. Maybe it’ll make you feel like: “oh, same”. Let’s take a look back, shall we? We bought our house in spring of 2017. Here’s a glimpse of our kitchen dining space when we first moved in:
• Dark curtains that were here when we moved in.
• Our small hand-me-down table and chairs (which we had basically since the beginning of our marriage - and we loved and were so thankful for! Not to mention, the countless meals & conversations that were shared with so many around this table!).
• Darker walls (although, it’s hard to tell from this photo).
We then moved to this:
First came paint. Oh what a difference paint makes. Don’t underestimate that. Next we found a table we loved & then we added a new light fixture. You can already see the improvement. Note: the paint, table, and light fixture happened over the span of probably 6 months. So not all at once.
Then came new curtains and new chairs! We lived with the ones from our previous table for quite a while. And, as you can see from my inspiration board, the space became more like what I was envisioning. And this is how we lived with the space for a long time. Like a couple of years.
Then the end of December (2021) we finally added cabinet to the space. I’d been wanting one for a long while and we finally made it happen:
I have yet to settle on some art or a print of some sort for above the table - but that will come. Hopefully I can make a choice sooner or later. But honestly, this space feels so much better and a lot more complete these days.
We’re coming up on 5 years of living here and just now this space is feeling as if it’s come together. Could we have made it happen faster? Yes. But we waited. Waited to purchase things until it was in the budget. Waited (and lived with what we had) until we found what we were looking for. Waited and didn’t just buy to quickly fill the space.
In the moment sometimes waiting to find the right piece or until something is in the budget is annoying and frustrating. However, looking back I’m really glad to see how things progressed over time & how things have slowly come together the way I was hoping they would.
So, if you’re feeling frustrated with where your home is (or isn’t) and you find yourself comparing your home or your progress to those around you, let this be your reminder that home takes time.