La Madeleine

My goal for the dining room was to have a sort of La Madeleine feel to it. That is my very favorite place to eat not just because of the amazing food, but because of the place itself and the cozy french cottage feel it exudes. I have always wanted my house to feel a little bit like that but for a long time thought for whatever reason it would never work and I would fail miserably. I was wrong.

This past year I have been taking risks in our house and ignoring all the unspoken rules about the things you "can't" do. The book "The Nesting Place" given to me by a friend has really helped me change my mindset as I approach projects or a room in my house that I want to change. For instance,

Sanded and stained the top. Painted bottom and replaced
hardware. And easy half-day project (sorry no before picture).

you can't just slap paint on a piece of furniture without sanding the whole thing and going through a million step process because that will mess up a good piece of furniture right? Wrong. I did it. And I LOVE it .

The more I do projects, the more I realize that not only do things not have to be perfect, but in order to get something you really like, sometimes you just have to risk it and see. As long as I'm not spending tons of money, I really don't have anything to lose. So last night when we were arranging the furniture for a completely different room, we ended up needing to move this big cabinet into the dining room and I thought...maybe just maybe...I CAN do this.

This is the view from the living room. The large cabinet I found at Salvation Army. Because they were trying to get rid of big furniture, I got this beauty for $40. We store board games and books in it since our dining room is mainly used for game night in addition to entertaining dinner guests.



The smaller cabinet was once used for speakers. I re-upholstered this piece back in college, and have been moving it around the house ever since. Right now it holds fancy dishes I use for company that I don't want in the kitchen taking up space.

The plant was my big splurge for the room. I wanted a classy pot/plant combo, and wanted to add some white in the room since there is so much brown already. The wooden sign was a dime. A DIME. You can find really amazing stuff at the beginning of a church rummage sale.

The wreath was on another wall and I got it this last year during the Target Christmas clearance. Target Christmas clearance is great place to find nice stuff at a really good price (if you go towards the end of the sale and don't mind slim pickings).

I saved the table for last because it's my favorite. I've had a sisal rug rotatating around the house trying to find the perfect place for it. We placed the table right in front of the window to catch the morning light as we eat breakfast. I have never wanted to eat breakfast in the dining room...until now.

When I started re-decorating the room I cleared everything out and started with a blank slate. That way I could slowly add things purposefully instead of trying to cram a bunch of junk I don't like or use in the space. I ended up with a few little things that I will use and will add life to the room like my rummage sale cheese holder, fresh rosemary from my front yard in a mason jar, and a candle that is the perfect combination of sweet and woodsy.

La Madeleine, welcome home.