Hi lovelies!

Over the weekend we finally got some summer weather here in Seattle. And though I’m usually happiest with a raincloud in the sky, I was happy to finally have enough outdoor time to get started on some projects for a little dining room rehab. Even better, on Friday I kicked off a full 10 day vacation from work – just a “staycation” this time – although in my case it might be more of a “decor-cation” because I have so many projects planned!

So why the outdoor time? I’ll be sure to share all the details in the next week or two. But first I wanted to refresh your memory on the dining room – really the center of our house, as it has doors to the kitchen, living room, and to the hall that connects the entry, office and bedroom. And since I talk so much about my e-decorating services, I thought I’d use the dining room rehab to walk you through my process, which always starts with a review of the room in it’s current state.

It’s gone through a few changes recently – we started out with some darker furnishings from my bachelorette pad but recently sold the too-small table on Craigslist and moved our kitchen table (from Ryan’s Mom) into the dining room. It’s pretty much stayed the same the last three months:

Yeah, it’s fine, but nothing special is going on. My picture wall that I’d planned on from the beginning was starting to look dark and heavy in that corner. Same with the bookcase. And what is with my bar cart looking so forlorn in the corner?

We’ve already started a few projects, but the whole space will take some time to come together – we’re on a pretty strict budget, after all! But the general scope of the dining room rehab is:

1. Lighten up the back right corner

2. Gain more storage space

3. Gain more horizontal space for display and parties

4. Swap the chairs out for something more comfortable – plus we need more than four

5. Refinish the table so it’s not as yellowed (the current finish is starting to crack)

6. Add some more personality and decorative touches.

Where would you start? And if you want to see where the room has been, check out this post from when we first laid eyes on it, when we painted it, and this one where we threw our housewarming!