Friday, September 7

the story of the too small dining space

When we chose a plan for our very first home nine years ago, and presented it to our builder, we had two children. Two little boys that were one and two years old. We didn't need much space. We chose a plan that had an unfinished walk-out basement that we (Jeremy) could finish up after we moved into the upstairs. We love our home, but what we didn't anticipate was the five more children that would follow in the coming years. We imagined that we'd have another one, who ended up being Morgan, but we didn't even fathom the rest at the time.

We were happy with the small dining space just off the kitchen.  We had a small table, that expanded to a larger table, but it was really tight in that space if we put the leaf in.  So we continued...  every child and highchair added to our space began to feel stifling to us.  I was and am extremely thankful for our home and love our property, and know that some families across the globe are either homeless, live in a hut, one room apartment, or a house made out of scraps and has a dirt floor. 

I wasn't going to dare to complain.  We have MUCH to be thankful for. 

But last winter, after Levi came into our family just months before and I was pregnant with Emmalie, we began to brainstorm ways to better use our space.  I presented the idea of a long narrow table with benches instead of chairs, so we could squeeze more people in at the table...  we spent some time looking online, drawing sketches, and talking about what we would do.

This last summer, we finally had the final plan in mind and Jeremy set to work. 

I can't believe how naturally all of this building and creating with wood comes to him.  He's amazing!  It took him several weeks to complete, starting in late July, and ending a few days ago.  Our dining area was torn up for a while, and the kids ate on the living room floor on a plastic tablecloth, while we sat on the couches.  It is good to be back, and just in time for school to start. 

Here is the new and improved gorgeous piece of furniture that now graces our dining space.   We used Minwax stain in Red Mahogany (three coats), and satin finish clear polyurethane (two coats on the legs, and three coats on the top surfaces). 






On each bench, you can fit five adults or seven children comfortably.  And we love the storage underneath the window bench...  Such a difference for us! 

Here is what it looked like before it was stained and protected:





  Photobucket
3 comments on "the story of the too small dining space"
  1. this looks A-MA-ZING!!!! Great job you 2! Can't wait to see it in person!

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  2. It is beautiful. What a great job and I am sure it looks so great in your space. I will have to come see it and the family of course when I get back in town.

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  3. SO beautiful!! Now all Jeremy needs to do is build a duplicate for us. :)

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