Thrifty Cottage Dining Room Refresh
Our thrifty cottage dining room wasn’t decorated in a day or even a weekend. It has slowly evolved over the past 8 years since moving into this home.
If you follow me on Instagram, you might already know about the recent changes we’ve made in our dining room over the past few months. It all started last fall when my husband told me he wanted to build a new dining room table.Â
Our old table was beautiful and very special to me. It was one of the first pieces of furniture that my husband ever built for me, but over the years he learned more about wood working and his tool collection grew. We decided to sell the old dining room table and bench and use the wood to build something new.Â
I haven’t written a post about our table yet, to be honest we didn’t follow any plans. I just drew what I wanted on a piece of paper and then my husband created it.Â
I plan on sharing the process in a future blog post along with stain colors and sealer I used!
The cross back end chairs are new as well, I found one of them on Facebook marketplace for $20. I searched and searched online for a match and the closest I could find were here. I’ve also linked a similar style that you can find at Target below! I love that they match the table so well and have an antique, hand scraped feel.Â
I kept the wicker chairs in this space, they add a cozy rustic feel to our dining room. I purchased them on clearance years ago at Target, they are actually outdoor chairs but they were discounted at the time since summer was coming to an end.
The dresser was a garage sale find and I believe I paid $40 for it. It was white for a number of years and recently I pained it a soft gray. I cleaned the brass handles right before Christmas but I ended up painting them dark again. I’m still on the fence about the color, we’ll see if it stays gray or goes back to white again!
Our new rug is from Ruggable Rugs and so far we have been very impressed with it. You can throw these rugs into the washing machine, but truth be told we haven’t had to do that yet. So far we’ve only had small spills and stains and they have all washed right up with a soapy sponge!Â
I chose a lighter, vintage inspired rug with blue gray tones. I’ve linked it below if you love it as much as I do. 🙂
If you’re interested in a Ruggable Rug, you can use my code FUNPINE15 for 15% off your purchase!!Â
I’ve also linked our new lantern pendant – oh how I love this light fixture! If you know me at all than you can probably guess that I did not pay full price for it. I waited and waited until Black Friday and snagged it while it was majorly discounted!Â
I shared more close ups of our light in the video tour above. 🙂
I almost never pay full price for anything. I link to items for your benefit, but usually that is not what I paid. For example, the mirror between our DIY shelves (linked below) is the exact mirror we have in our dining room, but I found mine at Goodwill for half that price. It was marked as salvage for whatever reason and donated, but new with Target tags!Â
The only other change I’ve made in our thrifty cottage dining room is to the decor in our corner cabinet. I found the cabinet on Facebook marketplace, you can read more about it here. I used to have all of my white Pfaltzgraff in there, but recently I’ve added some stoneware that my Mom gave to me. I love the rustic touch that they add!Â
The little dresser off of the kitchen will be getting a fresh coat of paint very soon as well! Stay tuned to see what color I choose!Â
Sometimes a space doesn’t come together overnight. It takes time and patience, oftentimes years before all the right pieces come together. It used to bother me that I couldn’t go out and buy everything all at once, but I truly believe that waiting and hunting and even praying is so much more fun.Â
Thanks for stopping by today friends! It’s always so much fun sharing all my finds and ideas with you. 🙂 Do you love thrifting as much as I do?
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Your dining room, like your entire home, is beautiful. I have always been a bargain hunter so I can relate to how your room evolved. It all looks so nice. You did an awesome job!!!
Aww thank you so much Maria!! I so appreciate your sweet comment! 🙂
Could you share the paint color for the upper part of the wall in the dining room? Thanks!
Hi Tracey! I made the color to save money using paint I already had. I’m so sorry! I think it is similar to Edgecomb gray by SW. I hope that helps!:)
What did you put on the benches to protect them? We made benches for the dining room and they are currently covered with a plastic table cloth. I need to sand them and stain them. I have 4 messy kids and want something that protects them and is easy to clean. Thanks
Hi Andrea! In the past I have used Polycrylic, this time I used 100% pure Tung Oil 🙂 I hope that helps!
Andrea, as always, so pretty! I think the best things truly take time to have the home complete. I see old photos of things I did, and I think how much more I just love once I arrived at the dream I had for the living and dining area, which decorating-wise are how I love it! This is the main space of the home. The house has come together. We are working on other rooms, and we do want to replace the old carpet hopefully with hardwood flooring through the home. I think it is just such a joy I am grateful for to have the pretty, cozy things I love. I did without rather than buying a “filler” item when I wanted something in particular. I love the house anyway! We have dreams for it and are working on a guest room. The bed and nightstand are going to be picked up next Saturday. I am excited! Financially we can’t afford everything in a weekend. It has been bit by bit. I love it!
The most wonderful thing is we are pulling the things together and talking about marriage. I live in the house now, and we are excited about him moving in on our wedding day. :). I hope we will have a lot done by then, but we do not plan to do every single fix-up ahead of the wedding.