Flashback Friday: Apartment Tour, Dining Room

For Flashback Friday I'm taking you back to our apartment in Baltimore!

The dining room.

Admittedly, this was a hard room to work with. It was a shared area with the living room, was kind of tight, and was also the walkway into the kitchen. And many times it stored our hanging laundry from the washer. While I don't love that it was kept minimal, that allowed it to remain functional. Often times, the table top was full of mail, homework, groceries, and stacks of papers. The corners held overflow bulky items...it was the minimal side of the room, while the other living area stole the show. Had we lived there longer I would have loved to re-work the space with a better, more stylish, statement buffet and hutch, but for the 12 months were were there, it worked.

The dining room table and chairs were Craigslist finds! I wanted a natural farmhouse table, and Ikea does have one, but it was too costly in my opinion and this was able to fit the bill-it has a leaf so it's expandable and collapsible, as well as in the somewhat style family I was going for. The lucite chairs are so in, and the two head chairs were a set, and the other four were a set. The chairs add a really awesome style aspect, and they were truly comfortable, surprisingly sturdy, and definitely easy to clean!

The white buffet/hutch was a Craigslist find several years ago, and has gotten a few coats of paint. I used white chalk paint again, to ease with painting.

I also changed out the knobs.

It was a great piece that allowed us to store necessary items, like cookbooks, overflow paper goods, my dreidle collection, but also show some sentimental items. Like those candles. When my parents redecorated the house I grew up in, those candles were brought it. When I got married, my parents sold my childhood home, and I've taken those with me to every home as a memento.

I love this picture!

I've talked about my Masterpieces collection a few times; I order the decal from Etsy and the hardware can be found at Ikea. I've done this in four apartments and I love it. It is such an easy, beautiful, and space saving way to show the kids' artwork. With older kids we're making the transition from artwork to classwork, and this is just as great! I can't wait to get this back up in our new place! I collect the artwork all year long, and then at the end of the year I divide it up by family member and send it off so they have something to display!

Across from the buffet/hutch is a three drawer Ikea Hemnes dresser, another second hand find! It was here that stored snacks, tin pans, and disposables.