I realize I haven't been very good about sharing updated pictures of our house.  Last week I messed around with our dining room.  Remember back in January we opened up the wall that closed it off to the family room.  I just never loved the view from the family room which is the primary way I see this room.  And it's my view from the couch in front of the tv so it really get's a lot of visual time.


I removed a leaf from the table making it smaller. This freed up some space to place our buffet at the head of the table.  This piece came from my husband's family and I love it!  I'm really glad I get's a prime spot now!  I love that I also have a fun space to decorate seasonally!

 
You can see now how this all connects.  This is the back wall where out built-ins used to be.  I can't even tell you how much better this functions for our family.  And the amount of light that both rooms get now is magical.  I am trying to convince Matthew to sit down and right a post about how he took this wall down.  I don't think the directions I'd come up with would get you very far.  You can also catch a glimpse of my lovely assistant hard at work.  Girlfriend marches to her own beat these days.

In all honestly, it's a lot of dark wood for me.  I'm a big fan of light and bright.  I'd love to replace the dining chairs with something fully upholstered.  Well, slip-covered so it can be washed.  I'm obsessed with the casual elegance it brings an otherwise stuffy space.  This would just be so much more our style!