The JP Project: Breakfast Nook Progress

I am uber excited to share that we are making some progress in this house! Picking paint colors, getting the walls painted, repurposing some old furniture and adding something new, big changes! Ok, maybe not so big, but definitely progress and honestly it is progress I am very happy to share.

H and I have been constantly debating what areas of the house we want to focus on and where we want to spend our money to update those spaces. So we both agreed that the two spaces we use every day should be next in line - the kitchen/breakfast nook and family room. If you remember we were deciding on paint colors and we narrowed it down to two. Well, we finally made up our minds. We decided to go with the darker shade Northern Cliffs and I am so so glad that we did! It is a gorgeous grey color that is a little taupey in some lights and works so well with the dark cabinets in the kitchen. We are using this same color in the family room and already started that project but more on that later.

So here are a few photos of our busy week of painting..

We chose to go with Ben by Benjamin Moore. It was their mid-range paint and since we really didn't need anything too fancy we figured this would do just fine. It was a little difficult to work with since we got it in an eggshell, but after a little while I think H got the hang of it. It covers beautifully, even with one coat, it just left some paint lines where it overlapped. After some trial and error we realized that if you go back over the area you just painted quickly it eliminates those lines. Now we know for next time (the joys of first time DIYers).

Started off in the Butler's Pantry and Pepper was right there wanting to help : )

After lots, and lots, and lots of taping, we moved onto the Breakfast Nook...

Here is what the Butler's Pantry looks like now. Still needs a lot of work. We need to install the wine shelves that we have and some artwork but for now at least it's painted! I will put that in the win column.

And here is the Breakfast Nook.. eeeeh so exciting!

The chairs were a great find from Target. Got them on sale and didn't have to pay for shipping which saved $20. After tax and everything they were under $90 a piece. Who knew chairs were so expensive?! But compared to other stores for almost $300 per chair, I'd say these were a good deal! And they will work in this space for now until we save up some money/find a nice larger table for the space because I am sure we will need to get different chairs. At that point we will then move these into the dining room as head chairs so at least they will serve another purpose down the road. I love their nailhead trim too, it's a great detail that makes them look way more expensive than they actually were!

The table was from our old apartment in the city. It was from IKEA and I am so glad we were able to reuse it. It has a ton of scratches and isn't in the best condition but for now it works. It also expands to fit more people which will work much better for when we have a few friends over instead of having to use the formal dining room. The one major complaint we have though is that it is really low to the ground. The dog can actually rest her head on the table and while it is super cute, it can be really annoying when we are trying to eat dinner.

The carpet was originally in the foyer and we would like to move it back there at some point but we just wanted to see what the space would look like with an area rug. I think we are going to need a much bigger rug down the road. This is a 5x7 which is fine for the smaller table, but once we have a 6' table (or larger) in here we are going to need at least a 6x9 or maybe even a 7x10.. ugh.. already dreading what that is going to cost. Anyway, this space looks way more finished now. Just need to change out the light fixture. I am thinking this one will work (though I know I can find if for way cheaper) to tie in a metal accent. We also desperately need some color, maybe some fun window treatments or a colorful rug down the road.

Now that this space is "finished" and by finished I mean, finished for now, I think we can hold off getting a table for a little while. I am all about spending a little bit of money to change the way a space feels to make it fit our (my) style and living with it until we can save up some money to make the big purchases that we really want, in this case a really nice table, chairs, and a large area rug. But seriously, what a difference! Check out this before and after: