January 29, 2014

dining room updates

I've been meaning to tell you, my mom is a genius. Of course I knew this already, but let me just share with you her latest example of genius-ness.


I am generally happy with my dining room and the church pew works like a charm to corral the girls during dinner but there was one small problem with the layout. When anyone over the age of 16 sat at the pew, they had a good chance of knocking their head against the mirror before dessert was served.


So often I would blather to my mom on the phone about wanting to put something behind the bench to create a bit of breathing room between guests and the big O (that would be the mirror, not Oprah). A console would be perfect, but I can't find a console that is as long as the bench and isn't thousands of dollars. Blah blah blah. It was probably around this point in the conversation that my mom would tell me she had to go so she didn't have to listen to this conversation...yet again.


Then we were downstairs (pre-family room makeover) and she said, "What about this console for behind the pew?" Uh, that's not long enough mom, duh. And it's too deep. To which the smarty pants said, "not if you cut it in half."

Mind blown.


I should clarify that this woman is a furniture lover of the first degree and doesn't normally condone furniture mutilation. But this particular piece was a random HomeGoods buy (we all have a few of those around the house) and is by no means precious.

So of course I took that sucker outside as quickly as I could, measured to find the exact middle of the table and asked the hubs to buzz that sucker in half. We kept the tape down as he cut to prevent any splitting and in no time flat I had myself one. long. console.

Although each side of the now super long console still had two legs to hold it up, it was a bit wobbly. To remedy this we just screwed each side of the console into the wall to hold it in place and we were done.


So nothing earth shattering but now all of my dinner guests can enjoy themselves without bonking their head in the middle of an animated story. (we host a lot of animated storytellers at our house). And really I'm a fan of little updates to a room. It feeds my constant appetite for change without chucking a room and starting over again every few months ($$$$$$)




The runner is a temporary one I made from fabric leftovers and extra ribbon. It will hang out until I find a more permanent replacement one day.





What about you? Do you make a lot of little changes around the house to pacify the 'itch'? Ever cut a piece of furniture in half? I'm willing to rent my mom out to anyone who needs her, although maybe I should ask her first.

40 comments:

  1. I do make a lot of little changes too. Love this idea and it looks awesome too!

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  2. Your mom IS a genius. What a great way to use what you have in an even more efficient way. Can you tell me where the runner on your dining table is fun? It looks fab with its stripes and fringe.

    And, yes, small changes are a must to temporarily satisfy the "itch". Not every week can be consumed with soup-to-nuts renovations or decorating projects (even though I'd probably love it...).

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  3. such a fab idea! I love the legs on that piece. Are you going to put the other half back in the basement?

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  4. The room looks great & your Mom is a smartie!

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  5. You're mom is quite the smarty pants!! I'm in need of a console and have always thought about the half table thing...definitely feeling motivated!!

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  6. Elizabeth, I just adore your dining room. Your mom is brilliant! Perfect solution!

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  7. Congratulations to your Mom for her GREAT idea, and to you for following up on it! Just perfect now for your dining room, visually and functionally excellent change! And I love the runner too:)

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  8. No that IS earth shattering! These kind of projects are exactly what make goo design in my opinion. So smart...cheers to your mom- fix her a gin and something quick!

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  9. What a perfect solution! I actually love that it only has legs in the front so that you can get it flush with the wall (which sometimes doesn't happen when you have legs hitting baseboards). Such a beautiful room!

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  10. Your Mom sounds like my Mom. Providing me with brilliant ideas every day (and listening to my complaints)! A few qualities of the best mamas. Love how that turned out. And the itch to change things is NEVER ENDING for me. You struck gold not even having to leave the house to make this change!

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  11. what a great solution! Sometimes I think we need to look at things in a different way before buying something new...and it always helps to have another pair of eyes - your dining room is lovely!

    Cheryl @ The Creative Me and My McG

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  12. Love this. Your momma is one smart lady!
    Keya

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  13. Brilliant!!!!!! Mothers know everything!!!!!

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  14. I'm pretty sure your Mother is a genius! It looks fantastic behind the pew!

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  15. Ok, your mom's a TOTAL genius! May I borrow her?! Love love love where this room's at.
    xoxo

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  16. Your mom is, as we say in Boston, "supah smaht"! Gotta love a free solution to an annoying problem!

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  17. OMG Your mum is a total genius!! That is an AWESOME idea! Love it, so creative! :) *looks around room for something to cut in half* xxx

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  18. Oh my gosh your mom is a genius!! This is so so good! Great solution and it looks perfect!

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  19. I think your mom is related to a friend of mine. My friend had an incredibly beautiful bedroom set, however, she didn't like the dresser as it was really too large for the room it was in. She came up with the idea of cutting it in half! I was dumbfounded and thought she was going to ruin this wonderful piece of real wood furniture. The guy she had do it was super talented and when "both" pieces were returned, it looked as though they had come out of the store like that ~ simply perfect! The style, the finish all of it. Two perfect chests. These 2 ladies have a smart gene that I don't have! :)

    Your console looks wonderful ~ love the room!

    xo
    Pat

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  20. oooh I love it. What a great solution! Mom is the bomb:) Love your dining room, by the way!!!

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  21. Looks great! Wanting something but it is thousands of dollars…story of my life!

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  22. You're right! Your Mom is a genius! Brilliant.

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  23. It's official. Your mom is a genius. You know what else is genius? That chandelier. Love, want, need.
    I have so much to do in our house that little changes aren't allowed. I need big changes for the sake of my sanity.

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  24. Nice dining room. I love the paint color. I hve a blue dining room as well. I'm constantly making small changes to switch things up. If I leave these the same for too I get bored. Even though my dining room is blue I treat it as a neutral when changing things around.

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  25. Genius!! Your Mom is a superstar! I absolutely love that paint colour too on the walls and that collage of plates just pop nicely. Pretty space.

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  26. Great update! And you're right, if you would've bought it, it would've been crazy expensive for a piece that long. It looks amazing, and I'm with you on the little updates--they keep things feeling good without costing a fortune!

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  27. Such a brilliant idea! Aren't Mom's the BEST?!

    XOXO,
    The Glam Pad

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  28. i must admit i m never crazy about placing pieces right around the walls of the space and in yo dining room i thought it wasnt working as well....but now, with added console behind the bench i think it makes it wonderful and proportional to the room. i still think the table is a bit too small for the room:) btw-do not change the runner-it is perfect style and neutral color and material is very country so it goes nicely there

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  29. Looks amazing girl! As usual, I'm lusting over your drapes. XO

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  30. I wanted to say, "BOOM!" while reading your mom's one liner. Hah!

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  31. Brilliant! I love the solution and everything about the room!

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  32. Brilliant! That is one smart mama you've got. I just love moms, they always know what to do.

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  33. Mind blown! Love it! Arn't mom brilliant? My does the same thing to me... Love the way it pulls the bench into the room to center your table more!

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