Little Change, Big Impact

I woke up this morning with a whole new spring in my step. We have been a bit nuts lately with commitments and this past weekend marked the last of the major projects and parties. Not that we don’t enjoy all of it, but you it’s nice to take a long deep breath and just exhale for a moment. Speaking of, we were cleaning up after the birthday bonanza weekend and a light bulb went off with regards to our dining room. Do you ever make a little change and feel the effects in a major way?

So here is the back story. We had a bench in this room {under the window} and we would always pull it up to the table when Grammy and Papa joined us for dinner. The two children always sat on it. Well for the last few dinner parties, those same two children bickered and fought because the bench is getting wobbly and one {who shall remain unnamed} sibling thought it was pretty darn funny to rock the bench the entire dinner. Needless to say sibling #2 was enraged. SO the bench is gone! And we just grab two stools from elsewhere in the house when G & P come for dinner.

The reason this is so great is because as soon as I ditched the bench, I realized the bar cart was much better suited by the French doors. Holy smokes has this changed our room. I don’t think you could fully appreciate it unless you have dined with us. It’s tight spot and with a bar cart directly behind the table before, someone was always scootching to accommodate someone walking by. Now we have so much more breathing room and the bar cart will be much better suited to entertaining in it’s new spot.

On a daily basis, this bar cart gets used all the time because we keep the children’s crayons, pencils and art supplies on the bottom shelf. They use it daily as they work on homework at our dining room table. I have always been a fan of having the children close at hand while I get things done in the kitchen. And it makes it easier if they need my help with a homework problem.

I also keep a set of white dishes on the cart and now this pretty vase {thanks to the BGH team}.

And this is often the spot that I will blog from. Or at the very least I will do my meal planning and list making from this very spot over coffee in the morning. I like to have the French doors open and enjoy the peace and quiet before the day gets crazy. They always do!

One of the best additions to this room years ago, was this buffet from Home Goods. I love having extra dishes and serving pieces readily available. I keep a stack of white cloth napkins for when we entertain as well as the kids homework boxes. When you live in a smaller home, I firmly believe that hidden storage is the enemy. It think it can lead to a lot of “stuffing” and “hiding” which eventually leads to out of sight, out of mind. I like that I can see what I have and if it starts to get messy. . . it’s in plain view and time to pick up.

So a tiny change over here has made a huge impact and for that I am very grateful. Can’t wait to have a little dinner party and see how much better this space functions. To see how we had the room before, head on over here.

I hope you have a great start to your week.

Sources:  table || chandelier || artwork || bar cart || similar chairs || buffet from Home Goods