A Quick Farmhouse Dining Nook Update

While I desperately want to take my time decorating this house (and I am, in some ways) there are a few furniture pieces that are going to be custom (aka long lead times) that I really need to get going on (our green living room sofa being another). Today is about the dining nook up in the corner. She is a tight little corner that we already use a lot, but the plan was always to have a built-in banquette that would be inviting but simple, almost like that restaurant booth at a bar in the corner. I would say that right now we eat dinner here 3-4 times a week (sharing the schedule with the kitchen island on late nights after sports when we are more rushed, special sunroom meals on Sundays and some Mondays, and movie meals most Friday/Saturday nights if we don’t eat out or go to a friend’s house). It’s also a great place to do future homework and the kids draw here a lot.

Here’s the corner that we are talking about. And in case you are wondering if I’ve come up with a solution for the walls/trim feeling unfinished, I have not and I’m still unhappy with it but am not going to make a move until I feel it’s the right one – read this post to get caught up on that. But as you can see, the height of the paneling will dictate the height of the back of the booth – which is 32″ (the scale of the room is big – high ceilings, big windows which make the paneling look small but its 12″ paneling).

For fun here’s a look at what this space looked like when we purchased it…

It’s still to me wild how much has changed and how much better it feels for our family.

With the layout of the living/kitchen, it was hard to squeeze in a dining table mostly because the fireplace dictated the center of the living room, aka the conversation area. So at times during the design process, we had a little dining table floating between the kitchen and living but it didn’t feel right. We then realized that if we built in this corner, we’d have the space to seat 4 – 6 (little ones) here. So that is why the door is slammed against the side of the kitchen.

The pocket door goes to the family room (and yes it’s tight) but when you are sitting here it feels good!

When we first moved in we used our IKEA tulip table here with four chairs and it was fine and helped us really get a sense of the space. It also confirmed that we liked sitting here, that it’s a good location from the kitchen and does feel cozy.

The IKEA table here is 40.5″ in diameter, so we are thinking a 30″x60″ oval table – making the pass-through space easier to navigate and easier to get in and out of.

Here’s more context – with the kitchen a total mess, but you get the idea (we shot this for the living room update shoot, but purposefully hid the kitchen while wanting to show you the relationship with the living room.

That hanging sconce is vintage from The Rejuvenation Vintage Collection and it’s incredible (see this post for more info). It was hung too high and to the left so it’s now been moved down.

You can see the relationship between the living room and the dining nook there – it’s definitely close enough.

So where are we now?

This was a few months ago, but we have made a teeny tiny bit of progress. I found a super cute farm table at a thrift store that was a much better scale for the interim (and we use the tulip table for sewing upstairs now).

Here it is. It gave us a better idea of what size would work. It’s 30″x48″ and we are hoping to add another foot onto the table, as an oval. I really need to get on designing it. I know that we will use Sunbrella on the cushion but unsure if we want a back cushion or just pretty wood with pillows or hanging slim cushions – again we don’t have a ton of space.

More to come obviously…but wanted to give you a quick farmhouse update while I had you. xx

*Pretty Photos by Kaitlin Green

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