Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Our Dining Room


My husband and I recently moved into our very first apartment together. Slowly but surely, we have been buying and decorating different spaces of the room. Our dining room is unusually large for an apartment, so I knew I wanted to get a nice table we could take with us to the next place. Like most things I buy, I mixed expensive with budget friendly pieces. Scroll down to see where I bought the items in this room, and ideas for saving while decorating.

Elements in this Room (Splurge vs. Save) 

1. Table (Splurge)- This was the first piece we bought for this room, and we knew it was where we wanted to spend the most money. The table was pretty expensive, but we felt like this was a good investment in our home, and would last a long time. Plus, it has a removable leaf to make the table bigger or smaller depending on the room size. The picture above is with the leaf in. You can find the table here.
2. Chairs (Splurge)- This was the next piece we bought for our room. Eventually we will want to get 2 more chairs at either end. I think we are going to go with chairs that have a taller back, and a different fabric to bring a different dimension into the room. These chairs are not only beautiful but extremely comfortable. Downside, they are white, so you have to be extremely careful. We felt like these were a great buy. Plus, living spaces, offers 0% financing for a year if you spend over a certain dollar value!!

3. Hurricanes (Save)- I feel like hurricanes are such a great investment for any house! You can dress them up for the holidays, or add candles to them year around. They add a warmth to our table, that we didn't have otherwise. I found that these crate and barrel options were reasonably price comparatively, and will last a long time. For a more expensive option, Pottery Barn has these and these.

4. White Curtains (Save)- I found these for $20 at Home Goods and couldn't have been happier! I like that they are a different texture and go with the design of the carpet. I would recommend Home Goods everyday for their curtain selection, very inexpensive and great quality!!

5. Rug (Save)- Can you believe this rug is from Target!? I have always been a huge Target fan for clothes and pretty much everything else, but in the last year or so they have really stepped up their home furnishings department and I couldn't be happier! Our friends got us this rug for as a wedding gift, and I am already looking to get another for our living room! This piece was definitely the final piece to complete our dining room look! You can find other colors of this rug here.


6. Silver Chargers & Napkins- We registered for these chargers for our wedding. I love these because they make our table look great and dressed up every day! The chargers are no longer on Pottery Barn's website, but others I recommend are herehere and here.

7. Silver Mirrors (Semi- Splurge)- We found these at Z- Gallerie (Gosh, I love that store), and I knew immediately that I had to have them. My husband hates the look of mirrors, but i convinced him that these would go perfectly in our dining room! I am still thinking of maybe doing something on either side of the mirrors, but when is a room ever complete, right?

8. Flower Arrangement (Save)- Made by me at Michaels. Blog post to come on how I made that. Way cheaper to make your own than try to buy. I searched for months and months looking for a reasonably priced arrangement, and just couldn't find I liked.

Ways I recommend saving when decorating your dining room:

1. Be patient- This is really hard for me, but I have found I find better priced items if I wait and search until the right thing comes up.
2. Don't be afraid to explore your creative side, and make things yourself.
3. Use Coupons- I love Crate and Barrel, Target and Pottery Barn, but I rarely buy things at full price or in store. Online always has better prices and usually you can google coupon codes for savings.
4. Mix and Match expensive and low priced items.

Heres more from our dining room:


Xoxo, Alysia

2 comments:

  1. Love this! The splurge/save details are great, your room is splendidly elegant, and A+ for such a classy and fun flower arrangement! Xoxo~Emmi

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  2. Emmi! So great to hear from you :) Thanks for the kind words! Hope all is well :)

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