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Canadian Bloggers Summer Home Tour {Plus our dining room reveal!}

I’m so excited to join an inspiring group of ladies today for the Canadian Summer Home Tour!
In Canada summer is lonnnnnggg awaited and around here so are our finished spaces!
Around This Little Estate we are constantly renovating our fixer upper. Last fall we took everything apart and we have been slowly putting things back together. Anyone who has ever tackled a renovation, big or small, knows that renos take love, care and TIME.
After a lot of waiting and months of eating picnics on the floors around here, I can’t wait to show you our recently finished dining room!
We are a family that loves to eat. We love to talk about eating, we like to cook home cooked food and we like to linger around the dinner table after eating. So, when we moved from the suburbs to the outskirts of town we knew we needed to renovate a space that was conducive to our eating habits.

We knew we needed a dining room.

In an open concept room however, a dining “room” isn’t exactly what you get. But we desperately wanted to create a dining space for our family. We did so by smashing down walls and more walls and more walls. 😉

The result is an open space in the middle of our home that perfectly fits our refinished dining room table and recovered chairs.

I had only hoped that we would one day have a space that could hold our seven foot table and by opening up the space we finally do!

In our new dining area we have ample space to maneuver around our dining table. Something that was so important to me. I wanted the room to flowwwwwww.
Our kids make sure there’s enough space by playing tag around it whenever they can — preferably at dinner time when they are suppose to be seated.

#momlife

 Our dining area is open to our living room and our (unfinished) kitchen. The kids dig that they can eat cereal from the table while watching morning cartoons and I love that our dining room table now doubles as an office, craft station and eating area.

We literally JUST finished this space. In fact, we still have some little odds and ends to finish, BUT, we will take any excuse to set a pretty table.

Around here, Monday dinners are good enough to celebrate!
When you have had your dining table covered with tools and dry wall dust for 9 months, you leap at the chance to celebrate the little things with a pretty meal together.

After being in the thick of DIY and renovations since 2007 (with our previous home) we realize a table free of clutter is an exciting opportunity to decorate and make things pretty.

However, we have learned that our budget ends up going to electrical things and dry wall things and there is limited leftover funds to decorate with.
But that doesn’t stop us.

We know that a simple grocery store bouquet displayed in a unique manner can add interest and drama to a table scape.
 

We also know that bringing natural elements in, like rocks collected from a beach vacation, is a pretty simple way to add a lot of interest to a table – without spending a penny!

To make a bigger impact with our bouquet we simply broke it up and placed singular blooms in vintage vases at staggered heights. Something so simple you can even get the kids involved in your summer table decorating.
To make sure our dining space is cozy and inviting we paired two wing back chairs on either end of the table. For those moments when we want to linger longer over dinner. 🙂
#ignorethedishes
We knew our space also needed a sideboard for housing helpful napkins to aid in children’s spills and to hold extra things.
This piece was one that I was happy to welcome into this space. It was one of the first pieces I transformed with paint and new pulls. You can see when it lived in our old family room as an entertainment unit by visiting HERE.

Our new dining area is one that we are just getting to enjoy sans dry wall dust. 😉 I cant wait to really break it in with an official dinner party!

Beyond that space we have our newly finished living room.
We are loving that we can watch Sunday’s game from the table now!
 
Or that we can all spread around the space and still feel together.

But best of all these pretty couches are staying finger print free because little ones are sometimes learning to stay seated when eating.
#sometimes
#Hallelujah
#itsthelittlethings

Tufted sofa source can be seen HERE.
You can see the whole living room reveal HERE.

We are loving having closed and open storage in an open concept space.
Where else are you going to hide all the kids toys!?

Incorporating furniture that also has storage was a must for us.
What’s hiding under there? Who knows!!
All I know is that in an open concept space, where family and stylish décor live as one, hidden storage is a life saver!
Now we are off to finish our kitchen so we can finally host our friends and family again!

Though, this girl, with the puppy dog eyes, insists that summers are best enjoyed outside with the grill full of mouth watering goodness.
This awesome summer weather and that look in her eyes is kinda convincing us too!
Summers are fleeting and we are planning on enjoying every square inch of this home, inside and out, finished or not!
I hope you enjoyed looking around today. We loved giving you a glimpse into what we were up to all winter long. 😉

Picture credit: Red Suitcase Photography

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  • Iris Watts
    June 27, 2016 at 1:18 pm

    Oh my goodness, how amazing is this entire space??!?!! I absolutely LOVE it all! Thanks for sharing it with us Bethany!

  • Christina @ TheDIYMommy.com
    June 28, 2016 at 3:39 pm

    What a GORGEOUS space, Bethany! I love how you've created a really defined dining room space. That light fixture is incredible! I love all the finishing work you've done – the shiplap and the ceiling beams are SO good.

  • Sherry Miser
    June 28, 2016 at 8:32 pm

    It looks fantastic!!! I know the feeling of living in construction. We have been in this house 4 years and we are always working on something.
    I am wondering where you got your light over the dining table? I am looking for a new light for over ours. We are in Grimsby (not far from Guelph) and find there is much less to choose from than the American blogs.

  • Jen @ RamblingRenovators
    July 5, 2016 at 2:24 am

    I'm a little late but just have to congratulate you on a beautiful dining room space! It's so warm and inviting and holds its own, even in your open concept space. Love the simple table decor too. Hope you enjoyed a good meal before you jumped back into the renovations!

  • Lincuden Cottage Life
    July 8, 2016 at 3:23 pm

    Hi Bethany! Wow! Absolutely gorgeous! I am a newbie blogger living on the East Coast and I am thrilled to see a Canadian group of Summer home tours! 😉
    Rebeca

  • Fall Home Tour {Canadian Blooggers Home Tour} | This Little Estate
    February 24, 2017 at 3:59 am

    […] #PLEASE   To welcome in fall, we traded in our summer beachy style SEE MORE HERE for rich emerald green, deep gold and arrays of blue. I love our DIY open shelving for […]

  • North East Factory Direct
    May 25, 2017 at 3:17 am

    Thanks for these outstanding pictures . These are really beautiful. thanks for sharing with us

  • Furniture Store Parker
    May 25, 2017 at 3:18 am

    What a beautiful home. It is so elegant, I love it!

  • zeelkitchens.com.au
    March 6, 2018 at 3:48 am

    I’m somewhat late however simply need to praise you on a delightful lounge area space! It’s so warm and welcoming and stands its ground, even in your open idea space. Love the straightforward table stylistic layout as well.