breakfast nook before & after

I've blogged about how much I love our little breakfast nook. The two bay windows in our home are some of my favorite features. Here's how it looks about a year ago when we got our new table in place, but before we got our buffet table over in that empty space to the left ...

Backstory: Chad and I purchased a black table & chairs set for $100 from WalMart when we got married for a small corner in our big kitchen at our old home (my dad's house we inherited and lived in for 7 years after he passed away). The kitchen table set was tiny enough for the space, yet just what we needed. When we moved into our new home sweet home my mother in law said they were buying a bigger table for their dining space and would give us their round solid oak table. SWEET! Except she knew the oak wouldn't match our kitchen, so she took it upon herself to slave over painting this table and making it oh-so-Pinterest-worthy. Seriously. She is amazing. 

The black chairs we had matched fine, so we just paired that with it for the time being and she said she would work on painting the chairs later .... (after I pleaded for her to just let me paint them myself, yet she insisted and you do not argue with your mother-in-law :) This just goes to show if you buy styles with clean lines and that you LOVE (aka I did love the $100 Wal Mart set. I really did) then you can incorporate into whatever decor you have and be happy with it no matter what.

Just before Christmas we added a gorgeous buffet table my interior design friend Sarah found for us + the Paris chalkboard from Ballard Designs to fill the empty space!

So from the very beginning, here's my inspiration post for our breakfast nook when we first moved in.

Now here's how it looks today! (ok, well the weekend of my sister's shower 9/25/16...)

my mother in law painted the oak chairs that matched the set, recovered the cushions with remnant fabric I purchased for a steal from the Williamston Fabric Sale and we can. not. thank her enough!

We love it.  The jute round rug was a Pottery Barn Outlet steal for $50 bucks. Not even joking.

I'd love to do roman shades in a fun floral fabric one day, but for now it's just not a necessity. I may not even want to cover up any of that natural light that pours in through those big windows. 

Amazing to me how simply switching the chairs brightened the space up so much more. Thankful for old pieces turned new and a breakfast nook to enjoy many meals & memories with our boys!