New Year, Fresh Start

This weekend our family was blessed with a new kitchen table and chairs.  Ben and I had been on the lookout for a larger table (funny how our old one kept shrinking...) but we hadn't found anything we really liked.  I wanted a table with character, something with a bit of history behind it.

Long story short, my best friend from childhood wanted to sell her parents' oak dining room set.  She wondered if anyone in Calgary might be interested?  What perfect timing! Our family was thrilled to give the table and chairs a loving new home!

The table seats eight and came with six chairs.  It's about 20 years old and, all things considered, is in fabulous shape.  The style is simple, with clean lines.  (My friend describes it as Shaker style.)  The chairs are upholstered and I plan to recover them in something child friendly (i.e. stain-proof).  We will continue to use our bench along one side of the table.

I think our newly revamped dining area has inspired me.  I spent most of this afternoon and evening cleaning and re-organizing the kitchen cupboards.  The space is now totally optimized!  I rearranged a few things and created a great new place for the kids' craft supplies, and de-cluttered all those "catch all" hiding spaces.  

I suspect Ben caught the productivity bug as well.  He set up our old table in the basement, rearranged some boxes, wired new lighting, and set up a little crafting corner for me!  What a great guy!  I'm just itching to get downstairs tomorrow to organize my new space.