I poked my head into blogland today and heard about the Home Love contest at Fashion for Home (thanks Kimberly!) where you show your favourite spot in your home and the prize of £500 to spend at their online store is very tantalizing indeed, so thought I’d enter (nothing to lose!).
For the contest, I am submitting my dining room, which has been a real labour of love in every sense of the phrase. Lots of labour and lots of love (and a teensy budget). Now that the labour part is over, there is just lots of love for the room.
My favourite room!
This room connects to the living room, the kitchen and the stairs, so it is pretty much the central hub of the home. For me, it is buzzing with creative energy while also perfectly fitting into the happy, relaxed and eclectic style that personifies my hubby and me. A mix of old and new, everything has been acquired over time from different places including an antiques saleroom, a local art and craft fair, even a flea market in Amsterdam, with a few items from retail stores.
The painting sitting behind the Dutch vases on the bookcase (below) is a reproduction of Edward Hopper’s Capron House (1933). I painted it just to see if I had any talent with a paintbrush. 
My proudest creative endeavour is making over the vintage pine farmhouse table and chairs set which came from an auction house, complete with knocks and dents. I love how deep the table is – it makes it very social and we can fit up to 8 people around it at a squeeze. The original finish wasn’t quite our style though, so I got to work on it, staining the table dark and painting the chairs a lovely pale stone colour.
Yup, that’s me getting down and dirty.
When we put the room together, it was just for me and hubby. Now we have a little boy and he seems to be enjoying the room as much as the grownups do! And no childproofing required for the solid old furniture – any knocks he (inevitably) adds will simply add to the character and memories.
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What is your favourite spot or room in your home?
