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Zen Dining Space | DIY Table

This past Fall we had a lot of fun refreshing our dining space. As shared in a previous post, this kitchen/dining area was probably the most challenging and time consuming renovation project we worked on. Mainly because it has a larger space that other projects we completed but also there were a lot of different major projects within it, from tiling the floor, to wall painting, and the hardest task of it all- refurbishing the kitchen's original cabinets. Check out that renovation project from our previous post at link here.


Now that the space was completely renovated, we needed to finish it up with furniture and decors, in a thoughtful way. Besides quite a few annual work trips that often last for weeks, when I am here I often come home very late from work and just quickly have dinner on the couch. We have been consciously trying to spend more quality time here in the dining room together as a family, and eat properly. To make this space as relaxing and refreshing as possible, we decided to go with a Zen theme, filling it with a lot of plants and other natural materials. 


Ales made the dining table from solid pine wood. It was such a fun project. The table design seemed very simple at first but it was challenging to construct. Ales had to tried a few different ways to put the pieces together, after 2 or 3 attempts, we finally have a sturdy and beautiful DIY table.


All the decor pieces bring the natural elements to complete this space. We added tall Bird of Paradise plants from the garden. I have a lot of luck with Bird of Paradise plants, I bought 3 small plants a couple years ago and they have been growing and popping up new plants since then. They also do great indoor where there is  a good level of natural light, so they are perfectly happy here in the dining room right next to the windows. A set of rattan dining chairs, a large recycled glass vase and a low hanging bamboo pendant light fixture completed the look.


To make these dining chairs comfortable seats, I was looking forever for soft fuzzy cushions but could not find any at a reasonable price. I finally got this solved with outdoor cushions (on super clearance price at Pier 1) and fuzzy pillow covers from Amazon. There you go, beautiful, comfortable fuzzy cushions at super value. Eggy approves and loves these fuzzy seats!


We are very happy with how this space has become. It is our favorite space in the house!


Sharing pictures of the process below. Enjoy!

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This was how the dining area looked initially when we got this house.


Some pictures from the renovation, see a full post on kitchen/dining room renovation here.




DIY Dining Table:

Selecting wood panels at Lowe's (only took 4 hours, not kidding LOL)


Making the table!


We're getting there!


Went to IKEA with our finished panel to see how it looks compared to their natural wood finish (which I love!)


Went to At Home with our wood finished panel to get an idea on what type of chair would fit the table. Decided that black chairs would look lovely and bought black painted rattan chairs from Amazon. :)


Finishing up the table



Stained!




Getting the light up!


Searched the Internet for days for fuzzy dining cushions and could not find anything cute at reasonable price. So I got a bunch of Pier 1's outdoor cushions on sale & fuzzy pillow covers from Amazon. Problem solved!


Eggy approved fuzzy seats!


Final looks!








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