dining room table set

Ever since we finished the island in our kitchen with beadboard and painted it white, we have known that our old dining set would either have to go or get re-painted.  My parents bought me the original set as a graduation gift when I first moved to Nebraska nearly ten years ago! I still love it, but the legs of the table and the chairs were cream and it clashed really badly with the bright white island.

I have been on the lookout for a new dining room set for well over a year and we visited multiple local stores countless times with no success.  The reason for the difficult search was that I was not willing to settle on my list of criteria. Not only did it have to fit in our awkward little dining room, it had to have: turned legs {the most important}, x-back chairs, dark distressed wood, sturdy, comfortable, not too formal but also not too casual, affordable, and more seating ability {our last table only held four and just looked too small for the space}.  See my dilemma?

However, a few weeks back, we {actually the husband} spotted a set we both loved and the best part was the price!  Okay – actually the best part was that we agreed on something.  The dark wooden table and six chairs were actually less than some tables alone that we were looking at and it reminds me exactly of the Pottery Barn Montego set {which they no longer sell} which was a major contender or the Hayden set.  Another great feature was that I actually loved the chairs {not a huge fan of the leather seats but they are ideal for the cats and guarantee no food stains}.  There are signs it is mass produced, but I don’t think we could have asked for a better value – especially for the great design and overall look!

We also ended up with the wooden buffet which includes a built in wine rack – another bonus!  Not only will it store our wine but can hold quite a bit of extra dishes, etc. freeing up our valuable cupboard space in the kitchen.  These photos are a little dark but I couldn’t wait around for better lighting to post.

And great news for those not in Nebraska that don’t have Nebraska Furniture Mart nearby – you can buy the dining set here!

The dining room still has a little ways to go.  I need to get some new wall art for above the buffet, and we may have to switch out the rug at some point {those white stripes are looking a little rough}.  Once I sell our old set on Craig’s List, I plan to look for wing back chairs for the ends or some other solid linen-colored fabric chairs.  The table has a leaf {which is actually stored within the table – love!} and we will put three x-back chairs on each side with the wing chairs on each end – ultimately being able to seat eight!  Good news since my family is coming in for Thanksgiving.  You can find these images of the mixed chair look plus some chairs I am looking at on my dining Pinterest board:

All in all, the table, chairs, and buffet were less than one Pottery Barn table that we almost bought a year ago. You can’t go wrong with that! This wooden dining room set just fills the space so much better and helps it feel like its own little room rather than just being an afterthought to the kitchen. I think its safe to say we are both in love!

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