Dining Room Design for Less

My sister in law, Lindsay, moved to Louisville a few months ago from New York City, and we could not be more pleased to have her so close to us!  She is one of my best friends in the world, so it's just a bonus that we get to hang out during family vacations with the Kochs:)  Last month she moved into her new apartment, and we have been brainstorming about how she wants to decorate it.  Since she came from a tiny NY apartment, she moved here with just a little furniture of her own, so we get to start from scratch and (of course) hunt for some good deals!

One major purchase she's been planning on making is a dining room table, and after checking out some options at Restoration Hardware that she liked, she figured she would probably end up investing close to a thousand dollars on a new one.  Before she took the plunge, though, I offered to look around at some of our local antique warehouses to see if I could find something close to the look, but for less, and yesterday I hit the pavement on the hunt for just the right thing. 

She knew she wanted something good quality, with classic lines and a little rustic-- but not as far as a straight farmer's table look.  Here is one of the Restoration Hardware picks she made:

Restoration Hardware

After hours of searching and not finding much with either the right price tag or the right look, I checked out the clearance section of one of the warehouses-- and stumbled on this table.  The color of the wood is frankly a little homely in person, which is probably why it's on clearance, but it's a well made, sturdy table with some decent detailing and two extra leaves.  And the best part is that since it's been sitting there a while, it cost us $65.  No joke.  For the whole table.

To freshen it up and give it an updated look we're going to paint it, although I'm not exactly sure what color we'll use yet.

House Beautiful

Traditional Home

Rue Magazine

Just Perfect

For projects like this one, I love Rustoleum's line of oil based enamels.  This stuff covers so well and resists chipping and scratching like no latex paint could.  So if we can find a color we like in their lineup, we'll do it-- otherwise we can have regular oil based paint tinted a custom color at Home Depot.

What a happy find, don't you think?? And now she has all that extra money to spend on dining room chairs:)

xo

Liza