Before

Have you ever had a space in your home that JUST DOESN’T WORK?  I did — my breakfast area.

This space in my home is so small that it was impossible to find a table that works there.  In addition to that, there was a small desk in the area that, if you put a breakfast table in the actual breakfast area, you would not be able to use the desk.  I’m sure a Chick did not design this house. (I’m sorry, Dudes.  Just sayin’.)

Before

I had been thinking about what I could do in this area to make it more usable.  I have always loved the look of a breakfast nook with benches, and had been thinking about having benches built in around a table, but put if off, trying to figure out how to work around the oddly shaped bay window and what to do with the desk.  If I took it out and put a bench there, I would require a very strangely shaped table.

However, sometimes other eyes need to be involved to help you plan.  Those eyes were Glee’s.  She suggested I that I DID put a breakfast nook in that area and we discussed how it might work.  And that’s all it took.

Before -- I tried out some ottomans to see if I would like the look around the table

So, we measured and “figured” what it would take.  As I said, I didn’t want to completely remove the desk, because then the side bench would sit back too far away from the others.  It would be weird.  So, I decided to keep the desk, the open cabinet above it, and the granite countertop and just “work with it.”

I would bring in a table I had in storage that in the past did not fit well into that area.  I would have to refinish the table, since it was really ratty.  I would change out the legs (since the original ones are “flared”) and use “decking posts” because regular legs would be too spindly and measly for the size of this table.  I would stain the table and the legs with Mahogony wood stain with polyurethane to give it a fancy “sheen.”  I would lightly sand it with very fine sand paper between each coat of stain and I would use three coats.

We would hire our handman guy to build and paint the storage benches.  I would also have him make my desk into a butler’s pantry, and connect the shelves above it with other shelves to put my 85 Starbucks mugs, a wine rack and a place for my telephone.

After

I would also have the drawers of the desk moved to the side so that I can store my placemats, and another drawer to be used as a filed drawer for the massive amounts of paper that comes into this house, including tax stuff:

The final touch would be the zebra print cushions.  Ohhhhh yeahhhhhh…..

After

After

Can I say, “LOVE IT?!” Yes, I can. And I do everyday!

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