A New Table + The Dining Room Before & Afters!

We got ourselves a new dining room table! When we shared the before and afters of our kitchen renovation, so many of you wanted to see how the rest of the great room worked into the new kitchen, specifically the dining room since they are so close in proximity. At the time, we were in the process of finalizing a new dining table, and I felt our old dining room table would detract from the new kitchen, so I held off sharing a pulled back view. But today we finally get to share those photos and details--our new kitchen has a new dining table to go with it and they complement each other so well.

Our last dining room set we bought for our first apartment when we were first married nearly 7 years ago. Although it was in terrible shape when we sold it last week, it held a lot of memories and lasted through 4 different moves. I would never recommend buying a dark, incredibly smooth dining room table to anyone--especially anyone with kids--but we were naive at the time. Here's how it looked in this home when we first moved in:

And here's how the space looks today:

After a long search, stretching over several months, we finally landed on the 91" Blu Dot Branch Dining Table from AllModern and we really really love it so much! When we were searching for a new dining room table, there were a few main must haves for us:

1. It had to be narrow. Our previous dining room table was 42" W x 82" L (when extended). Pretty standard, but it felt too wide for us and cramped the kitchen a little. Our new table is 34"W x 91"L. (Restoration Hardware has a few tables with a 36" W that were on our short list, but the price points were all so high to check off the rest of our must-haves, and the raw finishes concerned me at times.)

2. Something lighter in color. Having come off years of fighting every scratch on a dark table, when we first set out on our search we didn't know if that looked like some sort of stone or lighter wood, but light was the name of the game. We knew that we didn't want it to compete with the neighboring black walnut island countertop, so we decided on something closer to the floor color. This table is almost a perfect match.

3. Kid-proof. Do those exist? Well, turns out they do, but they aren't very pretty. In fact, they're plastic and probably say "Little Tikes" somewhere on it. BUT! I'm happy to report, this table is really close. On AllModern's site, it said the top was solid Oak and the legs were powder coated steel--which is a great combination. But, when it arrived, the Oak top definitely has some sort of super hard, waterproof wax coating on it. It's amazing! Indestructible? Knock on all the oak. (It did just go through its first party with 100+ guests like a champ.)

4. Seating for 8+. Here comes the part when I blab on again about how often we have a group of people over. We have 4 seats at the island, and we currently have 8 chairs at the table, but it can fit 10. Needless to say, we're in entertaining heaven.

Back to those powder-coated steel legs, the branch shape is so cool and simple, discreet even, and a little quirky--which we like mixing into our modern traditional aesthetic. Besides the table, the beige shell chairs (from here) we've had for over a year and still look brand new (!!), but these modern black windsor chairs we purchased over the summer and they are the cherries on top.

I wanted something a little taller with a hint of traditional for the host chairs, and these play so well with the shell chairs. I especially love how the Windsor chairs pick up the black detailing in the shell chairs.

As for the space between the dining room and kitchen? There's plenty now. Room for Charly to lay and  eat scraps from both sides as they fall. Don't let that face fool you--she's thrilled.

And really, so are we. Before our party, we also got the pantry done (post soon!) and maybe I'm just exhausted or overjoyed or finally feeling like I'm home, but seeing these spaces transform into something we only dreamed of two years ago--it's emotional. (I'm probably exhausted haha) It's so much more than a table and chairs, it's the people we share it with proudly, including you.

Sources: Table | Black Chairs | Shell Chairs | Chandelier;  Sonneman Tempo Wide Rubbed Bronze Chandelier (originally from Lamps Plus, but is no longer on their site)