Dining Room Changes

First of all, I have to share a family milestone with you all...we officially had our last orthodontist appointment the other day!!! Yippee! I feel like I've spent half my life in that waiting room. Lol! My oldest needed braces a little late and my youngest needed them a little early, so they were in them at the same time. Luckily, they could schedule most of their appointments at the same time, but I still logged in countless hours there. Thank goodness they had THE most comfy leather sofas and a coffee bar in their waiting room to keep me company. Ha! I also read through countless books while waiting, so at least I accomplished something. :) My youngest actually needed braces twice (phase one, at the same time my oldest had them and phase two a couple of years later) So yes, we only have two kids, but paid for three sets of braces. ;) 

Anyway, they've had their braces off for awhile now, but we just finished up the last big retainer appointment. My 15 year old had one stubborn 12 year molar that hadn't come in yet and we've been waiting on it so they could make a new retainer to accommodate the new tooth and it finally appeared! So after about 8 years of braces and retainer appointments, I'm so glad to be done! :) I think there was only about a 6 month period during the last 8 years where we weren't going to regularly scheduled appointments. 

 Okay, here's the deal...every year in September, I take pics of my whole house in its "normal decor mode." Meaning I just photograph how everything looks on a regular basis, without any holiday decor. This helps tremendously in January after the holiday decor is put up and I'm trying to remember where all my "normal" decor went.

Then as usual, as soon as I get everything back in its proper place, I start switching things up. :)

This year, the dining room was the recipient of my constant changing mind. 

I didn't change too much, but it was still fun to pull out a few rarely used items. 

This side table pretty much stayed the same. That clock will always be one of my favorite purchases from Pier 1 and those pillows and slip covers from Walmart are still a favorite of mine. 

Here's a couple of wider shots... 

I moved the cake plate over to this kidney table and added a few pieces of my mom's crystal she recently gifted me. The rest of my mom's crystal and china is stored inside the kidney table. 

Here's a closer look at the crystal. It really doesn't do it justice. It's such a pretty pattern. 

Over on the sideboard, I added my sugar and creamer, along with my yellow soup tureen and the little caddy from Homegoods. I've had that soup tureen for years, but never displayed it until now. I kind of like the pop of yellow it adds to the dining room.

I love this caddy. I just filled it with some silverware, yellow napkins, and a few napkin rings. 

The foyer stayed exactly the same. Still loving the botanical prints. 

 Oh, and stay tuned because we have some exciting projects in the works. I think we're finally ready to start the subway tile backsplash in the kitchen and I just convinced my hubby to make me a shelving unit for the living room (which will cause another round of musical decor as I move things around to accommodate the new shelves) As usual, everything will be done on a budget with us doing all the work ourselves. :)

~Lisa