Banquette Seating!

    I am so excited to share this before and after, mostly because I didn't make this, my dad did! A while back we had considered moving. Our house is small, we have a big family...need I say more. Well, the economy had other ideas and we discovered we couldn't sell our house at the price we needed. At first we were really disappointed but I am happy to say that the Lord used this circumstance to help us see how much we do have and we learned valuable lessons in gratitude. That all being said we knew that we needed to make a few changes to maximize the space we do have and live in every square inch! On our main floor we have an open kitchen, dining room and living room. In our dining area we have a sliding glass door that leads out back.

this isn't the best picture but you get the idea :)

     With the former arrangement, the dining room table was centered in this area making the space between the bar stools and the dining room table tight. I wistfully mentioned to my mom one day that it would be so nice to have a banquette so that we could move the table into the corner, have more storage, and more space. She right away said, "Oh, your dad could make those", and the rest is history!
 
     Here's how it all turned out:

  
   What he made are two individual benches that were both made the same exact size. We measured for the length first. The height is the same as the dining room chairs. I would love to have cushions made for them but after supper on the first night with them, I saw how dirty they got from the kids and I'm thinking that to wait a bit is not a bad idea.

 
  Now that the dining room table has been moved over, we need to move/re-center our chandelier, and tweak the wall decor. (The mirror was a redo that I will show you later). But, the transformation is huge for us! The tops to the benches have piano hinges on them and are great for storing my crock pot, cake stands and other kitchen items, saving me a trip to the basement. The kids love them too!

   

  Our goal to maximize our space is underway! We will win the space war! :) One project at a time! (OK so that  sounds kind of dramatic, but you get the idea)! Contentment is a journey that can only lead to happiness. I am glad to say, we are on that road!

 

                                - Jody

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