Rustic Farmhouse Dining Room on a Budget |

About 4 years ago when we were moving into and decorating our first home, I really had my heart set on a certain dining room table, but it was way out of our budget (Restoration Hardware Trestle Table). After months of saving my tutoring money and researching online for cheaper options, my sweet husband found a couple in Alabama who would build me my dream table (and it was affordable!). Fast forward 4 years, and the market is now saturated with these types of tables and people all over building them, so I am sure it would be easier to find one today. It is the center of our dining room.

We purchased our table from Simply Southern Home Decor. I do wish that it was wider (so we can fit our plates and serving trays), and longer (but our original dining room was shorter and we did not have room). And now that I have kiddos, I wish I would have gotten one that didn’t have grooves, or that I had the grooves filled in with clear caulk (I may still do this) so food will not get stuck. I do love how it is stained and finished, so it is super easy to clean, and I am not afraid it is going to get messed up. The sweet couple actually made the table twice because the first time the stain wasn’t exactly what I had communicated (it was more gray). They have since updated their website, and their prices and they have more options available, if you want to purchase a table similar from them. The chairs were a great deal from Ashley furniture for $100 a piece. I wanted tufted chairs and I may change them out one day, but had trouble finding some that were in our budget and had a similar color wood legs.

you can find the rug at Target, here. One day we would love to replace the floors with wood-look tile. The white curtains pictured are my favorite. They are from IKEA and I love them for multiple reasons: price, length, versatility. They are literally hanging in 5 rooms in our house.

You can see the beautiful table legs here. I was so excited the Ashley chairs matched perfectly!

For months I kept scouring Craigslist and garage sales looking for a dresser I could convert into a buffet. We found this beautiful Broyhill dresser (and night stand) for $150 dollars at a garage sale a couple years ago. I used Lowe’s brand chalk paint and bought some new knobs from Target to dress it up. The lamps are from Marshall’s. Funny story, when I was looking at the lamps I was a week away from giving birth to our second and our first was 17 months old. I was trying to keep him happy (with snacks of course) while shopping and went to pick up a lamp to see how much it costs and ended up breaking one. I felt horrible, and asked to pay for it. Somehow, by God’s grace I ended up walking out there paying less than the ticket price for two lamps.

Dresser turned buffet, DIY with chalk paint from Lowe’s and knobs from Target

The beautiful arch mirror is from Kirklands (one of my favorite places to buy decor, and I love that they often email coupons or you can download the spin to win app for deals). The shutters on either side are also a Kirklands purchase.

Pictures take by Kate Miller, Madeline Trent, and Micaela Dougan. The color of the wall is Sherwin Williams Repose Gray.

I love collage walls (maybe too much). My sweet Mama bought me all of these frames at Kohl’s for my birthday about 3 years ago. The lovely pictures are taken by Kate Miller and Madeline Trent.

I’ve had a dream of framing generations of wedding pictures. I need to get a hold of our grandparents’ wedding pictures so I can frame them, too. But for now, we have our parents and ours as well as our vows hanging in our dining room. The vows, a present to my husband on our first wedding anniversary, are a wonderful reminder for both of us of the promises we made to each other {almost} 5 years ago.