Thursday, September 15, 2011

Dining Room Redo on a Budget


My husband and I were lucky enough to receive a lovely dining room set from his grandmother when we moved into our home several years ago. It's the only formal room in our home and while I love the furniture and having a place to show off my china, crystal and silver, we're not really formal people.

This summer my mission was to "casualize" our dining room while allowing the furniture and our china, silver, and crystal to shine. And of course, I was on a tight budget!

Thank goodness for Home Goods and Whole Foods! I spent a grand total of $80 and reinvented my dining room table! I bought:
  • a pink and white indoor/outdoor table runner
  • 3 electric candles
  • a large hurricane style glass vase
  • green lentils and mung beans
  • Leaf PlaceTiles


I filled the vase with the mung beans and lentils to add some green to the pink of the table runner. The leaf tiles add just the right touch, plus I can fill them with zinia from my garden, or any other flowers. I love using the natural elements of the beans and leaves to soften the look of my dining room. These items allowed me to bring out the pinks and greens in my china and set a much more casual tone for my dinner guests.


In celebration of the new dining room, I served a delicious seafood stew from Food and Wine. I've made it several times now and the beauty of the dish is that the time consuming part can be made a day ahead. Then when your guests come over, just heat it up and add the seafood. The dish is impressive and you don't have to spend half of your evening in the kitchen!



I served it with grilled sourdough bread and made strawberry shortcake with fresh whipped cream for dessert.

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