SMALL BREAKFAST NOOK TABLE

 

SMALL BREAKFAST NOOK TABLE- How to use what you have and turn it into something you want!

Our breakfast nook is a small area sandwiched between our kitchen and family room. It’s cozy and relaxed with an upscale farmhouse feel. The round handmade farm table, four chairs, and a little side table make up all the furniture in the nook. You have seen the table and chairs so many times but because of its placement, the little farmhouse style side table gets hidden. It’s really too bad it’s always hiding because it is one of my favorite pieces of furniture.

SMALL BREAKFAST NOOK TABLE- How to use what you have and turn it into something you want!

The little table was once a golden oak 1990’s sofa table that I painted and now I use for a small sideboard of sorts. This was the very first piece of furniture I ever painted. It was way before I learned about chalk-type paints. I sanded it down and mixed my own colors using samples of latex paint. I had no idea what I was doing!

I wanted the table to look old and kinda crusty but really I had no idea what I was doing! I’m like that. Always getting involved in projects that I think I can do.

My mantra is “how hard can this be”. Let me tell you… sometimes it can be very hard!

So I painted and blended and rubbed and dry brushed and sanded and antiqued and waxed. Working like crazy but not knowing at all how to paint a piece of furniture with my how-hard-can-it-be attitude.

SMALL BREAKFAST NOOK TABLE- How to use what you have and turn it into something you want!

The top of the table and the bottom shelf were stained black. Again, not a clue what I was doing… just “doing” anyway!

SMALL BREAKFAST NOOK TABLE- How to use what you have and turn it into something you want!

This table gets such a workout! It sits under a very sunny window looking out onto our porch and patio. The hen lamp as been with me for decades. I found her in a small shop near Washington DC. It no longer is in business! And even though my love of hens and roosters flew away about 15 years ago she remains.  She is a staple on this table. She rules the roost here perched on a stack of books on a squatty stool!

However, the items on the top of the small sideboard change often with my whim. 

SMALL BREAKFAST NOOK TABLE- How to use what you have and turn it into something you want!

The bleeding hearts are blooming on the side of StoneGable, so it was time to bring some in. I planted them several years back because they remind me of my grandmother. She had bleeding hearts in her yard and I loved them so as a girl.

I put just a few graceful arching stems in white milk bottles. Don’t you think bleeding hearts were meant for white milk bottles?

SMALL BREAKFAST NOOK TABLE- How to use what you have and turn it into something you want!

And aren’t “bleeding hearts” the perfect name for these delicate flowers? The are such old fashioned flowers. I think that’s why I’m so drawn to them.

SMALL BREAKFAST NOOK TABLE- How to use what you have and turn it into something you want!

Some of my favorite cookbooks live on this table! I love to read cookbooks. I don’t have to be looking for a recipe to read a cookbook. I love to be inspired by them. The large dark blue cookbook is The Making Of A Cook. A textbook and renowned cookbook for many aspiring chefs. I fancy myself someday cooking through it from the beginning to the end. 

There are some things I like the idea of it more than actually doing it! Cooking thought The Making Of A Cook is one.

Did you notice the runner? I made it from burlap ribbon. So easy! You can see how to make it HERE.

SMALL BREAKFAST NOOK TABLE- How to use what you have and turn it into something you want!

It’s outdoor dining season now. So I brought up my plastic white dishes (Target on sale a couple years ago) and nestled them in an old 7 Up crate along with a black and white table runner and salt and pepper shakers.

SMALL BREAKFAST NOOK TABLE- How to use what you have and turn it into something you want!

Next to it is a galvanized carrier filled with Mason jars and white handled flatware wrapped in black and white checked napkins. We use the Mason jars as drinking glasses. Ice tea tastes so much better from a Mason jar!

SMALL BREAKFAST NOOK TABLE- How to use what you have and turn it into something you want!

The 7 Up crate and bottle holder filled with what we need to set a table will stay there, right by the back door, from now until early fall. 

This is such an easy way to set an outdoor table. Everything is ready to be taken outside! Easy peasy. Isn’t that how eating al fresco should be?

SMALL BREAKFAST NOOK TABLE- How to use what you have and turn it into something you want!

I love the utilitarian-ness of this little table. And how unassuming it is and how I have come to love it in my home. It reminds me that pretty comes in all shapes, sizes and conditions! And things can be lovely just for their usefulness!

SMALL BREAKFAST NOOK TABLE- How to use what you have and turn it into something you want!

I’m so happy that I did not get rid of this table when it became so unfashionable and dated. I’m constantly amazed what a little paint can do for a piece… even if you have no idea what you are doing!

Do you have a piece of furniture that has seen better days but could still be useful? Try slapping a little paint on it to give it a second life!

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SMALL BREAKFAST NOOK TABLE- How to use what you have and turn it into something you want!

 

 

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22 Comments

  1. I love renovating pieces of furniture that appear ugly and useless. In our guest cottage we took the old 1960’s kitchen apart, one item which basically made up an entire row of base units was an ugly green with plastic stuck to the top. However when we took it out we realised it was solid wood with proper dove tail joints for the drawers and antique hinges for the cupboards, it weighed a ton, and took four men to move it. We painted it a very dark charcoal grey with a totally matt finish. It now has pride of place in the sitting room and every guest who walks in comments on what a fabulous big piece of furniture it is!

  2. Denise Moraris says:

    Thanks for this post! We have a table very similar to this one. We just purchased a Condo and before buying new furniture we are shopping our home. We as well almost got rid of this table but didn’t . We planning on painting the base and leaving the top stained.
    We can’t decide whether to take it to the condo or out in our kitchen to replace a drop leaf table that we are taking to the condo.
    It is fun to reinvent some of our furniture that has been lost. They will now be show placed in the condo.
    Thank you for all your wonderful blogs that have helped me decorate not only my home but now my new getaway condo!

  3. Very nice, Yvonne; I love little pieces like this! My (late) husband & I once bought a worn, small pine cupboard (mostly wood filler!) that fit so well into spots similar to yours. When I bought my condo, I sadly let it go as even though there was an empty area in the kitchen, the size – this time – was just too small. I missed it (& the memories of the houses it lived in; we moved a lot) but found another slightly larger piece that serves a very similar-to-your purpose in the kitchen. Besides holding decor items at one end, it also serves as a mini bar at the other end. I originally wanted a bar cart for the living/dining area but felt it might look too crowded so this new addition serves a dual purpose & sits under a rustic/chippy shelf made by my husband. It’s now creating new memories!

  4. Linda Ann says:

    That’s a great table….pretty and useful! Love that! I understand the “how hard can this be” approach to projects. I’m always taking on things that look so easy, but never are! I was recently out in Lancaster County and wanted a mirror made from an old window. I tried all my usual shops and not one mirror. So at the suggestion of the motel manager I went to a farm and bought an old window from an Amish farmer. My plan is to sand it down and paint it and either spray it with mirror finish or replace the windows with mirrors. This made so much sense to me as I stood on the farm so thrilled to have found this treasure! Now as it’s sitting in my garage I’m wonder what the heck I’m going to do with this thing! It’s going to be my summer project!! My optimism is greater than my talent!!!
    Thanks for sharing your ideas and beautiful home!
    Linda

  5. Haha… How hard can it be ? So guilty of that so many times. But we always come through to the end. It is a sweet table.

  6. Margaret du Preez says:

    Love the table. Adore the lamp. I love rooster and hen ornaments in the kitchen.

  7. This side board is beautiful and so useful. I love how you have it decorated.

  8. Thanks for this post! Gleaned several ideas I want to use! I have several pieces of furniture that I hope to paint and reuse or repurpose?

    Recently reviewed a post including the Tiki torches you use on your patio/deck area. do you still like them? Is the solar light bright enough to illuminate your entertainment area?

    1. Not really, but it does have such a nice glow. The torches really are bright enough to illuminate the entire patio.

  9. You are so inspiring on a rainy morning in Minnesota! Love the side board and all your creative ideas.
    Stone Gable is the best!

  10. Missy M - A Shade Fancier says:

    I have a similar table that I too love but it needs work and I didn’t know where to start. Thanks so much for the great and informative post. I’m off to do wonders!!! Wish me luck!!

  11. Such a “practically speaking” kind of post. I love the usefulness of your table positioned by the door. Not to mention its cuteness, lovely! I find these ideas inspiring. Thanks, Yvonne!

  12. Wendy Howell says:

    The table is perfect for that spot!! Love the idea of putting eating utensils and napkins in a mason jar. So easy for setting a summer table. And yes, everything tastes better in a Mason jar 🙂 Great post!!!

  13. Shirley Graham says:

    Love the table! I have one my parents used as a “library table”. I painted it and used it in my laundry room. I love it but my daughter has it now. Tables like that come in so handy!

  14. Treva Mills says:

    I have loved everything you have shown inside your home and even the outside areas but I have to say the table and the way you have decorated it is my absolute favorite!!!
    I love everything on the table and I love the way you refinished the table. I could just pick up the whole thing (hen and all) and just sit it in my home and be soooo very pleased.

  15. Oh I love your “nook” and I do so love how you have the glasses, napkins and silverware all organized and ready to grab for a table setting!….Great idea!…Have a great week Yvonne!

  16. Cassandra Rea says:

    I can totally relate to the project conundrum. My life motto is “I can make that” – especially when I see something I like. I’ve got that champagne taste on a beer budget. Often times (to my own dismay) I start a project that I THINK should be easy only to be proven wrong. But, isn’t it so fun and satisfying to have a project completed and see something that you have totally transformed with your own hands?! And let’s be honest, the bragging rights aren’t too bad either 😉
    Many blessings, sister!

  17. Joan Miles says:

    You did a great job on the table, I love it but I have been looking for those white milk bottles for awhile and no luck could you please tell me where I could purchase.

    Thank you
    Joan