My Breakfast Nook Takes on the $100 Room Challenge

Welcome to another $100 Room Challenge! I feel like I just finished the last one, but since I can’t seem to get anything done without a deadline, I decided to jump right in to this one, just so I could finally finish my breakfast nook.

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If you’re new here and have never heard of the $100 Room Challenge, check out Erin from Lemons, Lavender and Laundry‘s post on how it all got started. Then take a look at my Guest Bathroom Makeover and Growing Girl’s Bedroom Makeover to see where I’m coming from. We’ve been busy updating our late 70’s/early 80’s era house from top to bottom. (Seriously, the roofers are pounding away as I speak!)

I started working on this breakfast area early on in the process, but have never gotten around to finishing it properly.

It’s not so bad right now! In fact, I really enjoy this space, but there are a few projects that have been lingering on my to-do list that I believe will really cozy-fy this room.

Just for grins, this is what it looked like when we moved in:

Over the course of the last year and a half, we removed half that wall on the left, painted, changed the table/chairs, and added the fun globe light. It’s come a long way, but there’s still a little room for improvement.

The $100 Room Challenge Breakfast Nook

The optimist in me wants to believe it will be no problem to spruce up this space on a $100 budget. But the realist in me knows that money seems to fly out of my wallet when I start decorating! So we’ll see how far I can get on this list. Here’s what I plan on doing:

• Refinish the dining table. I feel the black is a little harsh in this space, and it needs to be refinished anyway. This table has lived through at least 4 different families! I’d like to give it a softer weathered gray finish.
• Cover the benches with some sort of cushion. They’re very functional and make great use of the space, but just need a little something…
• Organize and hide some of the storage in the benches.
• Create a command center on the wall with the chalkboard. I love the chalkboard, but I need more organization, especially during the school year!
• Eventually we want to replace the flooring in here, but that is definitely not in the budget or timeline for this challenge! Oh well, a girl can dream…

I think that’s a pretty good list, and if I can get it all done, I can finally cross this room off my list. We spend most of our family time around this table eating breakfast, working on homework, and just catching up with each other, so I want it to be cozy and restful. I think it could use a little color, along with some softer accents, like cushions. I’m happy with how far it’s come from it’s cave-like days, but I know this will be just the inspiration I need to get it all the way across the finish line!

Just for fun, and because I’m still obsessed with my new barn doors, here’s one last shot from the breakfast nook into the dining room.

If you want to get caught up by bringing home some of the items I already have, you can find similar ones here:

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