Another day, another tour

Last week's tour of master bedrooms/guest bedrooms was such fun to be a part of, that I thought I'd join in to Kelly's SUYL (Show Us Your Life) tour this week.  It's all about dining rooms.  I've checked out a few of the ones that are already posted, and they are so lovely.  I'm a little jealous of people that have an actual formal dining room, hah! We live in a condo, so our dining room is actually a breakfast room that isn't separated from our living room, but we like it!

This is looking in from the living room.  

The curio cabinet in the right corner was a birthday gift from my parents when I was in middle school.  It's oak with lots of glass inside and outside.  The top two shelves are organized. The bottom two are not.  It's an easy piece of furniture to keep clean, and it's really well made.  When we move into a bigger place, it will probably house other items and will hopefully reside in an actual formal dining room!

The table was my dad's bachelor table fifty years (give or take a few years) ago before marrying my mom.  Next, my grandparents used it in their breakfast nook.  Then, after my grandparents no longer needed it, my parents placed it in their sunroom.  Finally, I moved here, and it was bequeathed to me!  It's stood the test of time (though pieces of it, with the help of teething kittens--grrr, have come off).  The original cushions are this sort of uncomfortable, plasticky, green/taupe material.  I bought four large, beige cushions from that super store that seems to have everything when I moved in.  They are much more comfortable and have held up well.    

I like the simplicity of the center of our table.  

The vase/juice container is part of a set of plates/bowls/mugs my parents gave us for Christmas a few years ago from Dayspring (it looks like most, if not all, of the pieces are on sale now!) that refer to verse John 10:10 "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."  All the pieces are lovely, and we really like having the entire set! 

The coasters were a gift from a student a few years ago.  They were made by a local girl who was rescued from the sex slave trafficking industry.  All of the proceeds from the purchase of coasters like these go to the girls that made them.  The organization that rescues them takes them in, provides housing and schooling, and teaches them a trade.  It's a very sad, very scary industry to be a part of, and I proudly support this organization for all they do to help those girls.  

This sideboard is a loaner from my in-laws.  It's at least one hundred years old.  The Husband's dad refinished it years ago.  We changed out the knobs and were going to install those little pieces inside that lock the doors in place, but we decided that it wasn't a good idea to do that to an antique.  Hence the rubber band.  It's so tacky, but the doors won't stay closed without it.  Ce la vie.

The crystal bowl on the left was a wedding gift.  It's filled mostly with sympathy cards.  The card on the right that says "I LOVE US" was from The Husband on a particularly difficult day recently.  Love him.  

These plates were a gift from my sister and her family.  

I like this part of the room.  The glass cross belonged to my grandparents.  The wooden cross was a gift from Tennessee (I think!  Mom, correct me if I'm wrong).  The framed rose pen and ink was done by my grandfather.   

We registered for this painting at Target and received it at one of our wedding showers.  

I don't know that this lighting fixture really flows with the rest of the room (it seems too nice!), but we do like it.  The gal who lived here before had it put in.  We haven't found another fixture to swap it out with yet.  

This Unity Cross is on the top shelf in the curio cabinet.  Instead of a unity candle or a rose ceremony at our wedding, we had the Unity Candle.  It was perfect.  Perfect.

The photo book on the left has pictures from two engagement "shoots."  Our friend Bethany took all of the photos inside! This book was one I made to be used as a wedding registry book.  As people entered the chapel, they signed one of the pages within.
The photo book on the right has pictures of when we were dating up until our engagement.  I used that as a shower registry book.  I had three showers, so there are LOTS of signatures in that one. :)

These are my 'birthday dolls.'  My grandparents gave me one each year from birth through my 18th birthday.  Then, I was given one for graduation and one for our wedding.   I'm hoping one day I'll be able to pass these along to a future daughter for her birthdays.  

My grandmother did this painting.  

You know, with two very artistic grandparents, I have the ability to draw stick figures with triangle tops and square bottoms.  

Go figure.

This is the counter looking into the kitchenette.  I don't have an actual kitchen, but I'm really looking forward to have a fabulous one one of these days that will house ALL of our many appliances, pots, pans, dishes, glassware, etc, and none of it will have to be stored in closets elsewhere in the house and forgotten about!

Well, thanks for tagging along again!  Feel free to link up with pictures of your own dining rooms!