Our New Kitchen Table

... alternately titled, "Apparently, I Don't Know How To Use A Camera."

We have a tiny kitchen.  It's pretty much the main reason I get depressed about where we live.  I don't mind sharing walls, I don't mind having few windows, I can be okay with having a living room/office/craft space/music room, and I certainly don't miss yard work.  But our kitchen really bites the big one.

I have one small wall of cabinets and about 2 feet of counter space.  No dishwasher and a one basin sink.

That being said, when I found our new table at the local thrift store, I was really hoping it would help maximize our tiny space.  Before, we had a pub table with stool which fit the room well, but really didn't fit us well.  We didn't even have space to have 1 extra person at dinner.

Then, ta da!, I found this longer, yet not as wide, table with two (yay) benches!  I was really hoping benches would be our tiny space solution.  After all, when you're at a restaurant in a booth, if it's tight, it just feels cozy, right? (Just agree)

So the fabric on the benches was pretty atrocious, but hey, for a $40, I didn't mind spending some time and money on a mini makeover.  This is the fabric I picked to recover the benches.

Hahaha, just kidding.  That's the before picture.  See?  It's pretty terrible in all it's 1970s glory.

I'm sure you can only imagine my excitement when just a week later, I popped in to JoAnn's and discovered the exact vinyl I was looking for was 50% off!  And so many colors to choose from!!!  Which one do you think I picked?

Here's a clue - remember, I am loving the aqua/red combo, as seen here.

And the winner was....

RED!  

I think I have enough teal/aqua/blue in my house already.

Several hundred staples, a few nap times, and 6 wood screws later, my benches were ready for business.

I was thinking as I did this mini makeover, how much DIY really costs some times.  My "cheap project" really started racking up.  $11 for the vinyl, $5 for batting, $12 for new foam/padding, $3 for screws, plus all the time I spend working on this "simple project."

But I'd have to say, if the table was priced $68 and didn't need sprucing up, I would have still bought it.  $68 is totally worth me enjoying my kitchen a little bit more.

And it inspired Herb to hang a new light fixture (that we already had) and rig up a switch to brighten up our little cave kitchen.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, a month later, I am still LOVING the bench scenario.  I think my favorite thing is the way Levi climbs right up and colors, or gets his drink or whatev.  We still have his booster seat at the end of the table, but I see that going away in a few weeks/months.

See? Benches were meant to be shared by little cousins!!