Crappy picture, I know. This is part of the reason why renovating our dining room was a thing. Renovating it a month before Thanksgiving shouldn’t have been a thing, but it was.

Our dining room has a twelve foot wall. TWELVE FEET, my friend. Do you know how difficult it is to furnish a wall that long? Very difficult. I still have no idea what to do with all those Starbucks mugs, either.

We purchased our table back in 2012 in a mad dash to host Thanksgiving dinner that year. I’m noticing a sick, twisted theme with us. Anyway, we were tired of how tired the set looked, but this was very big “adult” purchase from Williams Sonoma. Like, baller-status, for us. We didn’t want to put it on Craigslist only to have some cheapskate try to get for $20. We made the decision to refinish it in more modern colors.

That involved stripping, sanding, staining, sanding again because the stain looked stupid, staining. Sanding. Staining again. Sanding…get it?

Then, of course, we had to do the same to it’s buffet and hutch mate. Not as much sanding as before because we wised up.

Now that we had a fancy-colored table and buffet, leaving the “blah” creamy-crap colored walls and ceiling the same was a no-go. So, we painted the ceilings and the walls. Do you see how a “quick” DIY turns into an out-of-control renovation?

The “boob” light had to come down, as well. What were we thinking when we bought not only one, but TWO, of these?!? We we were thinking we were ahead of our time, that’s what.

Wainscoting! Because we’re Puerto Ricans and we all grew up with wainscoting on the walls in our formal dining rooms! Right?!?! We did that, right?!?! No. No, we didn’t. Our “formal dining room” was Abuela‘s sala (living room) where all the furniture was covered in plastic. It didn’t matter if it was in hot, humid Puerto Rico; or the sweltering projects of Brooklyn. We sat on plastic-covered couches with garish print and ate our rice and beans and we didn’t complain. Wainscoting!

Bougie is what we are. Faux-bougie because we’re still broke. But our wainscoting is up…on our twelve foot wall. That boob light is mocking me.

Definitely had to paint the walls…and the trim…we used our friend’s paint sprayer. I’m addicted to it. I almost sprayed my husband. With it, a job that should’ve taken all day only took three hours (and that was with one hour breaks in-between coats). Gotta get me one of these things.

Our wall is still twelve feet long and empty. Hey, Hector! Thanksgiving still a week away. We can totes build a TEN FOOT SIDEBOARD (with a wine grid) to go on that wall.

“No, the hell we can’t, Marta.”
“Don’t be a punk. We can so.”
“We’re not building a ten foot sideboard.”
“With a wine grid.”
“No.”
“FINE!! I’ll do it myself, and when I die puncturing my lung with a brad nailer, you’ll regret not helping me.”
“GOD!!!! I CAN’T STAND YOU!!!”
“Okay, so help me load wood?”

Furniture plans aren’t alway accurate. Get your ideas and build the stuff using good ol’ common sense.

WINE GRID!!! Big ol’ sideboard!!!

Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving. I think it’s time to wrap things up, huh?

“Ya think?”
“Don’t be a smartass, Hector.”

Close your eyes…

Close them!

Ta daaaaaaa!!!!

I mean…

Ta-FREAKIN’-Da!!!

(boob lights are gone!)

I love the way renovating our dining room has brought Hector and I closer. SIKE!!! I’m just glad renovating didn’t end with one of us dead or us divorced. Every time I walk by this dining room, I stop dead in my tracks and think, “The hell?!?! This is a fancy room!” Then I remember it’s ours!