In case you didn’t know, I like change.  I get bored looking at the same thing over and over again.  I’m the type that likes to freshen things up again with small changes here and there.  Are you like that?

One irky aspect for me has been our dining room chairs.  They were given to us (at least four of them) as a wedding gift 16 years ago, and are the most solid pieces of furniture you’ll find.  

I purposefully left the table empty to show you how they look placed around the table.

These gorgeous pressed back oak chairs, made by Amish here in the heart of Ohio, are the cream of the crop.  Perfectly sturdy so that children could use them and they don’t even show the wear.  So, why would I ever want to get rid of them?

First of all, we are running out of room at our table with 6 kids joining the family, and we needed something that would allow us to fit 8 chairs at our table, comfortably.  Second of all, I just want to change it up! Ha!

Really though, my hubby and I ached at making the decision.  We loved the chairs, they are quality made and they hold a memory.  We knew we couldn’t ever afford to buy them again at $1200 retail, as well. ouch.

The problem was answered for us when I came across a set of 5 chairs on Craigslist.

Of course, you know I love the farmhouse style and try to incorporate vintage items whenever I can.  When I saw this miscellaneous set of similar, but slightly different chairs pop up in the listings, I jumped on the phone. I knew I wanted to buy them for the shop (really for me).  The man selling them had them listed for $50 OBO (YES, OBO!)and was located in a town a half hour away.  STEAL!!

I contacted him and said I’d give him the $50 if he’d deliver them too.  We live in a bigger city than where he was located (aka the city with WalMart, tsk.), and he had to make a trip here anyway, so it’s deal!  Happy dance for me!

Now, I had to convince my hubby that these chairs made more sense for us, and because we could fit 8, all the while putting a halt to the fighting that occurred by lack of space.  This space is also where we homeschool.  Those of you who use your kitchen table to homeschool know what I’m talking about. 

It didn’t take much convincing.  He liked them and knew it was for the best to switch out.

We already had the two colonial style chairs shoved in between the pressed back ones, and you can imagine how tight it was.  Just by removing those and placing them at the ends, and adding the sleeker styled slat chairs made all the difference in the world.  We gained 2-3 ft. of space around the perimeter of our table!!

My girls wanted to help me take a pretty picture of our table, so we set it quickly before baby fussed.  Our thrifted vintage tablecloth helps to dress up the table that is worn to the bones (more on that later).  Perfect.

Simplicity at it’s best with completely functional dishes and eye-pleasing color palette invites you to join us.  Great job, girls!

May I just say that those canning jar mugs are the most amazing glassware if you have kids.  They don’t break, they have handles for young and old(er) alike, they hold a pint of liquid, plus they offer that farmhouse touch.  Oh, and did I mention they don’t break?

side note: When we bought our home, our first home, my parents were downsizing at the same time and gave me her set of canning jar mugs.  I loved them, but wanted to dress up my table a bit, so I sold them at a garage sale. I tried three different styles and all ended up in the trash in a pile.  Needless to say, I went online and found those canning jar mugs on sale and bought 2 dozen.  Sometimes it’s good to NOT change.  I have a story about my dinnerware too.  ahem.

Back to chairs….

This little rustic chair was given to me along with a vanity I had purchased to redo and owner said it was original to the set.  I thought, “Yeah, and I’m 19 years old.” tsk.

It’s perfect with it’s simple lines.

What do you think?  Now we have a mix of ladder-back chairs, reed chairs, and colonial style chairs….I love it.