Our Dining Room, Set for Christmas

Our old metal dining chairs were great for kids. Indestructible and easy to clean! So what did I replace them with? Wooden chairs with easily stained beige upholstery seats. Brilliant!

(I don’t intend to keep the stock fabric on them forever. Keep reading.)

Someone spotted the new chairs in a recent post, but here they are in full.

I had been saving up for a long time for new dining chairs and I’d had my eye on either Noir’s Abacus or Redford House’s Abigail. Noir discontinued the Abacus dining chairs earlier this year though, and before I could get them quickly enough at the clearance price, they were gone. But then I found these on Overstock.

And then I realized that the manufacturer, Baxton Studio, has two outlets — both in Chicago. I was able to get the chairs for just a little over $100 each while they were having a big sale.

Until I can get some more kid-friendly fabric on there, I bought a couple of these waterproof dining chair covers to protect the kids’ seats. They blend well and aren’t terribly noticeable (and they really work). The seats are not the easy to recover kind that are just screwed on, and I’d like to replace the nailhead detail with piping. They’ll need a trip to the reupholsterer when I’m ready for a change.

The table is set with with Ballard Designs’ Jacqueline dinnerware. I photographed the dining room for a holiday campaign they’re running, and I was able to chose a bunch of my favorite pieces to shoot and keep. We always host Christmas dinner, so this is what our table will look like this year! The cups and saucers will be especially cute when we have coffee with dessert.

A few things are no longer available, but here are the direct links to everything I used from Ballard Designs (and a near match for the vintage silver candle holders on the table, too).

• Marseille Red Linen Napkins
• Bunny Williams Paris Flea Market Flatware (Antique Silver)
• Thai Ikat Tablecloth (no longer available)
• Bunny Williams Spiral Glassware Goblet and Tumbler
• Jacqueline Dinnerware Collection
• Vintage Sterling Silver Candle Holders
• 12″ Taper Candles
• Florence Charger/Buffet Plates (no longer available)

I have so many ideas in mind for where this room could go! I’m loving the mix of traditional/Victorian with more modern and unexpected touches throughout the rest of the house, but I’ve yet to really bring that in here. The new chairs are a great start.