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When we started looking for our home we had many specifications, just as any Property Brothers fans would have…a certain style, flooring, x number of bathrooms and bedrooms. In our previous apartments we had created a small cozy home for ourselves among many plants and our mid-century and boho favorites, but as our search for a house continued, we became enamored with the quirky ins and outs of the old homes in Phoenix. We quickly realized we were being drawn to other styles. For a while we were set on a mid-century Haver home with cement floors and minimal open concept, but then we laid eyes on our 1930s old lady of a Tudor home and we were completely smitten.

The floor plan is pretty open, but there are defining rooms and living spaces, with a separate kitchen, living room and dining room in the front of the house. We were pretty excited about the original floors, doors, and hardware throughout, with a warm cottage feel. It immediately got us thinking about different decor styles and placement of furniture. One of our favorite rooms has to be the dining room. Although our place is mostly in boxes, with the exception of our living room (we just couldn’t hold off on busting out the Christmas decorations), we’re excited about the potential of the dining area. With the holidays right around the corner, we keep daydreaming about the idea of family and friends gathered around a table, eating and laughing together.

So here is the dining room with nothing in it, the day we got our keys. We were so excited and had a pizza and champagne picnic on the floor. It’s a great blank slate and should be an easy space to make feel like our own. This was shot from the living room. To the left is the kitchen in the back.

We hired movers to move into this place, thinking it would be less stressful and everything would go in it’s proper spot, but it didn’t exactly work out that way and six hours later after the entire move was complete (side note: that felt a bit long to move a two bedroom apartment with a three man crew, can anyone weigh in here?), the dining room looked like a bomb went off. We’re cleaning it out little by little, shining up these hardwood floors, and putting all the dinnerware and silverware in the cupboards and drawers. The clean freak gene was passed down to the both of us, which is both a blessing and a curse, so tidying up and having a clean space to wake up to each day is so important to us.  I remember having a conversation with my cousin years ago, when he first bought his house. He was saying how crazy (and kind of funny) it was that he reached the level where he got excited about the thought of a new washer and dryer. Well, we’re at that stage now and we’re feeling the same way about new household appliances and gadgets. One that’s been making our lives easier throughout this move has been the dual-action CrossWave from Bissell.

We plan to have an area rug in the dining room; not sure yet if we’re going to keep this one, but we currently have it laid down in the room to help visualize what we may want to do. The CrossWave has been great for switching between cleaning the area rugs and hardwood floors. Also, Henry is partial to bringing his treats in this room to snack on the rug, so we’re thinking the rug washing option is going to come in handy. We love that it has several options for multi-surfaces in one machine, because we don’t have a ton of closet space to tuck away multiple cleaning supplies in. We’re thinking about turning the coat closet in the hall, into a linen/supply closet, but that’s a whole other beast to tackle. 😉

Here’s a few inspiration images we’re loving for the look of the dining room.

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Follow along with us on Pinterest for more home decor inspiration.

What do you guys think? Any styles you’ve been loving lately?

Thank you to Bissell for partnering on this post and keeping our place tidy in the midst of this move and holiday season. As always all thoughts & opinions are our own.