Tranforming our kitchen area

When I first moved into my boyfriends apartment it needed some work. The place is actually pretty nice but before we were dating he was a bachelor so it wasn't perfect. He had this antique table his mother had given him as his kitchen table. Which I actually kind of like because it's white with gold glitter. But it was an outdoor table set & it being round I felt like it took up to much room in the corner it was in. When moving in one of the things I wanted to change was that area because the kitchen/dining room are is quite important to me. We are trying to sell the other table now since we no longer use it! So if anyone by chance is interest please let us know. We decided to just buy a basic table from IKEA because the prices are okay for the time in our life right now. We didn't want to invest in something to expensive right now that wouldn't even fit in our apartment. We went to IKEA in Canton which wasn't to far. I'm seriously obsessed with everything they sell they so both of us had to pace ourselves so we wouldn't buy the whole place out. We ended up buying a basic pine table with matching chairs. Bought some nice table mats & cute little salt shakers. Also got a table runner which I don't think I've ever owned in my life. Got some nice neutral seat cushions for the chairs so they don't feel stiff. We bought a dark stain from Home Depot which took us about two tries to get a good color that was dark enough. We painted it on a pretty cold day which was not fun but the table turned out beautiful. Decided to do a water resistant on the top of the tables and chairs to protect them. All in all we were pretty happy with how it turned out. I'm looking forward to being able to do DIY projects at home, this doesn't really count as one. But it was just fun to see our work transform.

The original table that we had when I first moved in.

Artwork that my mother gave to us.

Beautiful chest Alex's mother gave to us, the pear painting is from my mom. The palm tree we bought at a local marketplace.

Our little kitchen nook. The finished product of our table.

Awesome hunting pictures Alex's mom gave us. Original prints from Hurst Olds.

Table runner & cork mats are from IKEA. The lion salt & pepper shakers are from Target. Coasters, antler, & fall pumpkin I'm not sure where from.