June was off to a crazy start at work. A month flew by before I realized I was yet to finish the cottage dining room post saved in the draft status. Normally we would be somewhere else globetrotting in early June. Not this year. Busy at work was one reason; then there's the cottage to get ready for; and then there's all the Spring blooms I missed in the previous years. I am so happy that we pushed our travel schedule to later in the summer, because for the past month, I've been enjoying the fruit of my labour, my Spring jardin de fleurs.
Rhododendron didn't disappoint this year. Vibrant pink flowers adorned the tree - it looks like a giant bouquet from distance.
Now onto our cottage dining room design. This is the design board.
So in love with them! They will be put to good use during family/friend gatherings and long chats around the dining table. I will be back to write about our screened-in porch design.
Pink Korean lilac from my backyard.
Blue Lilac Miss Kim issued super fragrant flowers for a good two weeks.
Wine & Roses Weigela put on an impressive show with hundreds of small bell-shaped pink flowers.
Blue Irises came out in mid June but only last for a week.
Smoke tree in the backyard. Hidcote blue English lavender is about to bloom - they smell sensational!
And then there's the white flowering Dogwood Kousa. I didn't know what to expect from it this year: a lot of young trees don't bloom for a number of years; and some of them may not even come back because GTA is really a stretch for Dogwood's hardy zone. Fortunately, our Dogwood didn't just come back; it issued hundreds of clean white flowers!
Now onto our cottage dining room design. This is the design board.
The jumping off point was these Elbow chairs I scored from HomeSense, for a fraction of their normal going prices. Gotta love the Scandinavian design which perfectly infuses style into comfort. You can find similar ones at Rove Concepts here.
As for the dining table, I started the hunt with everything MCM and Danish, but then decided to go a more rustic yet still modern direction. A live-edge table with hairpin legs fits my vision perfectly. Picture below: the Reno solid Acacia wood dining table from Structube - that's a lot of table and style for the price!
I wanted to use a pair of the Ikea Almsta as host & hostess chairs but unfortunately they are not very comfortable and only intended for indoor use.
I found this chair of similar style to the Ikea Almsta, an all black version of the ever-popular Paris cafe bistro chairs in rattan and aluminum frame. The best part is it's commercial grade and all weather proof, so I could use them in my dining room as well as porch dining area.
