BEAUTIFUL BREAKFAST ROOM

This breakfast room shows off both farmhouse style and fresh, seasonal touches.

This breakfast room shows off both farmhouse style and fresh, seasonal touches.

What is a breakfast room, anyway? For blogger Beth Hunter of Home Stories A to Z, it’s a second, informal dining room. “This small space may be the tiniest room in the house, but it also seems to be everyone’s favorite,” she says. “It’s where we eat most of our meals and where I often sit to work or catch up on social media.” Beth transformed the room from builder-basic to farmhouse chic, with fresh seasonal touches. Here’s how she did it.

ONE-ROOM WONDER

Before the remodel, the room was a big box. Beth added several stacks of cube storage bins along one wall, which she uses for both seating and storage. For the cubes on the sides, she added drawer fronts to make them look like built-in cabinets. “I replaced the hardware on the drawer fronts to give them a more custom look,” she says. In the middle of the cubes, a cushion and throw pillows transform the storage into a reading nook.

Beth also added open shelving above the cubes for added display and storage, and shiplap to the walls in the room. “[My husband] installed the shiplap, and I did everything else in the room,” she says. “The room is just shy of 10 feet long, so we used 1 x 8 x 10 boards with spacers to achieve the look I wanted.”

SEASONAL STYLING

The bright, fresh greens and other touches in the room are perfect for spring. Beth uses a combination of faux and live plants to refresh her décor. On the table is a live arrangement she made with a galvanized bucket. “For an inexpensive and no-nonsense look, I love to clip a few branches from the yard,” she says. The garland on the hanging mirror, on the other hand, is faux. “A few well-placed faux garlands can enliven a space and signal the change of seasons,” Beth says. The combination of both live and faux brings a good balance between fresh florals and practical longevity and makes the room look ready for the season.

The breakfast room in Beth’s house is a dining space, workspace and homework space. “The room receives a ton of natural light and is always cozy and welcoming,” she says.

Beth added open shelves above the cubes for extra storage. The shelves also serve the same purpose as a hutch might—to display her pretty dishes and other serveware. “It’s so wonderful to have more storage space and a place to display my dishware,” she says. “I didn’t buy anything to place on the shelves. My poor kitchen cabinets and attic were holding plenty already.”

(this page) The custom-looking cabinets and seating are actually basic cube storage containers. Beth added a baseboard along the bottom to make it look more custom. “My boys do homework at this table, or at the kitchen bar and are often in need of markers and colored pencils,” she says. “The drawers and storage bins are fantastic for keeping their craft supplies organized yet handy.” (opposite, top) On her dining table, Beth added a live floral arrangement of branches from outside. “Ice buckets, pails, crocks, etc. make great vases for floral arrangements,” she says. (opposite, bottom right) The bench made from cube storage creates both a charming atmosphere and practical storage for craft and homework supplies.