Norfolk Nowak's: Dining Room and Kitchen

Whenever it's time to talk to you, I can't decide whether I should start with all the bits that are still undone in my mind, or tell you about the pieces I already love. Today, I'm starting with thankful.

• Our first house didn't have a dining room, so this room is an answer to prayer.
• That built-in, (which was already there and painted that color) is probably my favorite part of this house. A dream.
• The door to the sunroom, with its side transom windows, lets in all the light. Love that.
• I love that the floor runs the opposite way in this room, defining the space.
• We upgraded the chandelier, and it's a forever piece.

Now for the future: I need to finish editing and organizing the built-in hutch, keeping only the most beautiful, sentimental, or often used items. I have some things (specifically from our trip to South Africa), that I like the look of, but the extra things clutter my mind in a way that makes me unproductive.

I want to paint or refinish the tall chairs at the table and reupholster (likely pay a professional, because I like the piping detail on) the seats.

Then, lastly, I'd like this room to have a little more contrast. Maybe a wall of texture (like we did in the entryway) or some contrasting paint.

This is our new kitchen. It's our first dishwasher. Our first garbage disposal. Our first pantry. It has a lot more cabinets than we've ever had.

I haven't finished painting in this room (it was red when we moved in), and those red pendant lights are not my thing. I don't love the cabinet color or the fridge, and there isn't an oven in here (which I didn't even notice until my sister-in-law pointed it out when we were under contract). Essentially, I'd like to overhaul this room at some point, but also, it's functional and usable, and we're in no hurry.

I got our kitchen (and dining room) chairs on Facebook Marketplace, the chandelier from a thrift store, and the prints from this Etsy shop. 

We found an oven in our neighborhood on the curb, and we have it plugged in in the garage for the occasional day when we "can't live" without an oven, but obviously, I'm not baking on a regular basis. We cook almost everything in cast iron pans on the stove. How about you? Could you live without an oven?