How A Farm Table Made Me Fall Back In Love With My Kitchen.

  Everywhere you turn it seems as if everyone has gotten the farm table memo. From Restoration Hardware, Arhaus and World Market to IKEA, Pinterest and beyond, these pieces of rustic furniture perfection have infiltrated kitchens and dining rooms everywhere. Moreover, they all seem to have gotten the stately, stunning and grandiose kitchen memo as well, a memo that has yet to find its way to me.
Take for instance the kitchen of my dreams. Spacious with white cabinetry, stainless steel appliances, a butcher block island, a large farm table and a fancy chandelier. High ceilings, neutral colors and all of that kitchen pomp and circumstance are, quite literally, what my dreams are made of. 

via HGTV

While I love browsing Pinterest and spending weekends lazily watching HGTV and drawing inspiration and design ideas from these avenues, lately I find that it just leaves me feeling lacking. Lacking these beautiful, picture-perfect spaces and pining for something bigger and better. 
In contrast we have a relatively modest kitchen. While it has come a long way from its days of peach-pink cabinets and grey laminate counter tops, it's not much compared to the pictures of the kitchens that infiltrate my dreams. 

It is, however, the heart of our home. The place where our family gathers for meals three times a day (and at least three more times for snacks, all the snacks)! It's where we share the highs and lows of our days and where I am regaled with the wild and crazy stories of my boys' imaginations. It's the place where my first baby took his very first steps and the hub of our home where we have nightly dance parties during the witching hour while we wait for Daddy to come home. 
When we first bought our home five years ago, we transformed that kitchen as a labor of love into something we could grow a family in. Into a place we could build our home on. I've cooked hundreds of meals and danced hundreds of dances around that kitchen with three babies on my hip and if it is at all possible to become emotionally attached to a kitchen, I'm your girl.

I remind myself daily to work with what I've got and to place less significance over the things in my life. I love our kitchen but more importantly, I love the people whose laughter fills the room, whose little feet leave footprints all over the wood floors. Even the little people who sometimes forget that crayons are just for paper, as evidenced by the walls and trim surrounding the pantry. 
It's not easy though, all of this being content with what you've got business, especially when you want to so badly for your home to be a reflection of who you are. I want my home to be a place that's inviting, creative, comfortable, warm and welcoming. Naturally, I want the inside to reflect that. 
While I can't rush out and buy a new home, I've started making smaller changes around the house that are both realistic and a reflection of our family. I've stopped purchasing home decor willy-nilly and now only purchase pieces with intention that I know will serve an important purpose within our home. I've swapped out old, dated furniture that was taking up space and rearranged current furniture to help attain the comfortable flow I'm aiming to achieve. 

Recently I swapped out our kitchen table for something that I've had my eye on for years: the elusive farm table. I LOVE having a rustic farm table for our crazy, beautiful party of five to gather around. There's just something about seeing a set of brothers sitting side by side on the bench seat with their feet tucked under their bums, that makes me feel all of the feels. 
And what a difference it has made in our kitchen- the perfect blend of industrial and vintage, it serves that spot in our eat-in kitchen much better than our previous table. Our previous table was chipped and cracked. It bore four very sharp pointy corners that stuck out like daggers, just waiting to connect with a tiny forehead and I knew it was only a matter of time before that darn table sent us to the ER. 
Speaking small sets of small brothers- that's the great thing about farm tables- the more banged up they become, the more character they gain, making it the perfect table for our home. It's one of the secrets to owning nice things AND having small children in the house. 
Having nice things and small children is mostly all about casting an illusion. It's all smoke and mirrors, farm tables and slip covers.

  Whether I'm sitting down with a girlfriend catching up over coffee or sitting down with my three boys to tackle the latest set of beloved Duplos, our handcrafted, one of a kind farm table from Ezekiel & Stearns has become a favorite gathering spot for everyone who enters our home. It has brought with it a new energy to that space and in its own way, allowed me to fall back in love with our kitchen, to find contentment in that space once again. 
Made from durable and solid wood, I know this table will be with us for many years to come and I cannot wait to create even more family memories as we gather around it. Without much space to work in, it's the perfect size and shape for our modest eat-in kitchen.

Are you looking to transform your space? Perhaps breathe a little new life into an existing nook or room of your home? The kind and amazing hands behind Ezekiel & Stearns  are currently offering $100 off ANY custom handcrafted table with the code CARROTS100. 

Rustic Cape Cod Farmhouse Table

They're also giving away one piece of custom furniture valued up to $250! I encourage you to visit their website and check out some of the amazing, beautiful pieces they can build. Coffee tables, sofa tables, kitchen islands and more- I guarantee you will have a difficult time narrowing down all of the options! Not to mention that it's all made right here in the US. 

From their website:
"We consider what we do art, and our pieces can be found in homes across America. 

We focus on design which elicits the romance of history and a sense of place through the use of the timeless production method of handcrafting. Our designs are an inspired combination of strength and beauty. All of our pieces are made with care one at a time out of solid wood."

Connect with Ezekiel & Stearns on their  website, Facebook page and Instagram account. 
Enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter widget below.  Be sure to read through all terms and conditions before entering and Good Luck! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

  
I received product for free in exchange for this post.  I did not receive additional compensation and all thoughts  and opinions expressed are honest and my own.