Our dining area was one place in the house I worried would remain bare for a very long time. Coming from a 1-bedroom loft, we'd never had room for more than a tiny breakfast table and we didn't really have the budget for an expensive new dining table & chairs.

Much to my surprise however, with a little luck and a few inexpensive purchases, we've been able to make this area functional -- and even quite decent looking -- in just a few short weeks.

When the previous tenants moved, they offered to sell us a few of their items, including the lovely West Elm chandelier that hangs over the table. The chandelier is so elegant in this space and the perfect counterpoint to the dark wood floors in the room. I love that the translucent white disks move with the breeze of the air conditioning and even tinkle like a wind chime. This item alone gave the room a polished look before we added any furniture.

As for the table and chairs...we were again very lucky. The table is actually a very large desk that the previous tenants left behind when they moved (free!). The desk is just a long, black table with clean lines....it really does look like a table (no drawers or any telltale "desk" finishes), so we just moved it into the dining room and discovered it was a perfect fit for the space.

From there, we took a trip to Ikea and found these clean-lined white chairs for $40. We picked up six of them, which has given us enough room to gather when we have family and friends visit us and its too hot or cold to eat out on the deck. The chairs were also available in black and brown, but we thought the white ones did a great job pulling in the chandelier and the white pocket doors that lead to the office area behind the room. We were thrilled that they fit perfectly with our new "table".

At this point we're still working to fill out the rest of the room -- we'd like to get a dining hutch or bar cart to place along the far wall, and like much of the rest of the house, we're still lacking in art for the walls, but we've made a good start so far.

Eventually, I'm hoping to set out some of my china on the table to display but for now I've simply strewn a white pashmina across the top (an idea my mother suggested) as a runner and I've been changing out fresh flowers in the middle.

Typically, I just have some cheap florals from the grocery store or farmers market shoved in a vase, but this gorgeous bouquet was an anniversary gift from JiT last week. He had to travel out of town for work on our actual anniversary, so these made for a lovely consolation prize. I love the way the morning sunlight streams in through the back windows and brightens the table. And the way the chandelier glows and brightens the entire room after dark. Its like the heart of the house and it makes my heart happy that we've been able to fill it so quickly and inexpensively so far. As we add more to the room...I'll be sure to share additional updates.

What about you? Any rooms in your house that came together in a seemingly serendipitous or inexpensive way?