Daydreams vs Reality

One of the things I love most about my old house is it's dining room. I never lived in a home with a proper dining room, most had dining areas and some had eat-in kitchens. And when we purchased this home years ago my Mother was living with us so we used the dining room as our family room so there would be room for Mother. It was only after we moved back into our home about 3 years ago that I finally had a dining room. I've spent countless hours over the last 20 odd years daydreaming about this:And sometimes I'd daydream about dining rooms that looked like this:

Once we moved back in I especially started to daydream about these:
With all that daydreaming of mine what have I ended up with? Good question! This is what I ended up with, a thrifted, neglected, abused, unloved, very dirty, old, broken down sideboard purchased from the Summerville Flea Market for $50 a few months back. I have since decided I paid way too much! It lives on my porch and helps to round out my white trash decor to adore so we can fit in with our neighbors lest they find out we're not really from around here you know...
Sorry the picture is so small but trust me, this baby doesn't improve with enlargement! It's a big project and we've (my darling Mr Darcy and me) just started tackling it. In case you're wondering when the best time to start a big furniture rehab project is, let me clue you in, the absolute best time is as soon as the weather turns too cold to work outside and it's less than two weeks before a major holiday! *smiles*