Before/After Dining Room Reveal

Ok, so I know you have been just sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for this right?  Ha!  Probably not since you already saw snippets of it in my coffee filter wreath post and Thanksgiving post, but everyone loves a good before/after picture so here goes.  (and excuse the bad before pictures this was 2 cameras ago and before I knew what little bit I know now about taking pictures .)

This was what our dining room looked like for about the first 5 years we were married/lived in this house.  Gorgeous, right? :)  When we moved in the room was navy on the bottom and already had the chair rail installed.  We painted the top half of the wall to match the color we painted throughout our house and painted the bottom half burgundy (cause I was in a burgundy decorating rut when we first married, don’t ask me why?)

Then in October of 2010 my mother-in-law got new dining room furniture and offered me her old furniture!  So this room that had sat neglected for so long finally would get to be used!

I was completely over my burgundy décor rut  by then and trying to go more neutral.  So the burgundy got painted over with a semi-dark brown.

And we installed wainscoting!  I LOVE wainscoting (beadboard, board and batten, picture box molding – any of it!), so I really wanted to add that in here.  This was about the time I started reading décor blogs and was seeing this everywhere online.

I stenciled a design in the middle of the boxes (sort of copycat of a room Thrifty Décor Chick did), but I never really loved that, I just didn’t get around to painting over it – LOL!

So anyway here is the after with my mother-in-laws furniture that she gave to me, décor I repurposed from other areas around the house, and a new chandelier we installed.

And here is how it looked a year later – not much difference although I did return and exchange out the curtains right after the previous picture (and have a much better camera! ;)

My style has really changed or maybe I finally feel like I know what it is even more.  I no longer like “traditional” décor (even though I still have plenty of it my house –working on that.)  I love white, light colored rooms, more of an eclectic/flea-market style, with a touch of modern.  Clean, classy, and fun!  Wish I could describe it better – maybe I will find some inspirational pictures and do a post on what I think my style is one day.  Anyways, although I loved the wainscoting, I found myself wishing that I wouldn’t have done a color under the white boxes but kept it white like most wainscoting is done.  The room seemed very busy and crowded to me since the boxes on the wall really stood out.  So enter a can of gray paint, a vision of white wainscoting, and some super fun new fabric I found and a new vision was formed!

I quit my out of the house job to work at home two weeks before Thanksgiving.  So what is a girl to do?  Completely repaint and redecorate her dining room the week before hosting Thanksgiving the first time, of course!  (I think I was touching up paint up the day before Thanksgiving – ha!)

I shared in this post how I learned the value of primer and how NOT to paint a white wall.  But eventually it all got done.

And here is the after today!

What a difference some white paint makes!

Before:

and the so. much. better. AFTER!

View from the kitchen

Here’s the details of everything in the room:

• Gray paint color – Urban Sunrise from Valspar (in their Signature paint and primer in one – eggshell)
• White paint – white gloss trim paint straight off the shelf
• Curtains – bought the material at a local fabric warehouse called Ohco’s for $5.99/yd.  I bought 6 yards for $36 – each panel is actually 3 yards long so I cut the the fabric lengthwise down the middle to make the 4 panels.  I did look online and find the name.  It is by Braemore Designs and called Braemore Gorgeous Pearl.  I found it for sale online here and here (but it is $30/yd. online!)
• Table and china hutch – given to us from my MIL
• White wreath on mirror – made of coffee filters – tutorial here.
• Mirror – Kirkland’s from years ago.  Used to be above my fireplace until I started decorating my mantel for each season. :)
• Plant – $7  from Aldi from 2 weeks ago
• Metal/glass plant stand – Princess House got from my MIL
• White dishes – Princess House gotten for free or almost free from parties over the years or as gifts
• China dishes – my grandmother’s china passed down to me – LOVE them!

This corner is filled with yard sale finds!   I want you to realize when you see gorgeous pictures of re-done rooms that you don’t have to spend a fortune to do that.  With a little sweat and hard work we installed the wainscoting ourselves, painted (2 times!), and decorated the space with things either given to us, things from around the house, and secondhand finds.

I found the buffet (actually a small dresser) this summer at a yard sale for $20.  It almost perfectly matches the wood in the dining furniture and was the perfect size for this space (I may repaint it one day but for now I like it how it is.)

And everything displayed on it is all pretty much yard sale finds as well.

• Owl and turquoise bird – $1.00 from Michael’s after the $5 coupon.
• Lamp – $2.00 thrift store find
• Display plate – $0.50 yard sale find (quote from this book.)
• Turquoise candlestick – spray painted flea market find
• Magnolia picture – shopped my house/was in the previous dining room
• Set of salad plates – another partial set of dishes from my grandmother
• White rose shadow box – $0.50 yard sale find

and one more before/after

Before…

After (attempt #1)

FINAL after! :)

Any questions you have ask in the comments and I will answer them!

Have you redone any rooms recently – new paint, new décor?  Would love see yours too – leave a link in the comments!

{cj}

Sometimes I link up to these wonderful parties:

Sarahndipities, Skip to my Lou, Today’s Creative Blog, How to Nest for Less, Home Stories A to Z, Apron Thrift Girl, Tools are for women too, Not just a Housewife, A bowl full of lemons, Uncommon Designs Online, Someday Crafts, No Minimalist Here, Somewhat Simple, 36th Avenue, Sew Much Ado, The Style Sisters, The Thrifty Home, Domestically Speaking, House of Hepworths, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Weekend Blogging party at Serenity Now, Tatertots and Jello, Funky Junk Interiors, The Girl Creative, Miss Mustard Seed, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Remodelaholic, The Lettered Cottage, Before and after party at Thrifty Decor Chick, Pinterest Challenge at Young House Love