Sharing our dining room as part of the home tour this week.
I won’t share tons of details as I have already published a detailed before and after post of our dining room last spring. But I wanted to share some updated pictures and also share what I love and any things I want to change about it.
Here’s a quick recap (you can see more before/after photos and in-process photos here).
This was our dining room for the first 5 or so years we lived here. Yes, that is the same room. The chair rail was already there when we bought the house but I did paint the burgundy underneath (think it was navy before?). Then we threw our exercise equipment in there since we didn’t have dining room furniture or any other use for this room.
Then my mother-in-law got new dining room furniture and gave us her old furniture and that started a major overhaul of this room. We added wainscoting picture frame boxes, painted brown on the bottom, and decorated.
But it was way too traditional for my changing taste and the white boxes on the brown paint looked busy to me. I finally got to host Thanksgiving in 2011 so I did a quick makeover on the room 2 weeks before. A quick coat of white paint below the chair rail finally gave me the look I was longing for! And a new neutral grey on the top finished it off (Urban Sunrise by Valspar). I made my own curtains with some deeply discounted Braemore material (Braemore Gorgeous Pearl) – paid $36 for all 4 panel – yes, it was DEEPLY discounted. They are one of the things I get most asked about in my house – love my curtains and apparently everyone else does too.
Here’s an updated picture taken today. Not much has changed.
I added some thrift store plates and a mirror made from a yard sale ceiling medallion. And I hung them with FREE invisible plate hangars made from paperclips.
Finally found some teal napkins to tie into the teal in the curtains.
And I love my white coffee filter wreath in there (and the fact that it has become a Pinterest sensation.)
View looking in from the kitchen.
LOVE, love this white wainscoting.
Things I love:
- the curtains
- the white wainscoting
- the gray walls
- pretty much everything
This little chest of drawers was a $20 yardsale find and I use it as as sort of a sideboard in here.
Things I want to change:
- I would like to replace the wall art above the little chest with a DIY canvas abstract painting type of thing?? Maybe, if I can get up the nerve to do it! Bringing in some of the lighter colors in the room – teal, grays, greens.
- Other than that – not much else. I am super thankful for the furniture, but the style and color is not 100% mine or my husband’s style. So one day I may paint the small chest of drawers, and would love to either paint, refinish, or replace the furniture. But that is a super LONG term project – not something I plan to do any time soon. I have many other rooms and projects ahead of that one on the list.
So this room is pretty much the only room that I can call DONE in my house. Sometimes, I walk in there and look around and just take it all in before I head into the kitchen or our master bedroom which need a ton of work.
Anything YOU would change in this room? I know the style of the furniture with the curtains don’t completely flow but I am totally working with what I have and that is ok with me for now. Totally shows you what a can of paint can do for a room though.
Love the curtains and wainscoting!
Christina, your dining room is beautiful! I love the wainscoting and the curtains! Really it is all just perfect. I’m working on our dining room right now. You’ve given me some great ideas.
Beautiful Room! I love those curtains!! Sometimes it takes a bit to get a room just your style…at least for me. 🙂
I’ve gotten a lot of inspiration from this room makeover for our own house. Personally, I love the gray color. So cool, yet inviting at the same time…..and your first makeover post was the reason behind my choice for a paint color in our kitchen. So thanks for that!
Curtains are perfect and the little “sideboard” and decor on it is awesome. The only thing that stands out to me is the yellowish color of the chandelier glass….and that may just be the lighting. The rest of the room is so “cool” in color scheme that the warmer tone of the chandelier globes just stands out a bit. Again, may just be the lighting!
Very pretty room and I love the colors! My Mother-in-law has that same exact dining room table and chairs set. I love the little yard sale chest of drawers, it so cute and I can’t believe you got it for only $20.!!! You find some awesome deals 🙂
It’s a cute room. Those fabric panels are beautiful and I like the wainscotting. Have you ever thought of painting the furniture too?
Love the white wainscoting and the drapes. I think you are right about the furniture…a long term project might be to paint those pieces with some Miss Mustard Seed milk paint. They have some nice bones so they would look great painted 🙂 Maybe someday when you are bored ;p
Very nice. Love the bargain chest. What a great find. We had similar dining room furniture and like you, wanted to somehow change it, but didnt want to buy new. So. I took the doors off the hutch, along with hardward. Took it all outside and spray painted it with flat black spray paint. Then we added updated silver tone hardware and did not put the glass back on. We did the same with the table. Only we painted it with glossy white spray paint. The chairs were done with the same paint as the hutch. 5 years later, it still looks great. My favorite is the hutch. Someone once asked me if I bought it in Pottery Barn. lol.
I love your dining room and your blog. In regards to your front door, I think pink on your white Valentine’s wreath would be really pretty. I really like the burgundy, but my door and shutters are blue, and just about any color wreath seems to go well with blue, just a thought.
Absolutely love your gorgeous dining room – I definitely am envious in a good way 🙂
I hope you won’t paint the lovely finish on the little chest. It is so pretty, and once you paint over the traditional “darker” finish, if you ever want it back again, you’d have to strip down the piece to refinish it and the patina would be gone forever. If it were my dining set, I would consider painting the hutch in a light color on the outside and a different but also light color on the inside for contrast — something in chalk paint and waxed. I’ve not done anything like that myself but I have seen spectacular results of painted china cabinets/hutches online. That would “lighten” the look of the room tremendously. I’m not a fan of “captain’s” style chairs per se, but your set appears to be made of solid wood with a good finish on it. I would opt to keep the chairs, possibly in storage if I can’t find places to stash them around the house (office/den/kid’s and guest room?) and I would probably leave the table in its current finish, and consider replacing the chairs with something else — maybe something with ulpholstered backs and a more slender profile? Your dininig room is so lovely, I have looked at it many times since I found your blog and I always admire it. You have not “overdone” it like I’ve seen some rooms, where the decorator just gets the itch and doesn’t know when to stop or is constantly replacing perfectly good decorating with other things, sometimes not to good effect! I’m sure you know what I mean 🙂
Marvelous job! Do you hire out? I hope someday I can be a thrift and beautiful homemaker as you.
One suggestion, the white platter on top of the hutch gives the impression it is kinda cramped and also draws the eye too much to the ceiling. Perhaps hanging it on the wall to the right of the hutch? Just a thot, but idk I’ve never been in the paper before.
Thanks for your blog!
I absolutely love what you have done in your dining room! I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that you did not paint your furniture! Even though I love painted furniture (and I have painted lots of my own pieces) I think that you have made great choices with integrating the old and the new. I think its fabulous!
Wow! I think you have done an excellent job blending the old with new. I had a similar dining set that belonged to my Mother & gave it away! Wish I had it back sometimes. Thank you for the inspiration.