before/after dining room (designed on a dime)

9:45 AM

I have come to the conclusion that when you (meaning me) are a stay at home mom you tend to think that you don't accomplish much during the day except doing damage control within the walls of your home (which for me feels like they are closing in around me some days). So I decided to look at what I've been able to accomplish here in my home this last year and a half.

(our Dining Room before)

(our Dining Room after)

I found this old picture of our dining room that was taken when the previous owners listed it. I then took a picture of it today and saw the that...YES, Brooke! You have accomplished MUCH! There is still more I'd like to do, but we have slowly (oh-so-slowly) changed little things here and there to bring it into the 21st Century.

First we painted the room Spanish Moss green. Then Steve, my brother Quentin and my dad spent an entire Saturday putting up white wainscoting. (THANK YOU!)

We also changed out the lovely, faded off-white levolores (shown above) with white wood 2" blinds.

Steve and I have been married 8 years this Aug. and still have never bought an official dining room set. But the eclectic girl in me is ok with that. My husband's boss asked him if he wanted her old dining room set and we said YES! Above are the chairs she gave us (THANK YOU!). My Mimi is sitting on one of them. I never took an official stand alone pic of them before I refinished them. Oh well.

I sanded them down and painted them a very crisp white which was left over from painting the wainscoting (it took about 4 days and 3 coats of paint). But it was well worth the time. I think they are so pretty. I covered the seats with left over fabric I had from my boutique'ing days. (I used to sell baby blankets at a boutique show and I used this fabric as my table cloth)

We changed out the 1970's ceiling fan (seriously I loathed that thing). I'm sure it was quite the show piece in it's hay-day but I felt a mini-victory when it was gone.

I bought this chandelier off of ksl classifieds for $15 (I know, a steal right!?) We bought the ceiling medallion, which just happened to match perfectly with the chandelier and was on clearance for 75% off (paid $7). Steve and I spent an evening putting it up with liquid nails, et viola!

Added the above framed art. (The oil painting print above is an 18 X 20 picture and was a gift). The two other framed pieces of art were bought at the DI/thrift store. You'll never believe how cheap I got these. Price below.

Now we have a lovely, bright dining room. I love it. I also love how in this picture you can't see all the small tiny marks of a family on the bright white chairs (smudges of ketchup, spilled chocolate milk etc.)

I also wanted to note that the dining room table is from my grandparents. It is Pecan wood and I love how it folds down to fit 3 people or out on both sides to fit over 8 people comfortably. I can't say it is officially ours, but we are so grateful for it.

Cost of our dining room update:

Paint, on sale at Restoration Hardware for $23 a gallon (green & white) $23 x 2 = -$46

Wainscoting $150, used Homedepot gift cards we got for Christmas: -$0

Wood blinds, selectblinds.com: -$82

Chairs, table and fabric refinish (used leftover paint and fabric): -$0

Chandelier (bought used on KSL classifieds $15) and medallion (on clearance $7): -$22

18x20 framed art and 2 drawings on wall (bought at the DI/thrift store for $2 a piece): -$4

large painting gold leaf framed painting on wall (gift): -$0

Total cost: $154

Next project for the Dining Room/Living Room:

Knocking out this 80's glass wall! Below is what I would like to do with it: (all in good time)

I found this picture online over a year ago, wish I could link it but have lost the link. I want to knock out the wall above and replace it with something like this half wall.