Dining Room Reveal

I wasn’t prolonging the suspense on purpose, I swear!  I was all on track to have this finished up last Sunday, but I work up feeling crappy (sore throat, muscle aches, no energy At All) so I managed to get 2 things (out of 7) hung in the dining room and then just sort of passed out.  Ugh. By Tuesday I hauled myself off to the doctor and got a positive Strep Throat test (wheee) and wasn’t back to 100% until the end of the week…it was rough.

But FINALLY I have the full reveal for you!

First let’s step back and look at what the dining room looked like when we bought the house.

a020-7There are worse rooms out there for sure, but this one was seriously lacking in style.  The light fixture was kind of dated, the ceiling was pretty awful (and saggy in spots–thankfully this was only from the tiles pulling free of their staples, and not actually structural), and the bookcases served no useful purpose whatsoever in here.

DR_before2In fact, the bookcases just sort of turned into catch-alls once we moved in.

DR_before3

So we ripped out the bookcases, repaired the wall behind one and the floors under both, replaced the baseboards, painted everything, ripped out the old ceiling, added a tin ceiling, extended the crown molding, and added a new light fixtures.

Oof, that made me tired just typing all of it… but the end result is so completely worth it!

DR_after1I LOVE how dramatic this turned out!  We don’t have separate formal and casual dining spaces so this is it.  I didn’t want to take it too formal since we’re not terribly formal people, but I still wanted the room to make a statement and I think I succeeded.

DR_after3Pssst… don’t tell anyone, but those table runners totally aren’t hemmed yet.  I only recently scored some blue-gray linen at Hancock Fabrics for like 70% off so they’re only cut down to size at the moment.

DR_after5

The ceiling and rug make me kind of stupid-happy.  Matt was deeply suspicious of my desire for a hot pink rug, but after he saw it in person he admitted it really pulled the room together.

DR_after7

We also found a spot for my Weird Fruit prints by Ursula Vernon.

DR_after6

And my Queen Victoria made of garbage postcard that a friend sent me.

DR_after8This sideboard is pretty much our dishwashing station since we have very limited counter space in the kitchen.  It’s ok, but I hope to upgrade it at some point.  I hope to upgrade the IKEA buffets on the other side of the room too, but sometimes you just have to accept some temporary solutions while you’re on the hunt for perfection. Plus, nothing ever is really done when you’re a creative–there will always be something you decide to tweak at some point.  It’s done enough though (actually looking a like a finished room!) and we can finally have people over again!

 

 

 

12 thoughts on “Dining Room Reveal

    1. Thank you! I got the rug from Rugs USA, but I’ve seen the same one at Overstock and Wayfair too.

  1. I love the makeover! It’s bright, personal, and interesting, but it still makes a lot of sense in a historic house. Great job. (I followed the link from AT – where the comments tend to be a little…trollish. On their behalf, I wholeheartedly apologize for that unnecessary rudeness.) Cheers to a job well done on a realistic budget!

    1. Awww thank you! And don’t worry, I’ve read AT long enough to know what I was getting into to. My husband’s been following the comments and said, “They’re about 50% positive… that’s pretty good for AT isn’t it?”

  2. Love, love, love! The color combo is fantastic. Thank you for sharing! Can you tell us more about that swoon worthy ceiling? Was that a tough project and where does one get some herself some of those tiles? ❤️

    1. Thank you! The ceiling was super tough, but it was time consuming. My post about the install is HERE for more info. We found our tiles on Amazon (just searched “faux tin ceiling tile”) but a number of other sites have them as well (and there are loads of pattern options plus other colors like tin and copper). They cut with scissors and just glue up so you don’t even need to break out the heavy DIY artillery.

    1. Thank you! We got the light from Amazon. I had originally found it on Home Depot’s Website but then it went out of stock so I had to frantically fin a different source. It was a little cheaper at HD if they ever get it back.

    1. Thank you! On Rugs USA it’s called Albina Vivid Floral Accents CR11 Rug. You can also find it on Overstock and Wayfair (but I think it may go by different names on each?). Depending on what sales are going on when you might find a better deal at one of those sites.

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