New Beginnings

A lot is changing around our neck of the woods and I have been obnoxiously saying, 'when one door closes, another opens', several times every day. One of the more minor changes has been in our dining room. I finally finished decorating and just have some wall painting left to do.

Before:

Oye. What a mess! We had just moved in (you can see the original drapes on the windows to the left).

I wanted to inject some color into an otherwise bland room. Note: I had just taken down the drapes that came with the house, which is why the windows are so naked and the sideboard is weirdly positioned in the middle of the room.

The light fixture had to stay for now, but threw off a horrible light and didn't fit our aesthetic at all. I also wanted to play up the simple mantle and beautiful windows.

The built-in is great, but was being underutilized and the color didn't fit the house.

After:

I made curtains, rods and replaced the awful ceramic light shades from the chandelier and replaced with fabric shades.

I painted the mantel, cleaned up the fireplace and hung a refurbished mirror and some art.

The only splurge was on the rug - $149 at HomeGoods! I'll paint the lower half of the walls the same color as the built-in and mantel (Solar Fusion by Behr).

The sideboard now has a few sentimental pictures, a DIY lamp and seasonal flower arrangements.

I got REALLY cheap curtains from a second-hand store and died them with bright yellow RIT to give them more UMPH! The panels behind the curtains are made from a tablecloth. The rods are faux birch branches from Michaels.

Close-up of the mantel.

 

I painted the built-in with strips of color and arranged our glassware with some decorative pieces, cookbooks and pictures.

Close-up of built-in. I like to scatter photos with random finds, books and wedding gifts.

I framed some vintage postcards I found at a thrift store.

I made curtain panels out of the left-over curtains and tablecloth.

We didn't want to refurbish this chandelier right away...we'll probably replace it with something a bit more unique down the road. The fabric shades and smaller light bulbs make a huge difference.

I covered all light fixture plates with printed paper.