Room Tour ~ The Dining Room

If you have been following me the last couple of weeks, you have probably seen a lot of this room already. It has changed quite a bit since we first moved in. My house was very beige and dark. We have a lot of oak trees and a covered patio off of the back so the house needed some lightening up. Whenever I look through magazines, I will tear out pictures of rooms that I like and I noticed a theme that had never really occurred to me before ~ white walls. Almost every picture I had torn out had them. So, I thought that painting the room white would solve both problems, no more beige and no more dark room. DONE.

The other thing that needed to be addressed was the large fur down on the ceiling. Apparently, the a/c needed some work so they had to drop down the ceiling which looked awkward. There was really no way to hide it, so I accented it with a mustard yellow paint so that it looked intentional.

I added draperies for color. We have enough privacy to not have blinds which I prefer when possible. You'll notice that they are hung high above the window which gives height to the ceiling. These were ready made from Armoires and Accents in San Antonio. (You can also order online.) I love their drapes because they are well made, inexpensive and linen lined. While they have pole pockets, I use rings with clips because I like that look better and they are easier to pull shut when needed. I have 2 panels on each side to give more fullness. Even if you never shut them, it needs to look like you can. The rod and finials came from World Market,one of my favorite sources for drapery rods on a budget.

As for the furniture in the room, well you could say that I'm a bargain shopper. The armoire came from a model home sale for $50.00. I just added the fabric to the back because it was cheap plywood. (See my armoire to dining room cabinet tutorial.) The table came from The Pottery Barn Outlet in San Marcos for less than 1/2 the original price. Since that purchase I painted and distressed it as it was too "shiny and perfect" for my taste. The shield back chairs were inherited and therefore free. They have been repainted and recovered. The two end chairs are going through a recover but I'm really regretting the nail heads! (Don't try this at home! ;0)

OOPS! This is going to need a do-over!

The bar cabinet came from El Paso Import Co. They have great distressed furniture and can custom make pieces for you too. They are also online.

The light fixture was a splurge and is sooooo coming with me if and when I move. I am a sucker for crosses and fell in love with this.

For the accessories, I'm on a white on white kick lately. See my "make your own table runner" post to see how I made this one out of drop cloth.

I'm doing this room tour at Christmas because there is no prettier time than when the armoire is filled with mercury glass ornaments and adorned with greenery.

This is where the Duchess keeps her crown.

I don't have a rug, even though I love them on tile because if you do a rug it needs to be big enough that the chairs can sit completely on it. This room is a little too narrow for the chairs to scoot comfortably over a rug too.

So that's the dining room for now. I'm sure it will evolve over time like all of the rooms in the house and when it does, I'll keep you posted with the new projects. Do you have any dining room projects that you're working on completing before Christmas?

shared with