A Dining Room Move-in Makeover

My mom always taught me that if you can’t cook well, at least present well. When initially touring our home I could not imagine this dining room accomplishing that need for me. I knew this room was going to take a lot of TLC!

But first, we had to annihilate the “builder’s grade” brass chandelier in our new dining room (along with less-than-attractive wall paper and cheesy plastic chair rail).

Time to get busy. Here’s what we did:

• First to go was the wallpaper(s) and plastic chair rail.
• Then we painted the walls Benjamin Moore White Swan, the ceiling white, and the trim semi-gloss white.

We updated the window treatments with simple sheers in a muted tribal pattern from West Elm. We wanted to add some softness and texture, but still let a lot of light in.

This room is a classic case of use what you have decorating. The iron wall art was in our former family room, and the dining set pretty much mirrors what we had in our last dining room. After updating the brass chandelier with a transitional bronze fixture, we’re ready to entertain!

Here’s what we spent: $1,080

• Wall paper removal/prime*: $450
• Paint Walls/Ceiling: $100
• Chandelier: $180
• Window Treatments: $350

*note: this can be done DIY with a little perseverance and a positive attitude. We hired this piece out because we were racing against time to get this room prepped before the moving truck arrived. 😉

There are other updates we could have made to this room: crown molding and wainscoting. But for now, I’m counting my pennies and minutes carefully to make sure we get to the kitchen renovation sooner than later. Perhaps we’ll circle back around later to finish those projects.

After all, a room is never really done, is it!