New Wallpaper {Dining Room}

I'm super excited to share the changes in our dining room. It's really only one major change - the walls! Oh my goodness... I love it.

Dining Room Upgrades

A long, long time ago... our dining room had wallpaper. Then in the flurry of the mid 2000s when wallpaper was considered ghastly, we ripped it down and painted everything so it was nice and matching with the rest of the house. Now it's 2016 and wallpaper is all. the. rage. So we are putting up NEW wallpaper. Handy Hubby is not the most thrilled about this prospect because he knows first hand how awesome it is to take wallpaper down but I promised to keep the wallpaper for a bit. He's still not thrilled. Sorry. We're getting wallpaper.

I found several papers that I loved on Wallpaper Direct. I ordered approximately a million samples. I quickly narrowed it down to these. The one on the top right was my favorite pattern but it was super shiny in person. I'm just not a shiny person. Sorry to disappoint.

Chalk Paint Trial - Silver Storage Chest

Happy Day After Labor Day!  (not)  I know there are a lot of Fall lovers out there and while I enjoy the change of seasons and the new clothes and accessorizing opportunities that brings, I truly detest winter.  Last winter was a horrible winter in DC so I am really not looking forward to it.  And we have had the MOST beautiful summer that almost anyone from this area can imagine.  We have had very few days in the 90s which is so unusual.  I kind of like the 90 degree temps though.  Weird, I know.  But, my youngest starts kindergarten today… {sniff}.  Makes me feel a bit old actually - no more preschoolers.  But, life marches on and so shall I!

Back to the blog business…

After years of reading about the glories of chalk paint, I decided to take the plunge.  I won some sample canisters of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint at a local craft show so I decided to give it a shot… This stuff is awesome.  I'm tempted to do my entire dining room set!  (Handy Hubby might murder me though…)

I started small.  Here's my silver chest.  Really traditional and just wasn't working for me any more.  If the chalk paint couldn't save it, it was headed to the yard sale pile.  It was a wedding gift though and it served its purpose so I didn't want to totally abandon it just yet.

First, I removed the never-engraved brass plate on top.

Next I taped off the edges of the velvet interior.  I'm thankful the interior is brown instead of bright blue or red.  Then I started painting the whole thing.  I used a regular Purdy paint brush and brushed it on as I would any other paint.  I did not sand the wood first.

Then I sanded mall of the edges down a big.  I should also note that I painted the hardware since it would have required removing the interior velvet liner. No thanks.  I just painted it.  Then I waxed it all with some regular old furniture wax (not Annie Sloan's - sorry Annie, had to use what we had around already).  And here's the result…

It's not perfect with the lamps but both are going to stay for now.  Still a major improvement from the original!

Crystal Chandelier Updated

I have always loved our crystal chandelier ever since my mom pulled it out of a used furniture store in my hometown.  We had to work around some missing crystals and it was missing a chain but it was still a steal at about $200 (I think!).  It's heavy duty brass and probably from the '50s or '60s.

Here's a picture of it all blinged out from a French themed baby shower I hosted a few years ago.

Since I bought the new curtains last year, I have been thinking about switching things up in here.  I don't want to change the chandelier but I wanted to modernize it a bit.  I thought about changing the shades but then decided to just take them off.  That looked a little off to me so then I changed out the bulbs and...

I really like that it's a cleaner look. My daughter said it "looks hideous" but I don't take decorating advice from 7 year olds! Looking at this picture, I should spend some time cleaning the crystals this weekend!

What do you think?  

Oversized Buffet Lamps {Dining Room}

A few weeks ago I was having a conversation with a friend about how much I like have lights on a dining room buffet.  It's such a great way to add some ambient light to your dining room.  You can even turn off the chandelier and just use the buffet lights, especially if your chandelier is not dim-able.

After getting the new curtains, I started to think about my old buffet lights which were an impulse Walmart purchase soon after we moved back into our house post renovation.

They were fine but nothing I loved.  I was fortunately able to sell them for $15 so it was not a total waste (reselling is a great way to justify your new purchases to both yourself and to your spouse).  Then I looked at the curtains and started to think about what I wanted for lamps.  The curtains dominate the front and side wall of the dining room, but he buffet area was definitely lacking.

  I went to HomeGoods (of course) and found these beauties.

Love them.  I still need to do something with the silverware chest, but all in good time.  I am still looking for a rug.  

p.s. My friends and I are all having a good laugh over this video.  Have you been there?

Dining Room: Spring Window Refreshing

What is it about spring that makes you want to change things up?  Something fresh and new for your house or wardrobe always seems like just the thing to forget about winter.  Of course, the weather is not really acting like a normal spring, and my wardrobe is in shambles.  Soon enough the long 90 degree DC summer days will be here and this wacky winter-spring will be just a memory.  But I digress...

In this case, I bought some new curtains for the dining room.  There was nothing wrong with the old ones other than that I was tired of them.  Woops.

I was coveting some Anthro curtains but couldn't justify the price.  Then I found these. 

Here's a picture before...

And now...

I looked high and low for some decently priced curtains in a fun print.  The old ones just seemed a little stale and fuddy-duddy to me.  Their shininess also irked me.  As with the living room, it was too formal and just not us me.  

The curtains look really good with the rug.  Maybe too nice together.  It almost matches too closely so I may or may not be looking for a new rug.  Maybe.

Thrify Painting Finds a Home

I found a home for my awesome original painting that I scored a Goodwill a few weeks ago (more on that here).

Once I thought about it for 6 seconds, I realized that the obvious place was about 3 feet from where I snapped the picture above - in the dining room.

You can also get a little glimpse of my fall dining room decor.

Here's what my bar area looked like with the old picture which wasn't really working for me. This is one of those pieces that I picked at HomeGoods while looking for art which really never works because I often buy things I don't love...

I have to say that my dining room had improved since its low point a few weeks ago, but now the Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations are being switched out and this is once again our staging area!

Going to be a light week

The postings are going to be few and far between this week. I wanted to do some projects this weekend but instead I spent about 8 hours over the course of two days cleaning up my son Alex's room, switching out fall clothes for both kids and shoes for me (clothes will have to come another day!), reorganizing our master bathroom linen closet (again), and unearthing my dining room which looked like this...

And still now only looks mildly better because I have stuff that needs to be mailed, dropped off, etc. to various friends and stores. The good news is that I only have a few more hours of work and our house will be much better off for fall. Now I just have to find those hours somewhere in my schedule...

At least this is a long weekend coming up so I will have some time to work on a few things I hope. I have some great projects in the works but just need the time to either get them started or finish them up!

House Tour Room-by-Room Link-up Party: Dining Rooms!

Thanks to everyone who linked up their family room posts last week! Your rooms are amazing and it makes me realize how many talented people there are out there and how many more awesome blogs that I was not reading before but now am. That party is open for a few more hours if you still want to post. And, here's the full room-by-room schedule in case you like to plan ahead.

So, the house tour continues with dining rooms. I spent a lot of timing working on my dining room last year, starting with a new rug and all new artwork. For some reason, artwork in a dining room seems more important to me - maybe because if you are actually sitting and eating you might look at what's hanging on the wall. Maybe that's just me.

We really don't use this room very much but I love it when we do eat in there. This was our main eating area before our renovation so we spent a lot of time in here. We only have four chairs at our kitchen table and that is intentional. This way, if we have anyone over we have to eat in the dining room and I love that. When it's not being used as a dining room, I often use it as our home office. I have considered buying a piece of furniture to house all of our home office type equipment but I have refrained (shocking!).

 
Here's how it looked when we first toured the house 9 years ago (we sat at the dining room table to write the offer). We actually kept the wallpaper for 4 years or so before stripping it and repainting both the living room and dining room which are connected through a large open archway. It's hard to tell here but there was wall-to-wall carpet in the entire house.

Pre-renovation:

 Post-renovation:

 Today:

Read more about our dining room evolution here, here, and here.

Several seasonal centerpieces:
 

 

Decorated for my friend Kim's baby shower:

Now, it's your turn! Please link-up any blog post about your dining room or another eating area in your house. The post does not need to be new but just needs to feature that room in some way (new table, art, rug, etc.).



Please include my House Tour Party button or a link to my blog in your post or somewhere on your blog! And, please feel free to spread the news on Twitter and Facebook so we can build a great library of decorating ideas!

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.houseography.net" title="HOUSEography House Tour Link Party"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUfejo-vVCXhIt3k9eMCuNn1mekzH5IdoNfeEBzDPvkoAjAKPmJ92yHCkFN678vkSybsV2I2pocDmAKrGDA5dFMQ5deOCzH2RoYc0woHMDb7IRIkowA8_DtBNqk46cRD7cOx5Hklq6fIB9/s1600/HOUSEography+Button+HOUSE+TOUR+PARTY.jpg" alt="HOUSEography House Tour Link Party" style="border:none;" /></a></div>


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Linking to Cottage and Vine Dining Room Party

p.s. Today is my birthday!

Dining Room Budget Decor

Like I said last week, I come from a long line of shoppers.  My mom scored some gorgeous decorative plates at her local Salvation Army store.  She paid $3.99 each but the original boutique store price tag on the back of each says $36!  Go Mom!  Fortunately for me, my mom couldn't find a good place for them in her house, so she brought them for me.

I used them to give my buffet area a little more interest.

Here it is before - 

And here it is now -

I think it adds just enough interest around the mirror and it was just lucky that the plates were black and gold like the mirror.  Like it was meant to be!

I'm still working on one other corner of the dining room but I think it's really getting there now.  I have some ideas for bigger plans for in there but I am still thinking them through.

Dining Room Halloween Centerpiece

After yesterday's post about our dining room decor overhaul, I realized I forgot to give a little info about the centerpiece.   The centerpiece bowl and candlesticks were wedding gifts (Simon Pierce) from very close family friends.  I've had the orange candles for a long time but never used them and the pumpkin bowl filler is from Ross ($5).  I've also had the table runner for a few years. 

I have decided that I am going to try hard to only buy accessories which have some flexibility - either seasonal or use.  I think vase/bowl filler has become so popular because you can do a lot of different things with it.  I hope I can stick with my new mantra!  More Halloween decor later this week!

Dining Room Redesign Update!

I am STILL working on getting my dining room redesigned.  Although I am keeping all of the furniture, I am changing out most of the accessories and wall decor.  I am still missing a few pieces but it is getting much closer than before.  My dining room before was definitely leaning towards floral and feminine.  I am a huge fan of florals, but the dining room was overloaded.

 

This weekend I became really inspired to get my dining room up to snuff as we prepare to host Jim's family for Thanksgiving.  We are really excited to have them all here together - a first!  Maybe this was just the kick I needed.

Over the summer, I found a new rug and updated the chandelier. 

 

Now for some close-ups.

The buffet with a new mirror ($20 from Ross) and small buffet lamps ($10 each from Walmart).  Everything else was mine already.

The new boat paintings were my grandparents'.  They remind me of them and I love that.  The colors just happened to be perfect for this room.  I love when that happens.  I may get the inner mat replaced at some point because it has faded to an odd shade of purple.  I am sure it was dark blue at some point.

My china cabinet was rearranged a few months ago so we would get more use out of our good china (read about that here).  I recently added the blue rimmed plates which my mom thinks my grandparents received as a wedding gift.  Turquoise was my grandmother's favorite color. 

 

The mini bar was a very recent addition although we have had the bar cabinet for years.  (Read about that quick update here)  I added a new picture above which I already had on hand.  It's probably a few inches too high right now but I am not sure this picture is here for the long haul.

Finally, I added a reproduction map of Washington, DC in the mid-19th Century before Virginia took Arlington back.  Arlington was mostly forts and farmland at that point in history.  What a change in 150 years!

 

I am so happy with how it's turning out.  Can't wait to break out the extra leaves for the table!  What do you think?  Any additional ideas?