Yesterday I lumped the living and dining areas together in one “before” post. Today you get just the dining room, since it was the first thing we tackled in this big new house of ours. My mom graciously came down to spend a few days with us and help out with some house projects, which meant I was able to get a lot more done than I would have on my own. Baby wrangling and painting are not great multi-tasking activities.
Numero uno on the to-do list was to scrape off the ugly apple wallpaper trim. Priming the green wall was a close second.
Finally, I scraped and sanded the popcorn off the recessed part of the ceiling, leaving us with a lovely, smooth, blank canvas.
A couple coats of Behr’s Ultra Pure White on the ceiling and Lime Light on the walls, this is what we’ve been living with for the last couple months:
There’s still a lot to be done, but it looks SO MUCH BETTER, don’t you think?
It’s weird to look at these photos, because on my monitor the walls look
almost grey. In real life–right now anyway–they look much more green.
The color changes dramatically with the light in the
room. Shades of blue, grey, and green all come out at different times of
day. I kind of love it. Reminds me of the ocean.
The Ikea bookcases against the wall are just a temporary fix. They’ll eventually go in the family room…once we get around to dealing with the stacks of unpacked boxes and other things without homes in there. Oh, and we’ll probably paint that room first too. Someday. I can only tackle so many projects at once.
We’re also in clearly need of some window treatments, a new light fixture (I’m seriously considering this one), some art on the walls, and probably another piece of furniture or two. I’m open to any and all suggestions people have for making this room look more lived in and finished.
The furniture issue may already have been solved, though, by some great luck we had at an estate sale while visiting my parents back in July. My mom made arrangements for us to check the goods out before anyone else (we were leaving town before the sale actually started) and how happy for us that she did! We ended up with a dining table, six chairs, a dresser and matching mirror, a console table, and a rolling bar cart type table. All in the same fantastic mid-century style that we love and all for only $400. And for another $25, we scored a huge mirror, a couple good sized picture frames, an old typewriter (in great condition, by the way), and a sweet little brass pineapple. Best. Deal. Ever.
Our only problem is that the furniture, like pretty much everything else in our house these days, has great potential but is not in terrific shape. The table and chairs are probably the worst off, since I’m guessing they got the most use. And that, dear friends, will be tomorrow’s post!
Love it! You have great taste. I think the new light fixture is way rad. One easy thing that would help so it wouldn't feel to sterile would be a rug under the table….to kind of break up the tile. I am way impressed with all the progress you have made.
Thanks! I've thought about a rug, but I'm hesitant to use one in an area where we eat, especially with Mila's tendency to drop food on the floor when she's done. Do you have experience with toddlers and dining room rugs? What's the verdict?
Chloe eats over our living room rug a lot. And spills a lot. I don't mind at all. I vacuum about every other day anyway, so it never gets too bad. I would just get one that isn't too shaggy. You could also get a vinyl drop cloth or something if you are eating something particularly messy. It is an interesting dilemma my friend.
I vote YES on the light fixture.
Isn't it pretty? I'm hoping it will go on sale soon…
i was going to chime in with some DIY light ideas, but then i clicked on that west elm link. it's AMAZING.
Isn't it gorgeous? Except it's a little out of my price range. Any DIY ideas would be most welcome.
Haha! The first thing I thought of when I saw the price ultimate light fixture was "I think Annie made a really cool light fixture that most likely cost much much less." I thought about mentioning that when we were over for dinner, but then the conversation went somewhere else and so did my train of thought. The fixture I had in mind was the first one shown in the following post:
http://www.annilygreen.com/2011/05/how-to-succeed-at-keeping-lowes-in.html