Before and After. The Dining Room.

When we moved into this house, our dining room looked something like this (excuse the way too warm/yellow photo).  Why why why do builders put carpet in dining spaces?  I will never understand that.  Anyway, it had carpet.

First, we bought our first dining room table and chairs!  I did this before I discovered the hidden talents of my neighbor, Katie.  I think the outcome was fine but the process was horrendous!  Want to torture me?  Put me in a room full of fabric swatches with no guidance.

We had planned to one day put hardwood flooring down in this room.  And then the Leak of 2011 happened.  And viola - hardwood floors!

So, up until a few weeks ago, this is how our dining room looked.  Pretty table.  Pretty floors.  Pat even painted a pretty picture for the room.  But that was it.  The before...

And now - the after...

Katie and I had a vision of a beautiful, elegant, all-white room. Sometimes I could see it.  Other times I struggled.  Especially when we painted the walls white.  Oh wow.  It just looked so cold and barren.  I really had to keep convincing myself - and Pat - to see this project through.  But then we hung the drapes... amazing what a few yards of fabric will do.  They made all the difference in the world!

By the way, while there are a few nice, new pieces in this room, most of it was pulled together by repurposing a few things we already had and taking the time to find incredible bargains.  For example, we have crazy tall ceilings.  I needed 120" drapes!  I was not about to spend a fortune on custom ones - but I also probably couldn't even turn a sewing machine on if my life depended on it.  Fortunately, we found bargain pre-made drapes in just the right length.  


This buffet was a fun and super inexpensive find too.  Katie found some guy who advertised used furniture through an online yard sale.  We went scavenging through his multiple storage units filled with furniture, looking for a buffet to refinish.  We found lots of treasures - and they were such a bargain, we left with two!  The one I refinished for the sunroom and this one that needed nothing but a little furniture polish!

I pooled some coupons to frame Pat's beautiful canvas painting.

The lamps were the final touch and probably the hardest to find.  We searched high and low.  Bargain hunting generally takes more time.  And a lot more patience.  Found a set of lamps we liked but they were too big to both sit on this buffet.  Plus we decided they would look better in the master bedroom (future project).  We hunted and hunted and hunted.  Then one day this week Katie called me from TJMaxx.  She had been on a little shopping spree and was coming over.  Here is what she found.  Perfect!

I love this space now.  It's so inviting and beautiful.  I want to have lots and lots of parties in this room.  Silly as it sounds, I feel like a grown up!  The pictures really don't do it justice.  You'll just have to come for dinner to see for yourself!