Chelsea's Dining Room Makeover...

I have a confession...  

I am renter

There, now I said it and it's out in the open.

I loved renting at first. Never having to worry about fixing things that break down or fall apart. Never any obligation to stay in one place. It was great for the 3 years we were in California going to Chiropractic School, but we've been out of school for 3 years now and are still renting. It totally stinks!

I know there are much worse things than being an eternal renter, but when you have an addiction to painting everything you own and you love a lot of detail, renting is torture. 

My solution to this little problem of mine has been finding things around the house that I'm sick of looking at OR heading out on a Saturday to yard sales or thrift stores and finding things that are cheap, old, and usually pretty ugly to make over. My husband will tell you, I have some really hideous things tucked away for a later date. Just hideous.

 This seems to have done the trick for the time being and I'm actually really excited about turning this whole neutral zone I'm living in, into a DIY wonderland!

 Today I'm starting today with my dining room. It got a complete makeover and I'm in LOVE.

 The first thing I did was paint my old dining table. It was my parents and has been in my family for 40 years or so. It started out a nice chocolaty brown that was fabulous for it's first 30 years of use, but it got beat up and outdated. So I painted it beach house white by Behr which I totally loved, but let's face it, white gets dirty and my whole entire house is painted all one color. They seriously spray painted the walls, doors, ceilings, and baseboards one single color. It's so boring and totally blah!  The white table seemed to blend into the walls and I just couldn't stand it for one more day. 

 So, I went to Home Depot, wearing my favorite turquoise ring and found a paint color that matched it perfectly. I am obsessed with turquoise so why not paint my most favorite piece of furniture that color?  The result is beautiful!  I'll have a tutorial up next Tuesday on how to paint a table just like this, with the name of the paint color too!

 The next thing I did was fix up my Grandpa Rock's old dining chairs. They were pretty much ready to paint and just needed a few screws tightened and a new chair cushion. I spray painted them Winter Gray in gloss by Krylon and cut up my old curtains made from Amy Butler's Belle fabric in orange and aqua (my all time favorite) to make new cushions.

Then I made custom covers for my extremely cheap Target brand Parson Chairs. These babies have lasted us almost 6 years! I'm kind of amazed.  We kept the plain brown leather for the first 3 years, then did Pier One slipcovers that were cute enough, but this takes the cake! Made from a simple canvas fabric, with numbers stenciled on the back. I'm in Love.

I'll have a tutorial on the chairs in a week!

I created a little drama with some custom striped drapes hanging from ceiling to floor from some fancy, but very inexpensive rods from Target. Click HERE for a tutorial on how to make your own striped curtains. 

For the finishing touches, I went to a favorite local home dec store of mine called Tai Pan (oh yeah! They're online!) for dishes and nick-nacks.  I also added fresh herbs to some pre-labled pots to give it some Green.

For the framed pictures, I spray painted old frames in the same winter gray as the dining chairs and printed out E A T on my home computer. The runner on the dinging table is made from the same fabric as the Parson Chairs. I cut it into a long strip, zig zagged around the edges, and then threw it in the dryer to give a vintage touch.

The stunning geometric rug is from Target, but was borrowed from our theater room floor.  I think it might have to stay!

All in all this dining room makeover was easily under $200 (not including the rug). Using coupons for my fabric purchase's was key in keeping the cost down. 

Other ways to save when redoing a room is to snag things from other areas of the house. You can also replace it later with something new or something from another room!  I also love having nick nack swapping party with friends. That's loads of fun and it always feels like something new. 

I hope you enjoyed my Dining Room Makeover! So once again here's the before and after pics. I seriously can't even believe the before was in my house.  Not cute!

Before

After

WOW!

xoxo

Chelsea