The Dining Room Reveal

The dining room is finally finished now! It really is. And I am so grateful!

I know that those of you who’ve read this blog for some time now are thinking, “What the wha? I thought the dining room was already done?!?” Well, yeah, it was. And then, it wasn’t. Let me ‘splain.

First, we had this:

As I explained in this post about my plans for decorating the dining room and in this post about how I want to blend traditional and eclectic design, the dining room was too dark. The chair rail and the table were too traditional. It wasn’t me.

So, I did some painting. I sold the table and the rug (note: I kept the chairs – this becomes relevant later. If you can’t wait to see the finished chairs, please see this post where I show you how to reupholster parsons chairs, without sewing!).

And I ended up with this “new and improved” dining room:

…which I loved. But the table was our kitchen table and I didn’t like it in the dining room. Once I found a new (old) table, it was too big for this rug. Also, I didn’t love the chair covers, and they didn’t hold up well.

So, as part of the Mohawk Home Set The Table Giveaway, Mohawk sent me this rug, which I picked out and love, love, love. (Thank you, Mohawk Home!)

Once I got this rug, all the pieces came together for me. I immediately had the picture in my head of what the dining room should look like. I knew that the color was right, the rug was right, and the table was right. I needed to fix the chairs and a few other things. I started Dining Room, Phase 3.

I found the two end chairs at Marshalls – they are Cynthia Rowley and I love them a lot. I actually saw one of them one day and, because there was only one, I left it at the store. Then I came back the next day to ask them to find a second chair and the second one was there! It was fate! (Don’t ya’ love that?)

Then I found the two metal industrial chairs at Finders Keepers Furniture Consignment. You saw these chairs in my last post:

The metal chairs are just extra seating now – but I do love them. I just don’t know that my guests will want to sit for a whole Thanksgiving feast in them.

I reupholstered the parsons chairs that had the slipcovers in the above picture. It wasn’t hard and the difference is dramatic and exactly what I wanted.

Click on the photo for the tutorial – it’s so easy, with no sewing!

Now the chairs we had coordinate with the new chairs – in both color and the nailhead trim. I promise it wasn’t hard to do, and much cheaper than buying all new chairs when these were in good shape!

The last big thing to tackle was the long expanse of wall opposite the windows. I have always had a hard time with this big wall space, filling it up. I found these mirrors at Ikea and they were perfect. Symmetry and repetition – two great design ideas that taste great together.

Last thing: I removed the big Expedit unit that was on the wall where the glass table is now.

Before:

It was just too bulky and big for this space. I added a plate wall there, something I’ve always wanted but couldn’t figure out how to place it on the wall how I wanted it.

After:

The Expedit is now holding my craft supplies and other DIY necessities in the guest room/office. (Post to come soon on that, too! I told you there’ve been a lot of projects going on around here!)

I’m thrilled with the final product and it really is the final product. No more adjustments on this room. It’s perfect.

Oh, the lamps are also new. They are also from Marshalls.

All done, and for that I am grateful!