Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Home Tour: Dining Room

Continuing on with the home tour...slowly but surely! This is actually my favorite room in the whole house. I am well aware that most newly-weds don't start out with a full dining room set...they are nowhere near cheap! However, like almost everything else in our house, we were blessed enough to have an entire set (table, chairs, and huge china cabinet) handed down to us from my parents. Thanks Mom and Dad! They had recently gotten a new set and their old one (our new one) was sitting in my grandparent's basement collecting dust. The set was originally a light brown oak color with gold toned seat cushions. The china cabinet was the same color and had leaded glass in the doors (which made it EXTREMELY difficult/heavy to get it up and out of the basement and into our car. (Thanks again, Dad and Brother! You're the best.) Now I really wish I could take credit for the re-do of the table, chairs, and cabinet but...I cannot. We ended up storing all of it at my now in-law's house and my awesome MIL (who is a fabulous painter and DIYer herself) painted the entire set white and re-covered the original seat cushions with my favorite fabric pattern...blue and white toile. Yes, I must be part old lady because I LOVE toile and I just don't care who knows it. In case you're asking yourself, "What the heck is toile?" Here it is:


At the time, I was a senior at UGA trying to get through my student teaching and plan a wedding so any DIY help was much appreciated and in this case...was just plain AMAZING. The only part of the transformation that I can take credit for is the chicken wire. The hubs and I decided to do away with the leaded glass (mostly because it was just too dang heavy) and replace it with chicken wire. The wire itself was cheap from Home Depot and one roll was plenty enough for multiple projects. However, this was a painful process to say the least. Note to self: chicken wire is sharp and hard to stretch. However, the end result gave me the exact casual look I was going for so...worth it I guess? Sorry fingers!

Here's a close-up of the chicken wire:


Anyways, I really wish I had a before picture of the whole set...but I don't. So here is what it looks like currently!







I started collecting various blue and white plates, cups, saucers, etc about 4 years ago and I can guarantee you that not one piece that I have in this room was expensive (to me, anyways). Almost every piece in here has been either a yard sale or thrift store find. I have a couple that are from antique stores in our area (still never pay more than $10...that's my rule) and some have been gifts from my wonderful family members who know how much I obsess over this stuff. A couple things in here are actually from Hobby Lobby! They used to carry a lot of this blue and white patterned stuff but I have not seen it in their stores for quite awhile now. Such a bummer. Anyways, I don't know how it started and I have no excuse for it...I just love blue and white. 












This hutch that we added to the room about a year after we moved in was a Christmas gift from my awesome in-laws! My MIL found it at one of my fave local thrift stores and just knew I had to have it. Once again...I could kick myself for not keeping any of the before pictures...but the piece was a dark reddish-brown that the hubs and I painstakingly painted over with white and then sanded down with a belt sander to make it look as old as it actually is. We were told it came out of an old farmhouse and I would just LOVE to know the story behind it... Oh well. It's gorgeous nonetheless.


The Blueberries sign was not a vintage find (it actually came from my fave etsy shop, RBT Home Decor which you can find here!) but those gorgeous milk glass vases were! My Mom got me the fanned vase (my favorite one by far) for Easter a couple of years ago. I keep my handy dandy couldn't kill it if I tried Hobby Lobby Lavender in there because I love the fresh look it brings to the whole room. 


I decided to paint this room navy blue when we moved in because...well, isn't it obvious? Everything in it goes with navy! Plus, my Mom's kitchen is navy blue and I have always LOVED it...so I knew I wanted it in my house somewhere.


The one thing I would change about this room is the flooring. I did not understand why there was ever carpet put in this room (the previous owners used it as a dining room as well). However, flooring change is pricey so for now, carpet it is! The chandelier was actually another makeover that we did when we moved in...but that is for another post! 

Here is what the room looked like before we moved in, and then now. 


Thanks so much for sticking with me while I learn how to do this blogging thing. Happy Hump Day!

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