A Budget Friendly Cottage Dining Room Redesign..The Big Reveal!

Today I wanted to share pictures of my “complete” cottage style dining room. “Complete”. Hmm. Who am I kidding? No room in my home is EVER finished. My homer is always evolving and probably will for years to come. My husband and I are already thinking about putting the laminate in the dining room as well.

If you recall my post a few weeks ago about my “Extreme Makeover” Chair Redesigns? If not you can view that  HERE.  In a nutshell, I wanted new chairs for my dining room. I found these great OLD chairs at a thrift store at a real bargain and gave them a makeover. Once I put them in the room, the space just didn’t feel right to me. I loved the chairs but they were just too white for the space. This set off a whole chain or events. I rolled up my sleeves and got to work, creating my makeover magic.

Here is the dining room “Before”

I made the slip covers for the chairs about 6 years ago and they were starting to get old. The fabric was starting to fray in places and there were a few stains on them from many holiday dinners. Here is a shot of the redesigned “new” chairs. I just adore the fabric I used on the seats and it was my inspiration for the whole scheme of the redesign.

The first step of my transformation was to tackle the dining room table. I hauled it outside and gave it a good sanding.

I painted the bottom the same white as the chairs and distressed it. I stained the top a rich mahogany brown. Keep reading to see the finished results!

The next hurdle was painting the walls. I wanted to create a two toned paint treatment that consisted of a faux wainscot treatment on the bottom half. I chose a stunning soft blue  in a satin finish called Determination by Olympic paint at Lowe’s.

The bottom half of the wall got a few coats of a soft enamel white. I found this awesome paintable textured wallpaper at Lowe’s that mimics the design of old ceiling tiles.

I pasted panels around the room, trimmed them in moulding and capped it off with a simple white “chair rail” for a unique wainscott effect.

And here is the finished result….

Come on in and take a tour!

With the exception of the newly redone chairs, I kept all the original furniture and they stayed in their previous location.Remember the table in its before state? I love how it has turned out with its new white paint. Paired up with the chairs they look like they were made for each other! The rich stained table top is a nice contrast to the white I think. It also ties in with the warm wood tones of the hutch.

Above the doorway leading to the kitchen I attached a shelf that’s now home to a few members of my glass Hen~ on~ a ~nest and rooster candy dish collection. My favorite piece is the vintage carnival glass hen. I have been collecting these for years. I do want to add a vintage white milk glass hen but being the bargain hunter I am I have yet to find one at the right price. The Fresh Eggs sign is one of my creations from years ago.

This is the bay window in the front of the house. I love having this architectural detail in the house. It gives our home character. We were actually lucky enough to get two of these beauties when we had the house built. The other is set in our breakfast room.

The buffet is an old dresser I redesigned a few months ago. It houses some of my tablecloths and china pieces.

Above the windows I placed a collection of beautiful blue and white transferware dessert plates I picked up at a yard sale.  I created the pretty curtain valances with the same fabric I used on the chairs. The blue gingham trim fabric  was actually cut from a few curtain valances I picked up from a local consignment shop. I got them at half price…3 for $1.50 each!

I love my large metal birdcage sitting in the corner. I paid $8 at a yard sale for it a few months ago. It was a dingy white but I painted it a very pretty soft blue from Valspar’s spray paint collection

.

I love these adorable candle sconces. They were also a thrift store find. Cost? Not sure. I bought them a while back but think they were about $1 or $2 a piece. They got a new white paint job with a little distressing. I think they turned out great!

Here’s what they looked like before…

My china cabinet…. Not too much changed there.

I did find these pretty plates by Coventry at my favorite thrift shop. There was a whole box of them for only $10. The colors were just right and they add more yellow into the room

.

My table all set and pretty

I set each place setting with more of the same dishes and paired them with some blue Currier and Ives plates I had at home. Wooden pears give them some added interest. The runner is made from one of those consignment shop curtains trimmed with more of the yellow and blue floral fabric

.

The large candle holders were marked down at the same consignment shop for under $3 each.  The mercury glass taper candle holders were a Christmas gift from my Hubby. I love them! The yellow Black Eyed Susans were picked fresh my garden and I bought the big white rooster years ago

.

With two gallons of paint, a roll of textured wallpaper, some inexpensive moldings, redesigned thrifty finds, some creativity and a lot of love, this dining room transformation was done very affordably. We spent less than $175 for everything!

So…… what do you think?

Thanks so much for visiting today!
~Lisa

[contact-form][contact-field label=”Name” type=”name” required=”true” /][contact-field label=”Email” type=”email” required=”true” /][contact-field label=”Website” type=”url” /][contact-field label=”Message” type=”textarea” /][/contact-form]