Dining Room Makeover: Stage One

You may have noticed that I've been on a budget design kick lately. I've been freshening things up using paint, some inexpensive elements like fresh flowers and indoor plants and lots of elbow grease. It's made a huge difference in our home this spring.

I'm very sensitive to the environment that I live in. As the daughter of an interior designer, I believe it's in my genes. I don't feel like myself if the space that I live in isn't put together. We live in a fairly small home, so every inch counts when it comes to decorating our space.

Our latest makeover has made the biggest impact thus far. First, I must explain a little about our former dining room... This was the space that got the least love when we moved in. Since this room is tucked away in the back of our house, it was left neglected. Oh, and for some reason I thought painting the room a dark color would make it feel more formal? Not my best idea.

Our dining room pretty much gave me heart palpitations. It felt like a small crowded brown dungeon. I was craving some light with space to entertain in. That's where the idea of building a banquette or adding a settee and rotating the table came in. We figured this would give us a few feet of extra space (and boy were we right!).

I was certain that the cost to add a banquette/settee was not in the cards for us. It just so happened that the Homegoods gods shined down on us. We found our settee for under $350 and I had a hefty store credit to apply towards the balance. I've made it my mission to sell some of our older furniture and lamps on craigslist to make up the difference in cost. The new chandelier cost us $20 out of pocket, because of a return that we made which offset the price.

The rest of this redesign was a $30 can of paint, and me climbing up and down a ladder 165 times to paint the room. All totally worth it in the end, though.

I call this "Stage One" because there are some things I would like to add. A neutral runner down the center of the table, two large natural fabric throw pillows to flank each end of the settee (maybe with a pop of color), a light colored area rug for under the table and some wine storage.

My next project will be to tackle the big empty wall pictured below. I'm hoping to find a long buffet at a thrift store that I can refurbish. I'd like to add a large gallery wall of white frames with some of my favorite photography.

Overall I'm really happy with the room. It honestly feels like we put an addition on our house! I'll be sure to check in with stage two down the road.