Before & After: A Dining Room Designed on a Dime
Danielle fell in love with the dark wood details and trim throughout this 1927 Dutch Colonial house when she moved in last summer. Though the wood is gorgeous, Danielle felt she needed to work to brighten the space to create the warm and welcoming look she was going for. But she was on a budget! She freecycled major furniture pieces, tackled lots of how-to projects and mixed IKEA textiles with vintage pieces to create a palette of soft colors and treasured finds.
From Danielle:
We decided to brighten up the walls with Benjamin Moore’s Mascarpone and fell madly in love with this antique brass and crystal chandelier which is the center of the room. The chandelier was $350 and was the most expensive item in the entire room. The dining room set was a freecycle find that I hoarded in our old house because I just knew one day I would have a beautiful dining room.
The dining set wasn’t in great shape when we got it and was very dated — 1960s yellow and pink. I stained the top of the dining table with Minwax stain and painted the table base and chairs with chalk paint in Old White. We opted for Sunbrella fabric for the chairs because we have two little boys with sticky fingers! The hutch and antique armoire were also thrifted finds and have been given a new life with chalk paint and milk paint. Linen curtains from Ikea and warm wooden rods from Home Depot add texture and warmth to the room.
The other very special piece in this room is an antique lithograph entitled “The Time Honoured Guest” which hung in my parents’ restaurant for 11 years. I feel so “honoured” to have it now hanging in my dining room. We are so happy with this room and love how it came out. It truly is a mix of treasure, vintage finds and soft romantic colors. We are looking forward to many, many fun meals in here.
Read more about this project plus find lots of how-tos on how she transformed many of the dining room’s pieces on Danielle’s blog Silver Pennies.
Thank you Danielle!
Re-edited from a post originally published 2.15.14-NT