Before and After: This Dining Room Got a Dramatic Makeover
This dining room—with its hardwood floors, elegant molding, fantastic ceiling medallion, nice wall color, and tons of windows—is more enviable than pretty much any room I’ve ever rented, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be improved upon.
Ooh, it’s so fancy now! The new removable wallpaper is absolutely perfect with the wall paint and it adds a ton of graphic interest while still reflecting lots of light. Speaking of, the removal of the shutters (indoor shutters: why?) allows even more daylight to stream in. The new chandelier is much more modern than the old one—those dinky little shades are my nemeses—and I love the way the rug and the two upholstered chairs bring in a beautiful blue without making the room so, so blue. This dining room belongs to Danielle Cuccio of The Beauty Blender, who designed and DIYed this makeover.
Let’s see how Danielle approached this project, while the inevitable crookedness of the teeny light shades gently raises our blood pressure:
The room before was dull, had shutters, and needed a major upgrade. The shutters and light fixture seemed outdated.
Being that it’s the first room you see when you walk into the home, I wanted it to be bright and more of a statement room. I wanted more of a POP and for people to feel invited when they walked into our home. We host so many holidays at our home since my husband loves to cook: Thanksgiving, Hannukah, Christmas…We knew we wanted to create an inviting and warm room we could spend with our family and loved ones. I also work from home a lot since I have my own yoga wellness brand, Cuccio Somatology, and I often work in the dining room! So it was important to make this space have extra good energy.
That First Room You See factor is so powerful, and it can definitely affect a room’s stature. In many homes, a dining room might be rarely used and thus low on the renovation priority list, but if it’s the first room you see, it gets bumped up several spots.
Here we can see that the floor has been refinished with a beautifully deep stain; the dark floor anchors the rest of the floaty, dreamy room. Redoing a floor is a major project, but the most intimidating aspect of this project is the wallpaper, which, according to Danielle, was totally no big deal:
I LOVE the wallpaper we used from ColoRay. It was so easy to apply! We also got our roman shades from The Shade Store. Our rug is from RugsUSA. And our West Elm Light makes for a great statement piece.
Honorable mention to the new curtain configuration: the rod echoes the light fixture, and the curtain acts as a decorative accessory when not in use, but is ready to provide privacy—or a more laptop-friendly sunlight level—when needed.
Again, the pre-renovation dining room has a lot to love, but there is quite a bit of brown. Danielle could have just changed out the chairs and maybe a painting, but instead decided to really go for it:
It took us about a year to get it just right. To be honest, we just kept adding to it. We didn’t need to bring in outside help because my husband and I do everything DIY. We actually were on Renovation Realities on the DIY Network doing our bathroom reno! So we knew we could do this if we did an entire bathroom!
Note: Renovating a bathroom must do wonder for your DIY confidence!
Before we wrap up, let’s salute that lovely bar cart in the corner, with its grey marble top’s grey and white swirls that harmonize so perfectly with the wallpaper’s subtle, organic grey and white petals.
When something inspires you, do it. Your home is your space and you can create whatever space you want. It’s super important to create a space you love. Check out my blog for more inspiring room renovation, healthy living and more: TheBeautyBlender.com
Thank you, The Beauty Blender!