A Pale Yellow Dining Room Transforms with Charming New Wallpaper
Although a dining room might not be the first room you tackle when it comes to home improvements, DIYer Jordan Tupta (@jordyjean) makes a good case for doing exactly that.
“The table is the heart of the home,” she says — especially in her home, where it’s the only spot to actually sit and eat, and where she and her husband, Stephen, and three kids love to host people.
Of her once-pale yellow dining room, she says: “Overall, it just felt like it needed new life breathed into it, and it needed to be refreshed and more fun to match us as a family and the rest of the home with all of its fun wallpaper and character.”
Picking the right wallpaper was key.
The room next to the dining room also had wallpaper, so Jordan’s priority was choosing a wallpaper that didn’t clash and in fact complemented, color-wise. She picked the wallpaper before she even moved in.
“I searched through dozens and dozens of wallpapers before I found Livette’s wallpaper,” she says (and her plaid pick in the hazelnut colorway was gifted). “I wanted some sort of fun geometric pattern to compliment the floral in the playroom. I love mixing florals with classic patterns like stripes or gingham.”
The floors and walls got a glow-up.
Also prior to the Tupta family’s move-in, they hired professionals to refurbish the hardwood floor, and Jordan’s aunt, a professional painter, helped paint the walls and ceilings in crisp white (Benjamin Moore’s Cloud White).
Jordan says her aunt’s best painting tip — and now her best paint tip — is to water down your paint if it’s water-based or thin it a bit with paint thinner if it’s oil-based. “Do enough so that the paint and your brush isn’t fighting you but the paint isn’t running wild down your walls,” Jordan advises. “Not only does it make the job of the painter so much easier, but it makes the finish so beautiful. It’s also SO much easier to cut in! I recommend pouring some of the paint you’re going to use into a separate container and then adding water to that. Don’t add water directly to the bucket.”
Jordan recommends doing this with all of your paint; it will not only save you time but also money.
The trim got a fresh coat of paint, and the chair rail disappeared.
To give the patterned wallpaper a seamless look, Jordan and Stephen chose to remove the chair rail that once extended across the dining room. “Some of our family members gawked at the idea of us removing it, but we stuck with our plan and didn’t waiver on that,” Jordan says. “We’re really glad we did. The wallpaper from the floor to the ceiling makes the room feel so much bigger. We love that the wallpaper serves as artwork!”
The couple painted the trim in Benjamin Moore’s Smokey Taupe, which closely matches the wallpaper.
A new light fixture (and other finishing touches) complete the dining room.
Jordan completed the dining room with a new Anthropologie chandelier (that Stephen installed), IKEA curtains and new curtain rods, artwork, and dining chairs that she reupholstered herself with Spoonflower fabric.
Although Jordan’s main takeaway from the DIY dining room project is that “wallpaper and paint can make such a huge impact on a room,” there was one item she’s thankful she didn’t paint after initially considering giving it a cherry red coat: the hutch. And the hutch once belonged to the past homeowner. “Our Realtor ended up buying it from the original owners of the house as a surprise welcome home gift for us,” Jordan says. “It was so sweet!” She filled it with cookbooks, pitchers, everyday dishes, and sourdough bannetons to decorate.
Jordan’s room makeover advice? “Shop your home and keep arranging until you love it,” she says. And she certainly loves her dining room. “It feels like it has so much more character now and fits our home so much better,” she adds. “It definitely sets the tempo for the rest of the house, which we’re excited to tackle room by room!”
Inspired? Submit your own project here.