Before and After: A $350 Redo Takes This Dining Room from Thrown Together to Totally Glam
If you like to entertain, then decking out your dining room is a perfect way to display your style. This space is more than just a place to eat, it’s where you can gather, talk, and work. So, it’s important for your dining room, big or small, to reflect your style.
Jamala Wallace’s dining room was originally fully furnished with secondhand finds. After seeing everything in place, Jamala felt like it looked more thrown together than strategically styled, with its mix of cottagecore, vintage, and Afro-centric styles throughout. “With all the styles mixed together, it had no sense of balance,” Jamala says. She wanted to keep all her favorite styles, but give the room a more cohesive look.
Jamala’s end goal was to create what she calls an “Afro-Chinoiserie”-inspired space. She was looking forward to incorporating more flowers and patterns into the room as she redecorated.
Before, the walls were painted a shade of blue that was so faint it almost looked white — not the dramatic surroundings Jamala was going for. Jamala’s first, most drastic change was adding picture frame moulding and painting the walls. For the color, she went with a deep green (Sherwin-Williams’s Shade Overgrown) on all the walls that really brings the drama. The picture frame molding puts a subtle emphasis on all of Jamala’s vintage art and decor, giving the space texture and dimension it was lacking before. “Now the room has a moody, sultry vibe,” Jamala says.
The original light fixture was more cottagey than dramatic. Jamala replaced it with a large gold crystal chandelier she found on Facebook Marketplace for just $50 that felt grand and way more suited to the high-drama surroundings. “The chandelier is definitely the shining star of the space,” Jamala says.
Once she took the fusty cloth off the table, Jamala was reminded of a beautiful surface underneath. All the table needed was a coat of black paint on the legs to make it look brand new. Jamala kept the same set of dining chairs and gave them new life by painting them black and reupholstering the seat cushions.
A $50 DIY made it look like this couple got a whole dining room’s worth of new furniture.
Another big-impact swap? Replacing the faded blue area rug beneath the table with a large cheetah print area rug layered with a brown and white cowhide.
By shopping secondhand and re-using furniture she already had, Jamala was able to keep her redo costs to just $350, with the molding, paint, and rugs taking up the bulk of her budget.
The once thrown-together dining room now looks totally glamorous (and way more expensive than it really was). “I love the sultry mood of the room now,” Jamala says. “It’s cozy and warm with a touch of vintage glam.”
Inspired? Submit your own project here.