Dining Room Makeover
Last year we finished decorating our dining room, and I’m finally getting around to sharing it with you. We have an open-plan lounge/dining area with an archway in the middle, and while there wasn’t really anything wrong with either room before, they were both in desperate need of a fresh coat of paint and some tidying up. I can’t actually believe how much we’ve transformed the space now though – it’s crazy what a bit of paint and some new furniture can do!
Before our dining room was white, with a tiny cheap Ikea table and the most uncomfortable (also cheap) Ikea chairs in the middle. There wasn’t really a lot else going on, other than some grey curtains and a bookshelf which we’ve kept. Because it was all a bit ‘meh’, we rarely used the room to eat and it kind of became ‘the room we hang the washing in’. Thankfully, since decorating it we use it so much more and we’ve gone from a room that felt small and boring to a gorgeous space that we’re both really proud of.
Dark green feature wall
I’d wanted a dark green feature wall in both our lounge and dining room for a while, and after a heated debate over the many gorgeous greens Valspar have to offer (with an excessive amount of sample pots and swatches all over the walls) we opted for ‘Dragon Song’ (I bloody love the name, won’t lie!) It’s the perfect dark, matte green that works well in both the dining room (which gets a lot of sun) and the lounge (which is north-facing and so a lot darker).
The DIY dining table
My vision for the dining room was dark green, gold accents and lots of plants, and I think we followed that through well. We kept the bookcase as is, adding some plants to tie in nicely with the green wall (and, well, we just love plants). In terms of other furniture, we wanted a nice big dining table that could fit four people comfortably but also with a bit more room in case we had extra guests. Tom actually made the dining table using pine wood and some metal picnic-style legs from eBay. I absolutely love how it turned out; he did such a good job. I also really wanted a bench on one side and two Scandi-style chairs on the other. The bench was from Ikea and the chairs were a steal from Schlum.
The hanging beam feature light
I think my favourite thing about the whole room has got to be the hanging beam feature light that Tom also expertly made. We’d wanted a hanging beam light with lots of different shaped bulbs for ages but when I looked for something online there wasn’t really a lot on offer. So, Tom being Tom, he decided to have a go at making one himself. He used two lengths of wood which he screwed together, chiselling channels out in the middle for the cable to sit inside. Then we got the cable from Etsy, some brass light fittings from Lamp Spares and a load of filament bulbs from various shops. We also added a dimmer switch so that we can dim the bulbs for some real mood lighting. I absolutely love how it turned out and can’t thank Tom enough for making it!
DIY bar cart
Sticking with DIYs, the last big change in the dining room was the addition of our little bar cart. While I would love to have the kind of money to fork out on a fancy Oliver Bonas bar cart, the thought of spending ยฃ300+ on something to whack a few bottles of Disaronno on made me feel a little bit sick. So, I looked at how we could DIY one instead. I bought this cart from Clas Ohlson for the grand total of ยฃ30 (it looks like it’s gone up slightly in price but is still a steal) and then it was simply a case of spraying the metal bits gold and using some marble contact paper to cover the wooden bits. I love how it turned out and would totally recommend doing this if you’re lusting after a bar cart but don’t want to spend ยฃยฃยฃ!
A few finishing touches
I finished things off by placing some beautiful dried flowers from Mud Urban Flowers and a little wicker tray from JYSK on the dining table. We also added a little lamp from Ikea to the bar cart and decided to really open up the French doors by getting rid of the curtains. We rarely drew them anyway – our garden isn’t overlooked so there’s no real need for them, and the room looks so much bigger and brighter without them. One of the finishing touches that made a big difference is the mirror. I’d wanted a window-style arch mirror for ages and this was an absolute steal from The Range. We originally planned on painting it black but we’ve left it as-is for now and love how much it opens the room up.
I’d like to add some art to the feature wall at some point, but for now I absolutely love this room and sitting in here on a sunny day is the best feeling ever.