Dining Room Re-Do

Happy Fall!

That's right! It's the first weekend of Fall and this is my FAVORITE time of year.

Not only is it football season, but I'm loving the crisp cool air, the beautiful sunshine, the pumpkins and mums, boots, apple treats... you get the picture.

I was excited to get a few weekend nest projects completed this month. Here's the latest.

I have been dying to re-paint my dining room for a while now. I really loved the brick terracotta red color, but it wasn't right for the room. One important thing when choosing wall colors is to see what type of sunlight you get throughout the day. This particular room got none. It was like a dark cave most of the day and the glow from the chandelier made it worse.

For a while, I had some "grellow" {greenish-yellow/gold} paint chips propped up against the wall. I was way too scared to choose one of the options but loved the idea. 

Instead, I played it safe and went with a grayish-blue.

We originally chose the lightest shade on the paint strip trio but I ended up going back to the store to purchase a gallon the middle shade. I'm so glad I did. We both thought the first color looked too much like a baby nursery.

This was the look after the paint dried. So much lighter and fresher.

On the furniture front, I had a hard time trying to figure out just what I wanted. We have a small wall between the two windows that is clearly visible when you look into the room, but a huge wall opposite of that. While looking in a recent Ballard Designs catalog, I found the Sonoma Bookcase. In the catalog they showed it displayed in a dining room, stacked with plates and glasses. {this isn't that photo}

 

I ordered the thing and of course it arrived on the doorstep when Adam was out of town. Not sure if you can see the big sticker, but this thing weighed OVER 70 lbs and was about 7 ft. long. It took me a good 20 minutes to get it off the front porch and into the house. I was almost late for my hair appointment!

 I'm sure Adam planned it this way, but I ended up getting too excited and I put this sucker together by myself that night. It took forever. I would suggest 2 people minimum to assemble this.

And I couldn't stop there. I had to accessorize it. So I dug around in all of my cabinets to find plates, bowls, vases, candlesticks, a decanter, silver platter and ice bucket, etc.

I completed it by adding a few woven baskets to the bottom that I found 50% off at JoAnn's. I re-hung the framed vintage produce labels on each side of the bookcase.

Also at JoAnn's, I found the exact shade of "grellow" fabric in a linen. I snatched it up quickly and purchased 2 yards. When I got home I cut the 2 yards into 4 equal sections, hemmed the edges, then hot glued the fabric to bottom of my existing curtains. Yes, hot glued. I figured if Kristen of kfd designs did it, so why couldn't I?! I agree with her, it's the perfect way to add drama but if I get tired of it, I can peel it off. Plus, it added that pop of the color I wanted.

I think my favorite part of the bookcase is the fact that I can showcase a lot of my "pretty" things that I had hiding in cabinets. You can't really see, but at the very top are some fabulous etched jars that were a gift from some good friends. I filled them with pieces of driftwood that Adam and I found during a recent beach trip. I also placed the larger pieces of driftwood atop the case.

I had originally planned on selling this painting but I totally think it is meant for the dining room. It ties in all of the rich colors from the curtains. I'm holding off for some candle sconces to flank the painting. I'm hoping to find some antiqued-rusty/mercury glass ones at the Country Living fair in October.

After the sconces are found, I will start my search for the perfect sideboard. I have even thought about a large dresser too. Either way, one large piece on this wall would look great. I don't want to settle for anything less than fabulous so I don't mind waiting.

 

I hope you liked the dining room updates so far. I can't wait to finish this space but I've got a long way to go.

I hope you are having a great first weekend of Fall.