Before and After: Client Dining Room

I'm grateful to have helped this client transform her dining room into a functioning space she can be proud of..

"I walk by and cannot believe its my house"

(Shucks).

Here's what we started with...

A lot of dead space on either side of the table and only enough seating for four or five people. Everything was on the block except the furniture and we could not paint it, as my client shook her head no with that look on her face like, yeah I know, I wish. Oh the sweet smell of compromise...

Here is the room after, however, these pictures came out looking very blue.  The color is actually "Misted Green" by Benjamin Moore and I contemplated even posting them as they are so off. The only thing that is not, is the slipcovered table. A big FYI (I promise I was never a fan of the smurfs).

We moved the hutch to this wall making room for the table leaves and additional seating.

Fully extended, the table took on much more of a presence.

This entire room started with the drapes. We were on a tight budget. SO on a whim,  I popped into Tuesday Morning and discovered these damask darlings and decided monochromatic would be the look we'll go for.

You'd never know these altar sticks were once high gloss black, the pair a steal for $19.99. I gave her instructions on how to paint them, along with some authentic looking candle trays on top to allow for larger candles and voila. When in doubt, rub a little of this on...

I really really liked the lines of the hutch doors but they we're getting lost with all the visual clutter behind them so we picked somewhat of a mod, updated fabric and lined the inside of them, in hopes the lines would shine brighter.

I had a small bit of this cheetah print fabric leftover (goes with everything) and suggested she try her hand at recovering the shades on her new chandelier, adding yet another layer. Its all about layers my friends. Keep laying it on until it feels just about right, then take one thing back (same goes for accessorizing your outfit). The chandelier we found on overstock.

Recovering the seats was a must and easy to do. We found a soft champagne/green/kinda mod/with a hint of honey found in the furniture/ fabric to try to sex up those chairs a bit. Ok, so sexy's a bit of a stretch with a traditional ladder back chair, but you know what I mean. ;-)

By moving the hutch to the opposite wall, it gave us a huge blank focal wall to play with. Ring, ring, drama called...so we filled them up with my favorite go-to mirror from Martha Stewart for Home Depot. $13.99 and the perfect champagne finish. If I had my way, I'd add six more and group them more tightly together. ;-))))

Would you believe this table we slipcovered in a muted green gray burlap, trimmed in ivory ribbon, was collecting dust in their basement...

The bay window needed something, and this fit perfectly and obviously very budget friendly. We had a board cut to place on top, giving us nice sharp corners for our slipcover and whatdya know, some new surface space to style and function when entertaining.

Teacups are to be treasured here,  so in the left corner we created a vignette with the small display ledges from Ballard Designs, which went tonally with our furniture, displayed in a diamond pattern (notice the wall color here- gray! Honestly, nice photo skills).

Wanting to bring in some more texture, against the wood, we picked up this oversized gray/blue wicker basket at Lindens in Woodstock (great little shop full of finds) and filled it with mercury glass balls and "bubbles". We also purchased a fuzzy wool throw from Target that we throw over the table, off centered a bit, and place the basket on top. I was in such a hurry that day, I forgot all about it and left it out of the shoot. Way to go Jen. But remember, when you're shopping for a tablecloth and not finding what you need, look to the throws!

One last look...maybe someday we can silver leaf the inside of that trey ceiling to match the mirrors...wouldn't that be devine?

Hope you enjoyed! Amazing what a little paint can do.

Thanks for stopping by today, make it a great one!

Cheers,
Jen