Our Dining Room Refresh (On a Budget)

Since moving into our home, we’ve always planned on remodeling the kitchen, which is an extension of our dining room. Because of this, it has never been a place I have put much effort into it knowing one day it would all be demolished. It’s actually been a pretty good overflow area of all things extra. And because of the white carpet in this room, we’ve never wanted to eat in here, either, due to the damage it could do to the carpet. So, it’s been an unused room.

Before:

(Showing the window angle and part of the wall that I re-did below.)

And then a funny thing happened. One project lead to another, which lead to the next, which lead to another after that. And once the built-ins in our living room were finished (Befores and afters HERE), I suddenly had no room for the buffet that previously housed our tv, so I re-arranged a few things and put it in this room.

Doing that left a big empty space on the wall above it, and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. Until I decided to attempt a book wall, which ended up being very inexpensive to complete. (Tutorial HERE.)

I absolutely loved it! And suddenly, this room was starting to come to life. I liked how I felt when I looked at this wall and felt myself wanting to be in there more. While we don’t actually use the fireplace often in this room, I then decided I wanted to update it to coincide with the newly decorated wall. So what if one day it will all need to go to accommodate the kitchen? Why not enjoy it now?! My attitude suddenly changed, and I went for it. I chose a moody blue and painted it.

And it didn’t stop there. A few pieces of wood and more paint from the same can, and we added a board and batten top portion; (tutorial HERE) It just didn’t feel right without it. And my goodness, it just fit and felt like it had always been there.

This room was starting to come together! I decided I wanted dining room chairs that contrasted the dining table, so I sold the wooden ones and got these black metal ones for a fraction of the price! I actually ended up making money on that switch, so that was a plus.  But one key ingredient was still missing, and that was a rug for under the table. It all still felt a little unfinished, until I realized a rug would just tie it all together, allow us to eat in this room without fear of ruining the carpet, and bring in the warmth and texture I was looking for.  And oh my gosh, not to toot my own horn, here, but I couldn’t have been more right.

This rug from Well Woven Rugs is absolutely stunning and ties every element of this room together perfectly. The color of the fireplace, the colors in the terra cotta pots, the aged look of the books on the wall, the red brick, the wooden table, they all tie into this rug and I could not be more in love with it.

After:

I once solely decorated with neutrals. In fact, if you ask my kids what my favorite color is, they will tell you it is “white.” My friends, I no longer think that is the case. I have found my style. I have learned how to decorate with color and I absolutely LOVE it! This room is now a place we play games in, a place we turn the fire on and sit in, and a place we actually eat in. All it took was a little paint, the perfect rug from Well Woven Rugs, and a little guts.

If looking for a rug to finish the look in your own home, I cannot say enough good things about the rugs from Well Woven. Their rugs are soft on the feet, make a statement in any room, and to top it all off, they’re affordable, too. And, the gals over at Well Woven are also so nice to work with and have even offered a discount code for all my buddies! Use code SHANNON15 for 15% off your order of $75 or more through the end of this month! 

Sources: 

Rug: Well Woven Use code Shannon15 for 15% off your order of $75 or more through the end of this month! 

Black Metal Chairs: Target  These are 15% off with code APRIL at checkout

Table: Walker’s Furniture

Gold Mirror: Anthropologie

Candlesticks: DIY (Tutorial HERE)

Shelving Unit: World Market

Bamboo Shade: Amazon

Faux Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree: Homegoods (Similar HERE)

Woven Baskets: Decor Steals

Chargers- Target

Plates – Craigslist

Gold Cutlery – Target

Napkins – TJ Maxx (Similar found HERE)

Glasses – Anthropologie clearance

I hope you have enjoyed our dining room refresh and can see that it really doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg to change a room around. As always, friends, thanks for stopping by!

<3 Shannon