One Happy Dining Room

A few years ago, I redecorated my dining room in a neutral taupe color scheme. At the time I was trying to take my place from busy and cluttered to clean and calming, and for a while this worked.

But then I got bored.

My apartment can be dark, and I wanted to brighten it up. I can't add windows, so I decided to spruce it up with a bright cheery paint color in the dining room and kitchen.

I had also been wanting to buy a new dining room table for the entire time I've lived here, but I dragged my feet for 5 1/2 years for reasons that are too complex to go into. The one I had belonged to my great grandmother and while it is solid mahogany, it is old, creaky, and generally beat-up looking (you'd be that way too after 20+ years in my mother's basement!). Plus it's not my style from a decor perspective either.

Fast forward to today, and I now have a dining room I am starting to really love. Drum roll please....

Here's what I did over the last couple of weeks to make this transformation:

• Painted the walls with a pear-green paint color matched to Benjamin Moore's "Wales Green", with white trim on the chair rail and baseboards. ($30)




• Added a large mirror from Target to reflect light back into the space from the large windows that are on the other side of the great room. ($69.99)




• Added two glass wall vases from Pottery Barn ($20) and some cheery pink daisies ($3.99) from the grocery store.




• Replaced the dining room table with the Bjursta round/oval table from IKEA. I got this during tax free weekend so I saved a bit, which is always nice! ($229.)

I still want to get a new table runner (this might be a venture into DIY after a trip to the fabric store), paint the legs of my chairs dark to match the new table, and replace the curio in the corner with something that better matches the new table and is more functional. (I'm thinking about the 2x2 Expedit shelf from IKEA with some wall shelves above it, for storing party supplies and wine bottles.)

Total cost of this redo to date is under $350, which is so amazing. I can't wait to have people over for a dinner party!