before/after dining room (designed on a dime)

I have come to the conclusion that when you (meaning me) are a stay at home mom you tend to think that you don't accomplish much during the day except doing damage control within the walls of your home (which for me feels like they are closing in around me some days). So I decided to look at what I've been able to accomplish here in my home this last year and a half.

(our Dining Room before)

(our Dining Room after)

I found this old picture of our dining room that was taken when the previous owners listed it. I then took a picture of it today and saw the that...YES, Brooke! You have accomplished MUCH! There is still more I'd like to do, but we have slowly (oh-so-slowly) changed little things here and there to bring it into the 21st Century.

First we painted the room Spanish Moss green. Then Steve, my brother Quentin and my dad spent an entire Saturday putting up white wainscoting. (THANK YOU!)

We also changed out the lovely, faded off-white levolores (shown above) with white wood 2" blinds.

Steve and I have been married 8 years this Aug. and still have never bought an official dining room set. But the eclectic girl in me is ok with that. My husband's boss asked him if he wanted her old dining room set and we said YES! Above are the chairs she gave us (THANK YOU!). My Mimi is sitting on one of them. I never took an official stand alone pic of them before I refinished them. Oh well.

I sanded them down and painted them a very crisp white which was left over from painting the wainscoting (it took about 4 days and 3 coats of paint). But it was well worth the time. I think they are so pretty. I covered the seats with left over fabric I had from my boutique'ing days. (I used to sell baby blankets at a boutique show and I used this fabric as my table cloth)

We changed out the 1970's ceiling fan (seriously I loathed that thing). I'm sure it was quite the show piece in it's hay-day but I felt a mini-victory when it was gone.

I bought this chandelier off of ksl classifieds for $15 (I know, a steal right!?) We bought the ceiling medallion, which just happened to match perfectly with the chandelier and was on clearance for 75% off (paid $7). Steve and I spent an evening putting it up with liquid nails, et viola!

Added the above framed art. (The oil painting print above is an 18 X 20 picture and was a gift). The two other framed pieces of art were bought at the DI/thrift store. You'll never believe how cheap I got these. Price below.

Now we have a lovely, bright dining room. I love it. I also love how in this picture you can't see all the small tiny marks of a family on the bright white chairs (smudges of ketchup, spilled chocolate milk etc.)

I also wanted to note that the dining room table is from my grandparents. It is Pecan wood and I love how it folds down to fit 3 people or out on both sides to fit over 8 people comfortably. I can't say it is officially ours, but we are so grateful for it.

Cost of our dining room update:

Paint, on sale at Restoration Hardware for $23 a gallon (green & white) $23 x 2 = -$46

Wainscoting $150, used Homedepot gift cards we got for Christmas: -$0

Wood blinds, selectblinds.com: -$82

Chairs, table and fabric refinish (used leftover paint and fabric): -$0

Chandelier (bought used on KSL classifieds $15) and medallion (on clearance $7): -$22

18x20 framed art and 2 drawings on wall (bought at the DI/thrift store for $2 a piece): -$4

large painting gold leaf framed painting on wall (gift): -$0

Total cost: $154

Next project for the Dining Room/Living Room:

Knocking out this 80's glass wall! Below is what I would like to do with it: (all in good time)

I found this picture online over a year ago, wish I could link it but have lost the link. I want to knock out the wall above and replace it with something like this half wall.

painted wood paneling, before/after

Welcome. Here is a glimpse into what I like to call our "diamond in the ruff" home. The first time I walked through our (now) home, I fell in love. Despite the dated cosmetic details such as brass fixtures and ceiling fans I fell in love with all it's wood floors (over 2,000 sq. ft. of original hardwood floors) and this add-on Master Suite. It's huge, has vaulted ceilings...oh and a TON of pine wood paneling. I was never a fan of the wood paneling. My husband and I joke that we turn the corner walk up the stairs and we are in a log cabin.

The below pic is said Master Suite.

My first thought before we even bought the home was I was going to paint it. Then my mom and mother-in-law begged us not to. "Why would you paint wood?" was their question. I know, I know and maybe in the 70's or 80's it was really nice and classy, but I HATE it! Am I wrong for wanting to paint it?

Below are 10 reasons I should paint. Are you with me?

This room above is just darling after they painted the paneling. Looks so fresh and clean. I am convinced I need to paint my bedroom. But just in case there are some more before/afters below just in case I begin to doubt.

I found the before/after here. I think that the light paint makes the room larger and brighter.

The room above looks dramatically different in this before/after found here.

I found this (above) before/after here. Even though they didn't change anything else, even the above 70's reasesed light, it looks a 100% better.

I found this before/after here. We have this exact color wood paneling in our Master bedroom, this looks so much better after it's been painted.

Below are staged pics I found via the internet.

these never get old

I never get tired of seeing how people take old chairs with good "bones" and reupholster them. Here are a couple of the most recent transformations found on Design Sponge.

Below is a chair my husband's cousin's wife Melinda reupholstered. She did it all on her own with no classes or previous tutoring. I am seriously impressed! Looks great!

before & after

my green door

Before: (above pic) Since we moved in I have wanted to paint our front door. The white door was fine and so was the screen front door, but let's face it, the screen drastically stifled my ability to change the look of the front of the house through paint color and hid my festive seasonal wreaths. Oh, and we never used it.

Phase 2: (above) For inspiration I drove around the neighborhood looking for the color door I liked. Our neighborhood is very diverse. Within a few blocks radius there are houses ranging from $175k to $700K. I found a gorgeous huge brick colonial home with black shutters, deep red brick and white trim like ours. They had a gorgeous green door and it looked amazing, so that is when I decided to paint our door green. I went to home depot and decided on a Martha Stewart Sea Grass Green color.

Well after painting it (above), putting my wreath up and looking at it for a few weeks as I'd drive by I decided I didn't like my door color at all. It was too limey green and not a rich green.
So I took the can of paint I had left over and mixed in a little blue, grey and off white from other paint I had around. I got the color in the pictures below. It looks much better and not so light.

Below is Phase 3:

more changes to come:

-white door trim

-changing the brass door handle to a distressed nickel long handle

-adding a coordinating kick plate

-adding a black hanging lantern instead of the flush one we have now

All these projects will have to wait until after Christmas, but for now I am pleased what we've done so far! And really that's all that matters when you do a project, you liking it.

mirror before & after

I wish I had better pictures, but above is the mirror I bought from the DI for $10. I bought some "oregano" colored spray paint and washed off the hand-painted embellishments from the mirror, taped around the wood with painters tape so nothing got on the glass and sprayed....

...voila! A new green mirror that miraculously coordinates with the green side table in our Living Room.

another before & after curb appeal

My cousin (well actually, my cousin's wife, but she is a doll and I love talking with her so I'll call her my cousin) has her own Interior Design Firm in Salt Lake City called Cailtin Creer Interiors. She is so talented and her business has just boomed, and after seeing her post last week it is no surprise!

Last week she posted before & after pictures of her house and I cannot stop thinking about what an amazing job she did, so I had to post it for all to enjoy! :) You can find the pictures of her house here.

Yes, there is most definitely a charm that old houses possess and I love to day dream about fixing up cute old houses I see that have good "bones". I am a firm believer you don't have to have a $500,000 house in order for your house to have charm, character and richness.

red brick rambler love

Young House Love - AFTER

I have been searching for ideas to improve our curb appeal. I have been thinking about this of course since we moved in and have lots of ideas. I found this awesome site called Young House Love. They also live in a red brick rambler and I just LOVE their style.

This site is also full of tips and tricks when it comes to revamping your home. I am in love with their backyard. This is definitely my style.

Young House Love - BEFORE

What a difference some paint, a chain saw, fertilizer, plants & flowers and a lot of TLC can do!

quick & cheap kitchen make-over

We moved into a 1940's house and even though they have updated it since then it still looks dated. All the brass and gold'ish accents were driving me crazy. I didn't want to buy new hardware just yet so I decided to buy a $7 can of "oil rubbed bronze" spray paint at Home depot.

Most of the handles came off with a screw driver. For those I just lined them up in the garage on a piece of ply wood and spray painted them there.

Above is a picture of the handles I couldn't get off...I'd have to take off the cabinet to do it so I just used painters tape and tapes every little edge.

Now my kitchen looks like it has new fixtures. All for $7! Woo-hoo!

wall painting cont'd... Jane's tree

Okay I am dying here, my friend and neighbor, MaryElla's sister painted her daughters room and here is the before and after! Oh my goodness. To see more of Jane's whimsical room go here.

Love the owl. Too cute. I am more than convinced, I am painting a tree on our playroom wall.

3 reasons why i love design sponge...

1. I love the color of the 'after' dresser from second coat design, it has given me a little inspiration for my antique store dresser.

2. These homemade cake stands are pure genius. It befuddles me that someone can be so darn creative and at the same time it makes so much sense you can't help but think, "why did I never think of this?".

3. I think this homemade kitchen set is so darling for a little girls room...once again, brilliant!

highchair before & after

I got this highchair when Max was born 6 years ago. I love it because it is sturdy, simple and doesn't have the cheesiness that many high chairs do with the ruffles and animal print. But it is definitely dated, so I thought why not reupholster it (in a sense)?

I had this fabric handy, I wasn't going to use it for any other projects and it's pretty subdued, just black and white. I cut 2 rectangles, one small one for the seat and one large one for the back. Nothing exact, just enough to wrap around underneath the bottom and back.

I then cut small slits in the fabric so that it would wrap around where the bolts were. When I brought it around the bottom I got a large needle and some quilting thread. I gathered the corners together and sewed them so they were tight and secure. I didn't care that it doesn't look too pretty underneath.

I then bought a yard of clear vinyl overlay for about $2. I did the same thing I did with the fabric but instead of securing it with thread I used a staple gun.

Here is the finished product. It looks great in our dining room and blends in instead of sticking out like a sore thumb. I had to turn the fabric on the back of the chair to make it fit, but I figure I won't notice that, especially when it is covered with spaghetti. :)