* I was going to subtitle this post “in under an hour, for under $10!” but I’m not a normal person so I ended up spending a bit more time and a teeny bit more money than that. YOU could certainly do this transformation in under an hour and for under $10! See the breakdown at the end of the post.
There are a few spots in my house that fill me with dread. It seems no matter what I do to spruce them up, they come back to haunt me. One example of this is my huge brick fireplace and mantle. You’ll meet that dreadful space in due time, but until then here’s area-that-fills-me-with-dread #2: my dining room.
Quick history: when we bought the house, the dining room was actually a game room. They had a pool table in there, and the walls were covered with– wait for it– BASEBALL CARD WALLPAPER. This is the first room you see when you walk in the front door. I’m all for meeting the needs of the homeowner, but needless to say that stuff had to GO.
Fast forward a few years, and I’ve done what I can with the room but I’m still not satisfied. The room is dark and dated. I do love the rug:
and the antique china corner cabinet from my husband’s grandmother:
… but the color palette I originally chose is too dark for the space. See what I mean?
I decided to tackle the room because it was depressing me. After some simple and inexpensive changes, here’s what happened!
Window Blinds: The blinds had dark green fabric strips on them to match the baseball wallpaper that used to cover this room. It stuck out like a sore thumb, and certainly didn’t match the current color palette. I took a risk and used Fabri-Tac glue to attach cream-colored ribbon to the front. Instantly the green disappeared and the cream blended in. NO MORE EYE SORE!
Curtains: I searched everywhere for curtains to match this room. I finally settled on dark brown velvet panels. They became a black hole of sorts, not adding much to the room and sucking the light out of it. I couldn’t find an alternative, so I kept them. For this make-over, I remembered a pair of IKEA panels I had in the basement that couldn’t be returned. I spent some time ironing them and voila! Let there be light!
Flowers: We have an apple tree in our yard making for some cheap-o blooms. I popped them into IKEA glasses I had on hand filled with river rock, and placed them in our window and on the table. Forsythia from our side yard became a centerpiece for the bookcase, and when those fade I have some willow branches to place inside.
Tablecloth: Like the curtains, I couldn’t find the right tablecloth for this room. I’ve been searching years. On the way back from Hershey, I found this beautiful fabric at a discount fabric outlet and I HAD to use it for the table! The problem? I’d purchased 2 yards, which was about 1 foot too short of what I needed. Thankfully I had some cream corduroy fabric, so I sewed that on the ends. I’m in love.
Table Runner: I shopped the house for the yellow runner, added some apple blossoms, and then placed some lemons down the center.
Drink Cart: By the way, this cart began life as a brass cart I found for $3 at the thrift store. Black spray paint, a good cleaning, and it has new life in our dining room! I added lemons to another thrift store find (the capri dot bowl, $1) and it freshened things up.
Window Blinds: $9 for supplies, and 30 minutes to attach
Flowers: FREE from the yard
Table Cloth: $20 for fabric, and 2 hours to cut/pin/sew it
Centerpiece: $4 for the lemons (can I call it FREE, though, since I’ve now used them all?)
Curtains: FREE, and 20 minutes to iron them with 10 minutes to hang them
As for the lemons, I’m not sure I can count them in the budget breakdown because most are already gone. What did I do with them? Make Lemonade, of course!
Linking this to:
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
Stesha says
What a great way to enter into Spring. And for only $29 too. The use of lemons really amazed me. The hint of yellow splashes makes the room pop with spring! One of my favorites was the addition of the Ikea panels. They seemed to open up the room even more. Love it.
Hugs and Mocha,
Stesha
Crafty Girls Workshop says
I totally agree, what a great transformation! I love the fabric you got for your table cloth and what a neat and useful idea to make it work for you by adding that extra to the sides. Stopping by from SITS today. Oh, and I’m hosting a spring spruce up linky party on my blog, I’d love it if you’d hop by and add a link to your spruce up. You can be entered to win a goody bag too!
Anna
House Queen says
Looks great girl! I am trying to brighten up my master bedroom right now! Have a fab Sunday!
Joanne says
Looks wonderful! I love the little bar cart! We’re tackling some OUTDOOR spring cleaning. Our front yard is a DISASTER!!!
mysimplegreenbaby says
You are amazing. I am trying to be only filled with joy that your room looks so beautiful and not filled with jealousy/self-loathing that I cannot even seem to get flowers in my front window boxes in the first place so that I might HAVE cheap-o flower to then bring into my house and beautify the place a little. Drab doesn’t even begin to describe this place right now!!! I won’t despair, though. In fact, MAYBE you’ve just inspired me to take a walk to the nursery with the babe right now. MAYBE.
Carrie says
House Queen and Joanne– if you happen to take photos send me the link. I love a good clean up!
Simplegreenbaby– you are going to laugh, but do you know what I noticed in the Skype photo you sent me? Your windows with those beautiful TREES shining through! And I thought, “I wish I had trees like that right outside my windows.” Isn’t that funny?
Kathy says
What a wonderful room it turned out to be. Now my boys when they were younger would have loved it just the way it was!
Mommy's Sippy Cup says
Okay, I am seriously in LOVE with your dining room. I love the colors, the flowers, the decor, everything! And I can NOT believe you were able to do all of that for such a cheap price. I wouldn’t have such luck! When’s dinner? Haha 🙂
Stopping by from SITS and hope you have a great week!
Scribbler says
Very cheerful! You might try rolling up the rug altogether if you have a place to store it for the summer. I keep my dining room floor bare all the time because it is so much easier to clean up. But then, I am lazy…
Scribbler
http://scribbler-unfocused.typepad.com/
Tom says
Carrie, I love what you did to the house! I had no idea you have a blog. I have one too but I don’t get to write in it nearly enough:
http://nyerinphilly.blogspot.com
panamamama says
So cute! You’re inspiring me to get busy on my mess! 😉
Amanda says
First off – I can’t believe that they had baseball wallpaper!!! oh, the horror!
Isn’t amazing what a little time and some quick changes can do! The room looks so much brighter and welcoming. I love the addition of the delicate little blossoms.