November 7, 2013

DIY...Dining Area Update

As is the case for many people, once we moved in to our house updates and changes had to happen slowly and as money was saved up for projects.  Well it's been almost a year and I finally got the chance to tackle the dining area.   The dining area is centered under a large window and faces our kitchen.  It's large, airy, and bright and I love it!  I also love that it has a huge bench that could double as sitting for 3-4 adults.  Said bench though was not at all comfy and definitely didn't give someone that "come linger on me for hours!" during a dinner party kind of feeling!  

To begin the transformation I created two curtain panels out of my favorite curtain making material, twin 200 thread count sheets from Walmart for less then $5 a piece (see how I used them in our master bedroom too here).  I chose white to keep the bright feeling and went to work.  In less then 20 minutes I had two brand new custom curtain panels.  Once the curtains were complete we decided to move a dresser that we had purchased on Craigs List 6 years ago for about $5 (no joke!!!!  Best find ever!) which I painted white.  The dresser had a bit less storage space but we solved that problem by placing items within the bench that only gets used every so often.  Once that problem was solved I went to Joann's and purchased 4 inch thick foam as well as espresso colored/leather looking vinyl.  One piece of foam and 2 1/2 yards of vinyl and I was ready to make a padded seat cushion for the bench.  I simply laid the foam on the vinyl, making sure I had 6 inches around the foam on each side and then put a piece of leftover scrap wood from my Dad on top.  Then I stapled the fabric to the board.  It took me less then 5 minutes- the only hard part was making sure I folded the extra fabric on the corners over the same at each end!

We put that in place, added $50 worth of pillows from TJ Maxx and we were in business.  The ONE thing that my husband and I are in disagreement on is whether or not we should purchase fabric end chairs.  For me it's a no brainer...I just have to decide which ones to get.  Here are a couple of my favorites.

He wants to paint the chairs we already have the same color so that they blend.  What would you do?

Finally I accessorized  the dining buffet with items that had already been living there and moved the overflow items into our living area.  How do you think it turned out?

Here is a before shot to serve as a quick reminder 

and here is what is looks like now....







What do you think?!
Obviously it's not completed yet because those IKEA chairs that have lived with us for over 5 years are staring me down.  New chairs and I think we are in business!

Thanks so much for reading!
XO,
Bailey