Dining Room Makeover -- Done!

 Hooper asked me to proof blog for post this morning. She thinks I was going to publish her post untouched, but I hijacked it and 

almost changed the name to: Why It's Hard to Be Friends with Hooper. Are you kidding me? I'm starting to feel like a loser, there's a toilet in a box in my dining room for 

master bath re-do that has been underway for a month. Apparently, my renovation is on a 3 year plan, not 3 day plan. 

There's a reason her husband calls her "his idiot savant". Pour a glass of wine before you read this (dull the pain) and enjoy what our sweet little Rain Man is capable of. Bye bye birdie, ~A

Thank you for all of the ideas and comments about my dining room! I finally finished it and am thrilled with the result. From Drab to Fab... 

Got lots of feedback. Thank you! The most common was to paint the furniture and break up all of the wood. My table has too much sentimental value to touch it. As for the chairs, I love them as they are. Wanted to paint the Brutalist Mirror, but Ann wouldn't let me, see here. So... I painted the easiest thing to paint. The walls. I darkened the color and added a coral tint to the ceiling. 

It makes my chandelier pop!

All by itself, the paint job isn't a huge leap, but...

                                                                 
I added an accent wall...

My inspiration was this "Octavio" wallpaper by Albert Van Nuit. I loved the pattern, scale and the metallic on matte. You know me, I love some bling. Thanks to those that said I needed a darker wall so my furniture would stand out. You were right. 

I got a great comment from my friend and fellow blogger, Sissy from Blue Hydrangea, who suggested I have a piece of wood cut to fit the table and then have Ann paint something fab on it. Loved the concept but took it to the next level.  So...

I called my friends at Matkins Glass and asked them to cut a mirrored top to fit. It would open up the room, add another reflective surface and additional light. They thought I was crazy. 
The result is fab, don't ya think? It softens the room AND reflects my wallpapered wall.

I got rid of the china cabinet (thanks to dear friend who doesn't sugar coat) and sent me a text saying simply: "Bye bye corner cab". I found this bamboo cabinet in my closet stuffed with shoes, it wasn't all that pretty. I found that the inside was covered with grass cloth (lucky me!) so I painted the interior with a high gloss version of the wall color and filled it with my fine china, Haviland Vieux Paris Green. 

And baby cups...

I love these cups. My mom gave them to me when the twins were born. They are designed by artist Grainger McKoy and the handle is his signature feather. They are engraved with their names and birthdate. I'd show you theirs, but they need polishing (badly).

I covered my drum shades with an unexpected pop of hot pink (and gold) zebra. Ann talked me into the fabric and taught me how to cover them with spray adhesive. I love the hot pink against the wall color and dark coral in my rug. 

Finally, I added some accessories to my side board, bought a REAL clam shell at Homegoods for $6.99 and filled it with spider mums. I crossed my fingers when Read got home, he wouldn't notice. He has no idea I painted -- thinks it is the same color. Hasn't noticed the mirrored table top and thinks I just slapped some wallpaper up myself (I wish). I love him for the fact that he is totally oblivious. All in all, it was a success and I'm so happy with the transformation. What do you think? 
Bye bye birdie,
~H

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Write by: AN - Friday, July 15, 2011