I need to be honest. Writing this post on the day after the election is brutal. This whole election cycle has been a nightmare and mustering up the interest (I want to use a much stronger word here.) to write about home renovation and decorating is taking every ounce of my willpower. It is also taking coffee–very strong coffee. I know we all have our own ideas and feelings about how this all shook out. Perhaps this post will serve as a brief diversion while we gather ourselves up and figure out what happens now. If anyone needs a virtual hug, or a real one if you are local, I’m your gal. Now back to the ORC.

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If you are anything like my mother, you will appreciate the following list of items crossed out due to their completion:

• Repair the plaster walls
• Paint the woodwork
• Paint the walls
• Reupholster the chairs
• Add artwork
• Hang the mirror over the fireplace
• Spruce up the houseplant pots
• Bring in seasonal decor

The dining room is done, my friends. It is done. In celebration, I do not intend to pick up a paintbrush for the rest of 2016. I am taking a leave of absence from painting.

Before

Let’s review. This was the dining room just after we moved into BHH. This room has always had beautiful bones, but it was very dark due to the wallpaper and the sage green wainscoting.  In addition, green is not my favorite color outside of nature.

After we removed the wallpaper and heavy wooden valances last winter, the dining room served as storage space and temporary kitchen during the complete kitchen remodel that lasted all summer.

Now that I have refreshed your memory, I am so excited to share the changes we made.

The One Room Challenge™ Makeover

Hello, beautiful chandelier, bright paint, and nature-based decor.

During the planning stage, we decided that we wanted to highlight the beautiful original chandelier. It truly is the jewel of this room. We are lucky that BHH is so full of character. Rather than having to add character and interest to each room, we are able to work with the beautiful details that have been here for over 100 years.

Painting

Though we would prefer to have unpainted woodwork, we have come to the conclusion that stripping off the paint is not a project that we are willing to take on right now.

Instead, we chose to paint the raised-panel wainscoting and trim a soft white. The fresh paint brightened up the room immediately.  For the walls, we chose a pale neutral gray. The shade shifts between gray and soft beige depending on the time of day.

On either side of the fireplace, I swapped out the Schefflera plants for our two outdoor ferns. They look better in the plant stands. It remains to be seen whether or not the ferns will winter over well indoors, but it is worth a shot.

Another one of our favorite features in the dining room is the bump out with leaded glass windows.  Since our table is way too small to hold people and food, this area serves as the buffet when we entertain. We will be hosting guests on Thanksgiving so I opted to leave that space mostly empty. In the future, I would like to have a giant bowl or something similar to put on that ledge when we are not entertaining. For now, we can all just ooh and ahh over the windows.

Speaking of windows, you may wonder why we did not choose any window treatments in this room. I am still thinking about it. Window treatments are not necessary for our privacy. In addition, the windows are so striking just as they are. I have no desire to cover their charm with a blind or curtain. That said, I will continue to research. If I find something that will highlight the windows vs. cover them up, I will consider making a change.

The Flower Arrangements

For the flower arrangements and centerpiece, I used plants from our property, a bit of grocery store greenery, and pumpkins. For fall and winter decor, I love using the greenery from the Rhododendron bush. As an evergreen, it adds a lot of texture and interest when flowers are not in season. It lasts for weeks as long as the stem is inserted into a container of water.

I tucked a little stem of flowers into each napkin ring.

The Shelves

With the exception of two small plants, we owned everything else on the shelves. No additional purchases were required.

The little fern on the top shelf is the plant that I popped it into the pot that I spray painted last week.  The plant on the shelf below it is also new. It is some sort of mossy low-light plant.  I used a gold peanut butter lid as a saucer beneath it. While I wish I could put larger items on the shelves to beef up the decor, I am limited by the shelf depth (6″) and height (9″). The shelves used to be an open pass-through to the butler’s pantry on the opposite side. At some point, the doors were removed and the opening was converted to shelves.

Note: That glorious unicorn was a Mother’s Day gift from my son when he was younger. He bought it at a yard sale. The apple does not fall far from the tree. Kitschy? Maybe. Fun? Definitely.

Since the fireplace is such a focal point by itself, I chose to keep the mantel decor very simple. I would not object to a few additional small items, but less is more in my opinion.

For added texture, I wrapped two of the vases with corrugated paper. Fun fact: That was actually packaging from the tablecloth. I often keep ribbon and interesting packaging materials that can be used at a later time.

Final Cost

This was definitely a bare bones budget project. We did not start with a set budget amount which may have been shortsighted. My goal was to question whether or not an expenditure was really necessary. Andy was on board with that. While I was mostly frugal, I did make two frivolous purchases–the tablecloth and the wooden bowl. Both came from T.J. Maxx.

Here is the breakdown:

1. Paint – Agreeable Gray (Sherwin-Williams color matched in Valspar paint) $45
2. Dresser-turned-sideboard – $10
3. Thrift store plaid shirts  – $15
4. Thrift store frames – $12
5. Plants and greenery – $11
6. Tablecloth – $15
7. Wooden Bowl (center of the table) – $20
8. Plant Stands – $20
9. Miscellaneous supplies (paint brushes, knobs, etc…) $17

Total: $165

The items in boldface are our out-of-pocket costs ($127). I had Lowe’s gift cards to cover the rest of the expenses. I accrue points through my bank account that I exchange for gift cards.

It is worth noting the rest of the supplies that we used but did not have to purchase. (All costs are approximate.)

1. Dark Walnut stain – $6
2. Citilite (white paint) – Sherwin-Williams color matched in Valspar paint – $45
3. Paint rollers & foam brushes – $20
4. Decorating items not listed in the expenses above  – undetermined price
5. Spray paint – oil-rubbed bronze and gold – $12
6. Oil-based primer – $25
7. Plaster repair supplies and tools – $40

(Savings excluding the items for decorating that we already own – $148)

Eventually, we will get a new rug and perhaps fill out the wall above the dresser with some more artwork. For now, we are very pleased with the room as it is.

That’s a wrap, folks. We are calling this Fall One Room Challenge™ budget re-do a complete success. I will leave you with a few more pictures. As always, we welcome your comments and questions.

You will find the rest of our project posts from the Fall One Room Challenge™ here:
Week 1 :: Week 2 :: Week 3 :: Week 4 :: Week 5

Yesterday the featured designers shared their completed rooms. Today is reveal day for the other guest participants too. Please make sure to head on over to Calling it Home to see their projects. Special thanks to Linda, for creating this challenge and hosting it twice per year. She is the best cheerleader and behind-the-scenes wizard that we bloggers and designers could ask for. The Spring ’17 challenge date is already marked on our calendar.