Dining Room Makeover

Hello all! Several weeks ago I decided that I was ready for a new look in the dining room. Remember, this is how it looked when we moved in, stripes and all (sorry for the lack of a better picture):

Then I decided to paint a darker color so all of the white trim would really pop, which it did.

 

 

However, I quickly grew tired of the dark color. It made it hard to incorporate other accent colors and was just sooo dark. I had been wanting to lighten up the space for a while, but I couldn't motivate myself because I knew it would require a lot of work and a lot of primer and paint! Finally, a few weeks ago, I mustered up the energy and motivation to finally tackle this project since we do spend a good deal of time in here. I'm one of those that likes to eat dinner at the table every night, well every night that I'm not working until 9. I also know that we will eat in here every night once the little one arrives so now was the perfect time to get it looking the way I want it. 

Enter a spontaneous trip to Lowe's. When deciding on a paint color, I usually purchase several paint samples, go home to test them on the walls, not like any of them, go back to Lowe's for more paint samples... you get the idea. :) Well this time I guess I was feeling spontaneous because I just bought a gallon of the color I went in for, along with a gallon of primer. For this painting project, I used the Olympic Zero VOC paint since it doesn't have all of the harsh, smelly chemicals like regular paint (better for Baby Elliott). What I learned is that, while environmentally-friendly, the coverage just doesn't compare, which means more work for me. :( Here is the color I decided on, Quill by Olympic:

I discovered this color on another blog, Restored Style, and just really liked how fresh and crisp it made the room look. This is her dining room after she painted it using Quill:

So anyway, one Friday afternoon I got the room prepped and began the priming. It took 2 coats of primer to cover that dark navy. Luckily, it's a pretty small room so I was able to stretch the one gallon of primer. I didn't actually tell Matthew I was going to paint this day so he was a little surprised/ shocked/ disappointed when he got home because he knew that it meant he would eventually be helping me paint on a Friday night, even though he despises painting. But we took a little break after I finished my second coat of primer and went to dinner. We didn't rush home because I knew it had been a long week at work for him and he needed to relax a little. For some reason, painting a room is relaxing to me. I really enjoy it! But I realize that's not everyone's view, especially the hubby's. 

Once we got home, we got started and we have a pretty good system that works for us. He rolls the walls while I cut-in around the trim, ceiling and corners. It took two coats of paint (after 2 coats of primer) and we were finished by midnight. Yay!  Here is is after one coat  (not a great picture since it taken with iPhone):

Our overhead light casts a lot of shadows along the wall but you get the idea. Now, I'll just skip to the final pictures of how it looks today. We purchased a lovely cabinet from Nadeau in Homewood to store some china, silver, etc... and a map to hang over the buffet. I love the map and it's size, found here at School House Electric. I haven't found a frame for it yet so I hung it with jumbo binder clips stuck on the wall with 3m tape (I kinda like the way it looks hanging with these). I decided not to use the art that was in here before because the colors are really bold and my goal here is to lighten/brighten. I also moved some curtains in here from another room and removed the blinds from the door to the screened porch. I absolutely love 96" curtains (these are from World Market) because I can hang them really high, which makes the room feel bigger, and there is still enough fabric to pool on the floor. Here are the after pics, taken with my new camera :)

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a closer look at the cabinet we got from Nadeau:

Matthew actually picked this one out and I must say he has pretty good taste. :) I'm really liking how light and airy the room feels now and I think it complements our dark wood furniture much better. What do you think?