Photo(s) of the Day: Dining Room Reveal

As promised, I’m finally posting photos from our dining room makeover. We started late May and had most of it complete by mid-June. It took me awhile to accessorize the space. I just hung our final piece – a new clock – last week. I’m still debating on whether to spray paint or replace the chandelier – what do you think? (It looks like brass in some the photos, but it’s actually more of a dark copper.

Before: This is the dining room (with our new table) shortly after we moved in March.
One evening in May, I got an inkling to remove the border.
With a spray bottle of vinegar water, a hair dryer, and a scraper, it came down (in two layers) easier than I thought. We knocked out the entire border in just a couple of hours.
Picking out paint colors may have been the hardest part. Four samples and three trips to Lowe’s later, we decided on “hot chocolate” for the top half.
Painting complete! As you can see, we also painted the trim. We stopped at the entryway to the living room since we weren’t ready to do the entire house yet.
After: Here’s our completed dining room with chair rail (installed by my father & husband while I was at work), canvas art, and new curtains.
After: A view of the dining room with our new, re-finished hutch. FYI, that’s an Aloe vera plant.
And…done. I bought the rug from Old Time Pottery for $47! (Scroll up to compare it to the first photo, and let me know your thoughts!)

And here’s the entire series:

Home Tour
We Bought A Hutch
Dining Room Triptych

Photo of the Day: Dining Room Triptych

After a lot of careful consideration, I chose these three photos from our trip to Italy for our canvas art in our newly renovated dining room. Tomorrow is the big reveal! (Before, during, and after photos of our dining room.) Can you guess which three cities these photos are from?

In the meantime, check out these related posts:
Home Tour
We Bought A Hutch

Photo of the Day: Country Morning Fog

We stayed at my in-laws this weekend in Southeast Kansas. As I stumbled my way downstairs, still half asleep around 7 a.m., I saw this out the front door. I immediately grabbed my camera and headed outside, barefoot and in my pj’s. My in-laws weren’t the least bit surprised when I came back in with wet grass clippings caked to my feet. They sure do know me! This photo is dedicated to my mother-in-law – today is her birthday!

Photo of the Day: Back To…

Unlike the majority of my Facebook friends, I don’t have any back to school photos to share with you. (Unless you’d like to see the bulletin boards in my husband’s classroom.) So I pulled out this photo from my two-year-old archives of our pretty cat, Esme. She looks a little older and a little heavier now, but she’s still just as mischievous.