Adding style to the Dining Room: week 1

Inspired by the ORC and still on a roll to finish decorating the first floor of her 8 month new home for an upcoming party, my CSIL decided that her Dining Room needed a more cohesive look. As you can see from the MLS photos below, the space is fairly small, but has some interesting features like coved ceilings and built-in bookcases.

After moving in, she used her existing furniture and made a couple of easy changes. The stuffy light fixture went bye-bye and was replaced by this fun orb. Since the house is tiny and storage is at a premium, the bookcases needed to be more functional for housing some not so pretty stuff. 

Therese took a page from my book by painting the back of the bookcase and adding simple panels to the bottom for some utilitarian storage.

 

Because the kitchen has no eat in space, this dining room gets a lot of use. Visually, it is right off the front entrance across from the Living Room, so it needs to relate. The mission is to create a functional, comfortable room that has the same visual appeal as the recently completed Living Room (which reminds me, I have never given you guys the full reveal....) Go here and here for a few peeks and details. My CSIL has a great sense of design and with collaboration from me, she always pulls off great spaces.

You may remember my sharing these fun fabrics, the floral on top is our inspiration fabric for the LR and the stripe is what we chose for the DR. 

Not one to let any moss grow under her feet once she decided to move on this project, Therese found a table and chairs on Craigslist that needed a little TLC and then promptly sold her existing set. On my recommendation she also picked up a couple of chairs from World Market which are going to get "fancified." Paint has been purchased and I have ordered the fabrics so the plans are in motion. 

As you can see, these guys are looking a little sad, but we have big plans so stay tuned, I'll be back next week with an update, our own little One Room Challenge!

I must say, all of these rooms getting updated for the ORC has lit a fire under me to get a few things going in my house. Yesterday I framed some prints and hung some goodies on the wall in my guest room, but more on that another day!

Have you been inspired by the One Room Challenge? If so what are you working on?

Does your room need a “prescription” for a change of decor, function or design? If so please contact me, I would love to help your room feel better with a Room Rx