Dining Room Mood Board

This project is the real reason I started this blog. I wanted to make myself accountable for actually getting it done. I dream of a beautifully decorated dining room that ties perfectly into my living room. But that's the problem . . . all I've done is DREAM about it. I've stalked mood boards on other blogs for a couple years now, not really thinking I could just put one together myself. So that's what I finally did. But first, here are the before shots.

Scary. I know. I've hated the terra cotta color for a looooong time. I'm not sure I ever really liked it. A big problem with the paint is that the finish is a semi-gloss. Big no-no, because this room has a MILLION imperfections, and every one of them is shining because of that finish. (Bad advice from the guy at the paint counter.) I've never repainted because I wanted to have a clear direction for the whole room before I just ran out and got more paint.

Another thing I hate about this room is that it doubles as my husband's office. This house is only 1532 square feet, so there's not an extra room to be used as an office. No matter how many times he straightens this corner up it inevitably ends up looking like this.

Unfortunatelly, I can't move his workspace elsewhere, so we'll be working that into the design. On the bright side, I'll be getting my own workspace, too. Yay!

We have done some good things in here like open it up to the living room and raise the floor (oh yeah, did I mention this room used to be a one car garage? The previous owners closed it in, but left the floor where it was - about a foot lower than the rest of the house.) Obviously, we ran the dark laminate into this room after we raised the floor. We also added some HUGE closets that provide awesome storage space and help make the room more proportioned. Now it's about 11x15 instead of 11x19.

So without further ado, here's my dining room mood board.

1. Wall color: This one is Restoration Hardware's Silver Sage, but I'll probably color match it at my local home improvement store.
2. Built-in bookcase with a window seat and double desks, painted in the trim color to match the rest of the house (bright white).
3. Crisp white drapes layered over natural bamboo blinds to tie in with the living room window treatments.
4. Gray 8x10 rug for a graphic punch like this one from Z Gallerie. This one is a little a lot pricey for me, so I'll hopefully be hunting down a deal.
5. Storage bench in a lively lime green for a major injection of color ~ I'd like to DIY this.
6. More natural texture in the form of a couple of these dining chairs from Pier 1.
7. Pillows for the window seat in a bold graphic and a modern floral.

As you can see from the before pics, we already have a great pendant (this one from Lowe's) hanging over our dark mission style dining set. We bought this set from JCPenney eight or nine years ago. It still looks great and I love that it expands, so I just want to change up the seating.

 

As far as a schedule, I'm hoping to be finished by the end of January. I want the laborious stuff, paint and built-ins, done before Christmas (I might have just LOL-ed at that sentence, but it's worth a try.) That means January will just be a matter of accessorizing.

I'd like to do this whole project for between $500 and $750. I know the built-ins are going to be a big chunk, but I'd like to save some money with sales, shopping around, and DIYing as much as I can.

Of course, I'll let you know how I'm doing along the way!