Earlier this year, we embarked on a makeover journey, focusing on the three main common areas of the home: the living room, dining room, and kitchen. All of these rooms are visible to each other, so it was important to maintain a consistent design. We’ve made great strides in the living room so far, and now we’re excited to set our sights on the dining room.
Transform this dark and cramped space into a brighter, more inviting English country dining room with a few inspiring elements like wallpaper.
Dining Room: Front
Our dining room is a good size with two beautiful windows overlooking the backyard. The centerpiece of the room is the vintage chandelier that came with the house. It’s a piece of equipment we love so much that it’s likely we’ll be moving it with us every time we move.
This space is overwhelmed by the abundant use of dark wood. A thick farmhouse table is too big for the room, and a big hut has a lot of presence.
The inspiration for this makeover was the style of an English country dining room with antique furniture, muted colors and an affinity for the outdoors. We want to incorporate these elements into the dining room to create the same atmosphere.
Our mod goals:
#1 Bright, Bright, Inviting Atmosphere
The main goal of the dining room renovation was simple, to brighten the space and make it feel more spacious and inviting. Our plan was to replace the existing furniture with furniture that suited the size of the room, making it feel less cramped and more spacious.
One of the first steps was to reduce visible woodwork. Painting the wainscot was at the top of the to-do list because the dark wood shed, table, chairs, and wainscot were making the room feel heavy. We also planned to use smaller pieces of furniture to make the space even brighter.
#2 Add Cheerful Patterns with Wallpaper
What better way to add a touch of English countryside than by choosing a classic wallpaper created by British designer Laura Ashley? I am very excited. Not only does this add a fun pattern to the space, it also makes the room visually more open. I’m looking for a wallpaper with a touch of nature such as flowers, leaves, and birds in a soothing color palette of soft blues and greens.
Preparation of walls and choice of paint
After moving the furniture out of the room, prepare the walls for paint and wallpaper. Smoothing a heavily textured wall is a tedious multi-step process, but it was necessary for a polished finish. To prevent accidental splattering of paint on the new paper, I decided to paint the wainscot before wallpapering. This meant that all the woodwork had to be sanded down and wiped down. There’s nothing better than good old-fashioned elbow lubricant.
We chose the color paint universal khaki By Sherwin Williams. There are several reasons why this soothing neutral color is a good choice. First, I found it worked well in other parts of my house and I liked it. Second, it’s in our home color palette, maintaining a sense of continuity from room to room. Using a consistent color palette throughout the home, especially the common living spaces, was a key consideration in our renovation. We want our home to have a sense of unity, and using similar colors throughout is one way to achieve this.
The perfect English country style dining room wallpaper
Choosing wallpaper was a big decision. There are many factors involved in choosing one among hundreds of wallpaper options. We considered scale, pattern and feel. We also decided whether the paper should stand out in the room or blend into the background.
Finally, we chose a pattern that evokes the feel of the English garden countryside and settled on a classic Laura Ashley design called Natural Elderwood. It’s really gorgeous and has the flowers, berries and birds I wanted. The green leaves also matched perfectly with the pesto paste green paint in our palette.
I decided to have the wallpaper installed by a professional. I hung the paper when redecorating my bedroom, but in a conspicuous room like the dining room, I felt like I wanted a professional to do it.
Details and finishing
It’s often the details that give a room the desired look.
One of the first finishing touches we worked on was the socket cover. The existing cream-colored socket cover was a bit drab for the new color scheme and got more attention than I expected. We decided to replace them with paintable covers with dressy edges that we painted to match the wainscot.
Next, I turned my attention to the grid on the floor. Over the years the grates had rusted and stood out next to the newly painted walls. I replaced it with a new clean grate.
One of the unexpected details revealed after wallpapering was the ivory windowsill. The new wallpaper stood out more than I expected. To better match the new color scheme of the room, I decided to paint the wainscots to match as well.
During this process we learned a valuable lesson that using the right tape is important. We used a type of tape that peels off slightly when the wallpaper is peeled off, so please use tape that is gentle and easy to peel off when doing similar work.
One of our favorite finishes was the addition of bamboo blinds. These blinds not only add a nice natural texture to your room, but they also provide just the right amount of light filtering. It doesn’t make the room completely dark, but it’s enough to create a cozy and intimate atmosphere if desired.
We also use these wooden blinds in the other three rooms in our home. Its durability and beauty make it a repeat customer. moreover, company So these blinds have great customer service and on one occasion they replaced a bent blind for free.
This attention to detail and the time and effort we put in to transform the dining room into a space that truly feels like ‘we’. These changes may seem small in the grand scheme of a full-room makeover, but they played an important role in bringing together the overall look and feel of the new dining room.
Furniture replacement and final details
Other than changing the seat covers to match the color palette, these chairs were perfect. Plus, I had $150 left over to add to my mod splurge stash…
I managed to take all 6 car chairs home in the trunk, back seat and between my knees.
When I was still looking for an antique table with carved legs, I realized that I already had the perfect dining table. A charming 1930s table inherited from Matt’s grandfather. The compatibility with the table was also excellent!
During this project, my longtime interior designer friend Robin suggested replacing the huge dark hut with a matching buffet, also inherited from Matt’s grandfather. It was a perfect fit for the room and a perfect fit for the room. dining room. The buffet says ‘dining room’ which makes it look more intentional. I was hesitant at first, but now the suggestion seems obvious. It’s always good to take a fresh look at your belongings and see them being used in different ways.
Conclusion
Our dining room remodeling journey transformed the space into a cozy, bright room perfect for sharing meals and making memories. With thoughtful changes like wallpaper, paint, and more appropriate furniture choices, we’ve achieved our goal of an English country dining room in our home. We hope this journey inspires you to embark on your own transformation and create spaces that not only look great, but feel like home. Thank you very much for following me! We hope you have been inspired and encouraged to work on your home projects.
warmly,
Rachel
