Our Dining Room Update with European Touches

This room has seen a lot of changes. Our classic dining room with European touches has new life and it’s finally a reflection of our true style!

Our dining room is one of those rooms that has gone through several stages to get to where it is today. I’m so relieved to say that I finally feel like it’s a reflection of my true style. It’s been 3 and a half years in the making and this makes for not the first, not even the second but the third makeover this room has seen. Third time’s the charm, I suppose.

Although I had to go through three makeovers to get it right I learned a lot about myself. I wish I had listened to my inner decorating voice to begin with but I didn’t and so it took much longer to get where I wanted to be but I taught me something. Always stick with what you really love. Sometimes when we overthink a design for a space we end up with a room that’s not truly our style. Listen to that voice, even though trends maybe pushing you in a different direction.

Let’s take a look at what this room looked like when we purchased our home.

To start we painted the walls and trim in Simply White and planked the ceiling. We purchased a large rug to cover up places in the floor that were damaged and used furniture pieces we already had and put the space together quickly due to all of the work being done on the rest of our house.

The second makeover came just under two years later.

At the time I was smitten over darker, moody dining rooms. Although I still love them I realized after living with it for a while that it wasn’t exactly what I wanted for the space. I also realized that I really prefer one color throughout the room verses color on top and white below the chair rail.

Just over a year later I repainted the walls and trim Simply White. When you what you love stick with it. It’ll save you money and a lot of time and effort. I wish I had realized this before, alas.

I took some time but here’s where our dining room is today. Although I’d love to work in some printed fabrics and more seasonal color, I’ve just fallen in love with it!

We replaced our used, thrifted table for one that’s a little more sturdy and rich with color. It grounds the light room perfectly. We loved the upholstered high back dining chairs in our breakfast nook so much we got two more for the dining room.  I love their neutral linen fabric. They’re much easier to keep clean than you’d think. We coated them well in Scotch Guard and keep up any spots with a little upholstery cleaner when needed.

I finally hung some of my antique china and ironstone above the mantel. Its something I have planned to do for some time I just didn’t love the dark wall color paired with the blue china. The neutral wall colors works perfectly with the ironstone and blue and white plates.

The mantel is painted in Navajo White by Benjamin Moore just like our family room mantel. It adds just a bit of warmth against the white walls.

A while back I purchased four German etchings of the four seasons at one of my favorite antique stores. I didn’t hang them right away because I wasn’t a fan of the plastic life frames they were in. Custom framing can be very pricey and it wasn’t something we could swing at the moment so I got creative and came up with an alternative. I purchased inexpensive black frames with mating at a craft store for just $8 a piece and then painted them in gold and sage green paint followed by a dark glaze over the top to give them an antique finish.

For just $32 the budget frames give them new life. I may share the how-to for the frames soon if you all are interested.

The hand me down buffet that has floated all over our house was brought back into the room. I moved the antique mirror that was in the family room into the dining room. I love it in this room. The brass color is such a great addition to the whites and wood tones in this space. The $10 topiaries that I purchased off of the FB yard sale page add charm and life to the room.

I’ve always believed that a house is never done. It’s always moving forward with us, growing into who we really are. Finding our true style and bringing it to life isn’t always easy bit it’s well worth the effort. There’s nothing quite like walking into a room and feeling utterly at home. I wish you this same joy, friends. Have a lovely summer!