As I noted in my first guest blog post (the one about collections),
I bought my cottage almost three years ago and had amassed a somewhat
random assortment of furniture and knick knacks over the previous
several years. I have a fairly small dining space that is just to the
left of my front entrance and basically part of the overall living area,
so I had to create a space that is inviting and, of course, adorable.
My
first order of business was to paint the dining room table I inherited
from my parents. At the time, I had been seeing a lot of metallic side
tables and dressers at local furniture stores. I very much wanted a
snazzy piece of furniture like that but didn't want to pay the
unnecessarily high price for it… so, Lowe's to the rescue.
I
don't have before and after pictures but just trust me when I say the
table was the epitome of 1980s dining sets. It had been stained a dark
brown and had chairs that seem to be in every Goodwill across the
country -- you know, the ones with the high, open backs and
country-floral scroll work at the top. The project involved three steps,
and I started by priming the table with Glidden Gripper primer/sealer.
I'm usually partial to paint + primer in one, but, for this particular
project, I had to use primer alone. Once the table was primed, the
second step was putting the base color on the table. I applied two coats
of Valspar's Brilliant Metals Shimmering Bronze. I would definitely
recommend at least two coats. The third step involved a top coat that
actually brings out the shimmer of the Shimmering Bronze. It's a
sister-paint to the Shimmering Bronze, and the good folks at Lowe's
won't let you buy one without the other. The paint experts at Lowe's
will also give you really good tips on how to use this paint. It's not
the easiest, simply because it involves a special rolling brush and
careful application. However, I'm somewhat careless when it comes to
painting, so if I can do it, anyone can.
The
finished product is exactly what I wanted -- a high gloss, high shimmer,
pale bronze dining room table. It adds just a little bit of fancy to a
cottage dining room. And, I topped it off with a few glass vases/bottles
from TJ Maxx that act as a year-round centerpiece.
The
next part of my dining room transformation was to find new chairs. I
loathed those 1980s, country-floral chairs. They made me feel like I
needed a bunch of rooster figurines siting on shelves. For readers in
Tallahassee, my answer was Bobbi at Southern Chicks on South Monroe. If
you have yet to stop by her place, it's a must-do for anyone who loves
good finds at even greater prices. Bobbi searches for furniture on the
cheap and then refinishes, re-assembles or re-designs, so I called her
to see if she'd take my rooster chairs in exchange for something else
she had on hand. Thankfully, she agreed to the trade as long as I paid
her to refinish whatever chairs I wanted. I ended up paying $120 for
four refinished, black, open-back chairs. That's a steal in my book,
considering even TJ Maxx sells chairs for $139 a pop. The best part is
that the chairs have a cushion seat that can be recovered whenever I
feel the need for a new look. At this moment, they are covered with a
canvas French-scroll fabric that I snagged on sale at Tallahassee
Decorative Fabrics.
Of course, no dining space
is complete without a bar. I had every intention of picking up a piece
at Southern Chicks, but a friend of mine was getting rid of a bedroom
dresser and he gave it to me for free. I decided to leave the stain as
is and went to Hobby Lobby to buy knobs that matched the fabric on my
chairs. The dresser is actually missing its mirror, but I left the
mirror-holders to act as a frame of sorts for a couple of framed bird
prints I bought in San Diego. I also hit up one of my favorite stores,
Home Goods, for a coordinating lamp and used the desk space to display
my Venetian champagne glasses, a cocktail book, a bottle of wine and
other assorted bar materials. The final touch of the bar area was the
old mailbox from my front porch. The very first week I moved in, the
mailman instructed me to buy a roadside mailbox because he was no longer
going to deliver mail to my front porch. Total bummer, but I ended up
with antique wall decor, so I can't complain too much.
To
finish off the room, I hit up Urban Thread (basically, an outlet store
of Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters goodies) for white ruffle
curtains. TIP: If you ever decide to buy curtains from an outlet store,
be sure to bring a measuring tape with you. A lot of times they are at
an outlet store because they have mismatched lengths. I bought the
curtain rods from… wait for it… Wal Mart. It's not often you find cute
decor at Wal Mart, but I never discount it when I'm looking for
hardware.
My dining room tends to be where
most of my guests gather -- whether it's for a weekday dinner party or
Friday night drinking games -- so it was important for me to have a
functional and inviting space. I have a feeling that my dining room
table will follow me wherever I end up next and will continue to be a
focal point for a dining room or breakfast nook. The real beauty of my
dining room is that it's interchangeable, from my chair cushions to the
dresser knobs to the curtains, and changing any of those won't ever
break the bank.
I so love Amity's fresh take on some old pieces in her dining room. What do you guys think? I hope you all have a wonderful week!
