Dining Room Reno

After the craziness of Christmas and not having much time to myself, I was busting to do something creative. Remember these canvases that I had previously covered in wallpaper? Well it turns out, my husband didn't really like them and so when he painted the walls recently, they did not find their way back. So I decided to reuse the canvases by ripping the wallpaper off and giving them a bit of paint. I used acrylics mixed with high gloss gel to give it a cool, shiny texture. I began by creating stripes using masking tape. Over and over, I moved the tape waiting for the paint to dry before replacing the tape and painting again. When the canvases were covered with different width stripes, I added detail and roughed it up a little bit before giving it a couple of coats of varnish. I was going for a bit of an abstract tree trunk look. What I thought would take me a couple of hours turned into a 4 day on and off project. Here it is:

When this was done, I woke up one morning and decided that our dining suite was too dark for the room and I wanted to lighten it up a little. After searching Pinterest and then eBay for white dining chairs, I decided that I loved the Eames style chairs (which I had never heard of before) and decided I'd look for some second hand replica ones. I found the dodgiest ad on eBay which looked like it was only for one chair. I asked the question, found out it was for 6 chairs and offered a ridiculous price which was accepted. When we got the chairs home, I looked up the brand and realised that the chairs are actually not the replicas I thought they were! They retail new for $450 each! I got all 6 for $130! Bargain of the century I reckon! The chairs are comfortable, sturdy easy-clean and pretty darn funky. I smile whenever I look at them.

So with the new white chairs, the table looked too dark. Soon, we began the big task of sanding back our dining table to the original wood look. It required numerous coats of varnish with a minimum of 24 hours drying time in between each coat. Patience was needed! Finally, it all came together. We painted the legs of the table black to attempt an industrial type look and to tie in with the black bi-fold doors. Here we go:

Last, but not least, I planted some pretty succulents in a white pot and whipped up a table runner- light grey on one side, charcoal on the other because I couldn't decide.

So there you have it. A couple of things I still need to do- get rid of the blue wall near the bifold doors and through to the kitchen- just need to choose the right colour and find a sisal rug for the space near the doors. Since we got rid of the padded, high-back chairs it's a bit echo-y in here. I don't like echo-y! A rug should fix that.

We are happy with the way this room is shaping up. Looks even better with my little family in it!

DIY wall art

This week, I got sick of staring at the blank wall in our dining room!

Here it is with my daughter (dressed up as a cow of course!) Terrible pic, sorry. I get so impatient/ excited to start projects that I rush taking my 'before photos!

She's measuring the wall for me. What a helpful girl!

We are in this part of the house so much that I really wanted to start making it look interesting. We have been in this house nearly a year now, but have mainly been focussing on getting the outside looking presentable and making a place for the kids to play.

I have had my eyes out for something for this wall for a long time, but just haven't seen anything that grabs me that is also in our price range...and then I had this brilliant idea! Wallpaper covered canvases! I'm really happy with the way they turned out- they add a bit of interest to the room and will do the job until we get around to painting the walls (soon, I hope!). Here it is!

The helpful husband

The canvases were on special for $7 each at a local craft store (gasp! So cheap). The wallpaper was from Bunnings (not so cheap for a 10m roll, but I was in love!). I still have more than half leftover so I might think about how I can use it elsewhere in the house.

In other news, I am busting to show you a massive project that I've been working on for a few days (also in the dining room). I am thrilled with the result, just waiting for the husband to come home from work so we can reassemble and I can decorate. Here is another terrible 'before' photo.

Stay tuned for the amazing 'after' shot!

Thanks for reading!

Bec