Dining Room Update

My dining room is the very first thing you see when you walk into our house.  I think we have the most open, open concept floor plan ever designed (that is not a good thing).   When you walk in, there is no entry way.  You walk slam into the dining room which is also open to the kitchen and living room.  Talk about pressure to keep things tidy.  I scramble every time the door bell rings to make it look presentable.  My house keeping skill is on display for all who enter to see.

It was equally important (if not more) to create a room that I loved walking into.  I really do love what I see when I come home from a hectic day.

Come on in and take a look....

Before I go into all of the details of how the room came together, I have to address the awful, builder grade chandelier. 

It is the one eye sore that you just have to ignore for now.  I haven't found exactly what I am looking for (super high end style) in my price range (super cheap).

Okay, look away and let's move on.

Years ago, I bought the table on Craigslist (go figure).   I also found this beauty there too.

I finally got up the nerve to attempt sewing a slipcover.  Here is how it turned out.

As with all of my sewing projects, DON'T LOOK TOO CLOSE!  I didn't take pictures of how I actually made it.  My brain power was being fully utilized figuring out the puzzle of piecing it all together.  Who knew you had to be so smart to sew!  My seam ripper was almost on fire with all of the redo's that took place.

**Quick side note...I did have to slip in a 3" piece of foam under the cushion to make it high enough to sit at the dining table.  

One of my favorite elements in the room is this DIY cornice board.  Not only because I love the way it turned out, but it was SO easy and relatively inexpensive.  

The velvet drapes from World Market looked so blahhh before.  I needed a little something to spice  them up.  When I came up with the idea of a cornice board, I ran out to the garage to see if we had anything I could use to make it.  Sure enough, there was a long piece of plywood left over from another project that was the perfect length.  My decorating angels were watching over me!  

As much as I would have liked to knock out the whole project and hang it up right then, I did have to collect some other materials first (fabric, batting and nailhead trim).  I will post a quick tutorial as soon as I locate all of the photos I took during the process.  

I did this quick and easy concentric paint treatment using painters tape and a gold glaze that I also had left over from another project.  It was a total spur of the moment kind of thing.  I just started taping and painting.  I am actually quite pleased with how it turned out.

I haven't decided what else I want to do with the niche as of right now.  I am thinking about glass shelves to create a bar area.  I think niches are such a pain.  I don't know why builders love them so much.  

Moving on...because the table is so large (it seats eight), I wanted to mix up the seating to keep it from looking like a conference table with matching chairs.

The bench was a wedding gift from Pottery Barn a million years ago.  The chairs are from World Market and we already talked about the settee.

I like the combination of textures and styles.  It is also very practical.  The bench gets used almost daily.  It is the perfect place to drop all of your crap when you walk in for homework, art projects and sewing. We do have an occasional meal there too.

All in all, I am happy with how the room turned out.  Hopefully, I will be posting about the perfect chandelier soon!