Evolution of a Room Series: Dining Room

Welcome to the first in a series of posts about room evolution.  As people live in and use the rooms of their house they slowly learn what works and doesn't work for them.  It could be as simple as lighting or paint color or more involved such as the structure of the room.  This series will show how the rooms in my own home have evolved and changed based on my tastes, uses for the room, and yes, even fads.

My house was built in 2000 and I purchased the property in April of 2005.  At 1,300 square feet many of the rooms have to serve double duty.  The first room I'd like to show you is the dining room.  But before we begins how about some pics from home inspection day?  Notice the brass and glass fixture?  That was the first thing to go.....

Empty Room on Inspection Day.

Original wall color.  Brass fixture replaced.

After removing the brass and glass fixture the next thing to consider was paint color.  I knew moving in that I wanted to "live" in the rooms for a while before deciding on colors.  That "living" only took 3 years!  The way the house is laid out the kitchen and dining room flow into the hallway which leads into the stairwell - in other words - no defined breaks for painting the rooms different shades.  But did that stop me? Oh, no it didn't!  The hallway was painted Marsh Weed and the kitchen/dining room was Lion's Mane, both from Porter Paints.  I had picked out colors with the help of a family member who paints professionally and let's just say that Lion's Mane wasn't on our list!

It really wasn't this bright.

Although I liked the Lion's Mane color it was just wasn't right for this area.  I lived with the Lion's Mane color for about a year before I got the guts to change it.  So, paint color #2 was selected - Marsh Weed.  Yes, that's the same color the hallway and staircase were painted.  I know, it's not very original but I really do like the Marsh Weed.  The color goes from brown to green depending on how the light hits it.  I think it's a great neutral color.  Other than the paint color the rug was changed out to one a friend passed down to me.  Still no curtains though.

Marsh Weed paint.  Rug updated.

Next change to the room was finally adding curtains.  I loved the look that Sherry from Young House Love had in her first house with the bamboo shades and white curtains.  Shamelessly, I copied!  Because our houses are in such close proximity to one another in the subdivision I elected to keep the white mini blinds in the windows for privacy reasons.  I can simply raise them up behind the bamboo roller shades and tuck the strings behind the curtain when I want the windows clear.  The bamboo shades and white curtains all came from Lowe's.  The curtain rods are from Wal-Mart. 

Not too long after adding curtains the chairs got an update too with remnant material from Hancock's.  The table and chairs were a hand me down from the same friend I got the rug from.  I had the set since before I bought this house and she had it for years while living in California.  You'll also notice the rug has been changed out again.  This solid brown rug is again another hand me down from the same friend.  Nice friend, huh?

Here's a pic from last Christmas.  Not sure if I'll do the garland over the windows again this year.  The small table to the left found a new home on the landing at the top of the stairs with the new picture gallery wall.

Today, the room looks pretty much the same although I change out the centerpiece quite regularly.  But there are changes on the horizon!  The oak armoire seen in the corner of the pics houses our desktop computer.  At some point that computer will get moved upstairs to the oldest son's room and I'd like to replace it with a small hutch.  I'm also on the lookout for replacing the table and chairs.  I'd really like to find a set of parson's chairs and a round wood table.  And if I'm going to change out the table and chairs a new rug would certainly be in order (which I have already - yes another hand me down).  I'm even considering adding patterned curtains if I find some material I like.

So continues the evolution of the dining room.  I hope that you have enjoyed seeing the changes in this room over the years.  Anyone else gone through this same process?  Ever received great hand me downs from an even greater friend?  Do share.


All photos property of Honeysuckle on the Vine.