$200 Whole-Room Dining Room Makeover

Much to my chagrin, my old dining room has appeared in several posts on this blog. The thing is, I never really liked my dining room. It felt bland, sterile and somewhat thrown together--hardly the makings for a favorite hang-out spot. Now I love my dining room and I am eager to share it with family and friends.

I wanted a space that was colorful, fun and casual--somewhere to linger over breakfast on a Sunday, catch up on a weeknight and celebrate with friends and family.

The challenge: how could I decorate my dining room on a phantom budget in a way that feels true to the spirit of the rest of my home? I decided to start from scratch, keeping just the chandelier my mother purchased for us when we moved into the home. I would sell our old furnishings and use the proceeds to fund the redecoration, keeping the renovation green and reigning in the budget.

In this space, it was fun to work from inspiration rather than a formal plan. I would see where treasure hunting led me and let the room take shape from there. I decided to let color guide my treasure hunt so I started there first. I knew the room needed deeper, richer color than the travertine beige I had used as a blank canvas for the space. Taking cues from the rest of our home, I considered several earthy colors, including deep slate to complement the stonework in the rest of our home. While attractive, gray felt too imposing to me so I decided to look in a different direction.

Several posts ago, I obsessed on the power of yellow for dining spaces. What I wanted for my own dining room was the magic of a tropical sunset, leading me towards the golds. Benjamin Moore's Honeymoon (low-VOC, of course!) creates that feeling on the walls, while a complementary color several shades lighter carries the glow onto the ceiling. With that starting point in mind, I let inspiration take over for the rest of the room.

I found the table and chairs through the online classifieds. They were well-made, in excellent condition and fit the needs of the space. Two extra leaves allow us to pull in our long hallway bench for extra seating. The dark-colored buffet was a floor-model purchased for a quarter of the full retail price. The buffet's combination of drawers and doors provide the perfect space for linens, candles and extra serving pieces.

A combination of upcycled pieces, bargains and treasures

The tall china cabinet--another online find--helps me centralize some of my entertaining ware. I love how the cabinet's height draws the eye up, creating the illusion of taller ceilings when you are in the space. The open storage also helps me find pieces more easily rather than scouring a number of cabinets and our basement party pantry.

Open storage lets me see my pretty pieces every day

All of the new storage in the space brings engagement and wedding gifts, as well as pieces acquired on travels, into everyday use. This sentimental layering adds another texture to the dining room.

For the floor, I chose a rug from Pottery Barn that helps tie together the colors in the room. I love that their tufted wool rugs are certified free of child labor and use all-natural dyes. The room's versatile palette allows me to rotate accessories easily for different occasions, helping the room always feel fresh.

So how did I do on the budget? By selling the old furnishings, and shifting pieces to and from other rooms, my net decorating cost was only $200.