Our Dining Room and Living Room Reveal

Hi all,

It's been quite awhile since I've posted an update on here. With travel for a friend's wedding in Seattle, bouts of pregnancy tiredness and a growing social life (which is most certainly not a chore), we have been keeping busy. Life is good and little by little, Joplin is feeling more like home.

I thought I'd take the time to show you an update of some of our space, here at the beloved new, old house. Part of the reason I haven't posted full photos of these rooms sooner is because they have come together relatively slowly. Without much of a budget for major renovations or new furnishings, I've focused on finding the style/look for our little hodge-podge of a home in thrifty ways aaand being thrifty means hunting down bargains and visiting thrift shops over and over until you happen upon treasures!

While all of our furniture and decor was mostly present in previous homes, there have been a few additions and makeovers that are helping to make our living spaces flow together. Furthermore, if you've followed this blog for a while, you'll notice I've taken some bolder approaches in some the decor-- pushing past what feels safe to what is fun and what I truly enjoy (color, texture, pattern, bold, fun, vintage, eclectic style). 

So, without further ado, here is our current dining room:

You may remember me saying we wanted to repaint this room. Well, the more and more I added, in the way of furnishings and color, the more I decided I actually liked having a black dining room. The trim/plate rails/box beams definitely need to be touched up with fresh white paint, but that will happen, I'm guessing, some time this fall.

This is the room that houses the majority of our new items in the house since we didn't have a dining room at our previous rentals. It's been great to have larger groups over and not have to crowd them around our kitchen table or eat off our laps, buffet-style in the living room.

Dining Room Trestle Table- Craigslist, Ethan Allen find for $150

Assorted Chairs- $5 a pop at a salvage yard

Chair Paint Color- Cool Lava by Behr

Curtains- Urban Outfitters

Light Fixture- School House Electric

Painting- Nick's Nana's artwork from the 50's

Candlesticks- Spray painted Ikea- here was a third one, but Collin broke it!

Indoor/Outdoor Rug- Ballard Designs (super-duper durable and easy to clean with kiddos)

Blue Lamp- $12 thrift store find

Then, we come to the second part of the room, the South wall, displaying my longtime pined after blue china cabinet! We found the cabinet in Arkansas at a barn sale for $80. There were several other cabinets on sale, but this is the only one Nick would, in good conscience, let me paint, since the wood wasn't anything special-- just your standard maple. I wish I had kept the paint swatch in order to share the color!

 Below is a shot before we put the glass doors on, in case you wanted a better look at my china and knick knacks:

View into kitchen from dining room.

This is our new mail station/key holder/ command central spot. Nick puts his cell phone and wallet in this basket when he gets home. It's helpful in keeping stuff off the dining room table. The magnetic board is just a sheet of metal (can be purchase at the Home Depot), nailed into a sturdy frame. Easy!

Then, our living room. Up until two days ago, this room was still feeling disjointed to me. I knew that it needed something to pull it all together and tie it in with the dining room, but couldn't figure out what that was. Turns out, an awesome, wool trellis rug in a sweet shade of coral/rhubarb was just the ticket!

You'll notice the chipping paint on the mantle, but we kind of forget it's there. Eventually this will get re-painted! ;)

All of our furniture remains the same and there are a few new decor items,

Sofa- CB2 from Craigslist in Atlanta

Patterned Chair- $5 from an Atlanta thrift shop

Blue Mid-Century Chair- $10 from an estate sale

Tufted Chair- Purchased by Nick at an estate sale when he was single and working in Fresno, CA

(Thinking I want to reupholster this chair and remove the skirt to expose its ankles)

Boomerang Coffee Table- Found on the side of the road (see story of makeover here)

TV Stand/Buffet Cabinet- Given to my in-laws by a neighbor

Mirror- Salvation Army for $8

Mid-Century Classroom Pull-Down Map- $85 on Ebay

 Further plans for this room? 

- Removing the odd box, vertical bookcases around the windows. Those were a 1970's addition, we think, and not original to the house.

- Repainting. Color suggestions? What would flow well with the gray entryway (see photos of entryway walls in this post) and black dining room? The olive green sometimes looks too much like the color of baby poop and we'll need to repaint anyways after we take out the window boxes.

So, that's where things are at right now. I'm sure we'll make changes, but I'd love your input and ideas. Old houses are full of charm, but they are sometimes harder to decorate because, due to quirks, you're not working with a blank canvas!