Category Archives: Decor Delights

Feb17

* Snow Day Project: Footstool Makeover *

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Dwelling On A Dime

A TON has changed in my life since my last update and I am busier than I have ever been before…

The long and short of it: I am 7 months pregnant with my first child, a baby girl, due May 18th 🙂 If you count back from my last entry, it’s kind of self-explanatory.

My pregnancy has been rough, and naturally, I cannot use most products I used to when doing projects, nor have I had any energy to do them anyway. I’ve avoided traditional paint, dust, chemicals, fumes, all the toxic nonsense. But I had a nice snow day off from work today, and decided to tackle a tiny, fun little project. The shabby rocker from my last entry? This cute little footstool goes with it…it’s down in our den and ready for downstairs feedings and rocking the baby! We ended up getting a comfy secondhand glider/ottoman for the nursery.

Before I get down to it, I DO finally have a huge project in the works, and it’s slowly getting there…my 50-year-old family bedroom set is now my daughter’s nursery furniture and it is being rehabbed. All drawer tracks were repaired by my hubby, tracks are being greased, new hardware is being added, and the dark pine frames are being painted with a beachy look to go with the “shabby beach cottage” nursery. I kept the drawer fronts their original dark pine. It is a unique, high-contrast, almost odd look. I’ll take photos of the completed nursery soon. I knew this was what I wanted in a nursery, whether the baby was a boy or girl.

So back to the task at hand…here was my raw material for the footstool. The second photo was me deciding between two fabric choices. I opted for more color and saved the blue and cream etoile for another day/project.

The colors used for it were Shabby Paints’ “Alamo White”, and 3 custom-mixed accent colors…a beachy slate blue, an oatmeal beige, and a mint green…I did the base coat of the white and then highlighted with the others. After re-upholstering the top, here is the end-result (and hubby and I both love it).

MUCH more fun! Not only will it work with the rocker (especially because her name is going on the top of the rocker in little-girl-themed letters when the time gets closer since the name is a secret), but it’ll make a great little seat for her before long. Here it is with the rocker before an accent pillow and name decal on the back:

Cost breakdown:

Footstool: Free 🙂 We sold off some items (like our game table set) from the second half of the den to make room for a playroom and space for the baby, and this was purchased with some of the money we got for it…it gave us a very nice Valentine’s Day out together at the Jersey Shore.

Fabric: $1’s worth of fabric purchased from a Walmart remnant. I still have half left for a small pillow or a seat-pad if I decide to make one. All tolled, this project would have cost about $8 if I were actually paying for it. Doesn’t get any better, does it?

Within a month, there will be an update showcasing the final product that is Babygirl’s fabulous nursery!

Aug17

A Random Revamp

Posted on August 17, 2014 by Dwelling On A Dime

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A while back, I found a vintage, mahogany Nichols & Stone rocking chair at my local thrift store for just $2.95. It was solid, sturdy, comfortable, and worth so much than I paid for it! Originally, I gave it a white, distressed chalk paint makeover with a rubbing of brown antiquing wax over top. I stenciled a design onto the top…it was pretty. But after a month or so, I kept getting the nagging sensation that the rocker, while beautiful, was not made over to its full potential. I wanted to try something a little more “out of the box” and unique, while still being something that wasn’t too “loud” (if that makes any sense).

Here is the rocker after its first makeover:

In remaking it…I first decided to leave the base alone. I wanted to try a cool distressing technique where you seal the current finish well, paint one thick coat of color over top of the old finish (in this case, I used “dynasty blue” by Shabby Paints), and then distress/sand just enough to get down to the old finish, but not to bare wood like is typically done. The result would be an awesome shade of blue distressed to show the white/cream finish underneath for a unique effect. It came out better than expected! I then decided to leave the seat the same color as the base, but to add some subtle tones of blue in it for interest. The top of the rocker also got the same finish as the base to pull it all together, and rather than paint or stencil a design onto the top permanently, I opted to use a cute, $1 decal I had that can easily be removed for another or some other type of design in the future. The butterflies sold me! I enjoy this revamp far better than the original makeover I gave it!

People often think I am nuts as an artist to constantly change things out or move something to make room for a new piece, but that’s my process and it’s fun for me!

The result is something I am thrilled with:

Less elegant? Definitely?

More colorful and interesting? I think so. Thoughts?

Jul18

Favorite. Project. Piece. Ever.

Posted on July 18, 2014 by Dwelling On A Dime

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I am SO EXCITED for this one, y’all!

I’ll begin by stating that I am known for doing things “big” and for my exuberance. Rather than tackle a single concept with this piece, I took on all 3 at once 🙂

1.) Zinc finish furniture. Restoration Hardware makes these insanely expensive but AMAZING zinc furniture pieces, and I want, like…ALL of them. Here’s a taste:

Yeah, dreamy! Also thousands. I’ve been wanting to recreate this look with paint for a while now. The kick in the pants came from a crafty/upcycle-queen buddy (Kelley Gauntt). She posted this amazing piece that she made. By the way, it is for sale and has a bigger twin, making it a set. They’re also SO reasonable, so let me know if you are interested, she does great work.

2.) Next up on my list was the numbered drawers (shown in Kelley’s piece), that I saw long ago at Anthropologie and loved! It’s a cool look and lends sort of an industrial flair. Here are some great examples:

Fun, right?!

Okay, now…3.) Ombre drawers in a dresser. With the exception of hair (eww), I love ombre. I was rocking ombre dresses in high school long before it was trendy. Such a beautiful look. Here are some of my inspiration pieces for this look:

I love the shabby one in the final pic…I will be trying that soon for sure.

So with all my inspiration, THIS was my canvas. A tall, narrow chest made of knotty pine. Despite its homely appearance, all I could see was potential. I snagged it for just $7! As mentioned earlier, I combined all 3 of the techniques into this one…zinc paint, numbered drawers, ombre colors. Here’s the raw material:

I primed it a pale grey color and then used a textured deep metallic grey paint by Martha Stewart as coat 1.

It gave the piece a great texture that is nice to touch, rough and industrial. Next, I used a sooth silver metallic paint, also by Martha Stewart. I used a cheesecloth to wipe it on and then off for a look that replicated zinc’s natural patina. Here’s the zinc paint job:

My bestie was over and helped me with the drawers by giving me her valued opinions on whether the shades were correct or need re-mixing. I began with white and led to a deeper blue in an ombre effect. I used paint I had on hand. I found aluminum numbers at Home Depot that I gave a zinc paint job to to number the drawers when done. I sealed the drawers when done, and after the numbers went on…she was complete. I’m obsessed. Here she is!

Three elements combined to make one really unique, funky piece.

Now, for the cost rundown:

Dresser: $7

Numbers: $9

Metallic paints: $7

Total: $23. Hows that for a creative steal?!

I adore this one.

Til next time…

Jun26

An Accidental Re-do

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Dwelling On A Dime

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On Wednesday, we had an electrician come over to do some work for us upstairs. My newly-redone hall table was right outside the main bathroom. I always try to provide water, coffee, or beer to anyone working on the house. Hubby set the glass of ice water on the table. Despite layers of poly and wax, the water bubbled the top layer and it peeled RIGHT off the table.

-_- Do you know how long those paint jobs take? They’re not something you can patch up! I allowed myself my momentary freakout and went back to the drawing board. The best idea I had for the top was to decoupage it. Emily Dickinson is one of my favorite poets, so I put her poetry on the top, using lots of regular glue, reinforcing the seams, and 3-4 heavy coats of poly. I added the side stencils and then hand painted the undertones of white and gold, sealing it when done. No need to worry about this finish coming off!

Not a bad save, I (actually) like something I did 🙂

Cost: Free (doesn’t get better than that).

If you’re a lover of the unrivaled, devastating beauty of words (as I am), familiarize yourself with Emily Dickinson. No one will ever surpass Robert Frost for me, but she’s way up there. Some of my favorites:

I had no time to hate, because
The grave would hinder me,
And life was not so ample I
Could finish enmity.

Nor had I time to love, but since
Some industry must be,
The little toil of love, I thought,
Was large enough for me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Behind Me — dips Eternity –

Before Me — Immortality –

Myself — the Term between –

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And of course, my all-time favorite of hers:

If I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain;

If I can ease one life the aching,

Or cool one pain,

Or help one fainting robin

Unto his nest again,

I shall not live in vain.

– Emily Dickinson




Oh: I "met" my new classroom 2 days ago, and we like each other very much :-)
I look at it as my next blank canvas. 
From now on, I want my room to reflect me and I have to put my stamp on it. 
I'm already dreaming of projects for it, some are already in the works. 
I'm feeling so much more inspired and happy lately.
I love this photo only because it radiates that. 
Here I am in my new future "second home"! 
 

Lastly, this is unrelated and I know "Throwback Thursday" is a Facebook thing...
But I came across this photo of my 6th grade class trip.
Seeing the Twin Towers is always eerie, moving, and incredibly sad.
I remembered being so awed by their massive size.

Jan31

A Touch of Retro (Paging the 1950’s!)

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Dwelling On A Dime

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Hello, my precious little blog! I’ve missed this place. I’ve also missed having, you know…a life.

I’m always really inspired in the summertime, when I’ve got vacations on the brain and plenty of time to myself to get creative!

In the interest of beating the wintertime blues (as NJ has spontaneously morphed into an offshoot of Antarctica), I want to talk retro, I want to talk kitchens, and I want to talk 1950′s design elements. *cue Julie Andrews singing “My Favorite Things”*

They say style is cyclical. “They” are right! It seems that every number of years, things come back into vogue again. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel I am seeing this constantly with the 1950′s! ESPECIALLY when it comes to kitchens, so much of what is popular right now harkens back to this time period. I super-love the decor/design of the 50′s…from fashion to home design. I also have to say that while I did not set out or plan to add some 1950′s elements to my kitchen during the remodel, it definitely ended up that way.

Let’s go back in time a bit. I’m going to show you some ads and photos of 50′s kitchens so we have a baseline to work with:

Ahhh yes, the 50′s “kitchenbitch”. A true classic. What I find intriguing is the crisp, white look. This kitchen would not look out-of-place in a kitchen today!

I can’t tell you enough how much I adore this kitchen. the 50′s saw the rise of metal cabinets in fun colors, such as this Tiffany blue. The fridge just brings it all together. Look on the right and you’ll see the awesome stainless steel wall ovens…which are highly desirable right now.

Another “white cabinet” kitchen….this time with tea/green formica counters and an island *very trendy back then*.

50′s “Hotpoint” ad featuring their colorful wall oven. My obsession with the color aside, they are coming back in popularity. Notice something else? Check out the mosaic wall design. Flip the pattern horizontally and you have today’s tile backsplash. I always fly into an unnecessary rage when people buy an old kitchen with an awesome old wall oven and then RIP IT OUT. WHY?!

1950′s “pepto pink”. A true classic. Also popular in bathrooms and tile. Hey, this was the housewife’s domain, and if she wanted a pink kitchen, she got one!

This is an old Formica ad. It was the fashionable thing to have. Formica actually grew to NOT be a trend, as it was the go-to material for countertops for 50+ years! Today, most people want natural stone or some form of cement/silestone. What I also think is fun about the ad is that it features the great “retro red” pop of color so popular in this day (carried over from the 40′s).

Changing gears, this ad focuses on yellow accents (Formica and wall oven) but features wood cabinets with the classic 50′s hinges and hardware. Sweet wallpaper, no? *yikes*

When you really start to examine the photos, you can’t help but see eerie similarities to what is trending today! Every decade has its moment in the proverbial sun and its own particular nostalgia. However, something about the 50′s seem a little more lasting (and somehow still relevant).

Fast forward to 2014: A kitchen remodel is the most expensive (and sought after) home renovation. The trouble is that they’re so costly! To completely rebuilt a basic kitchen will easily cost you $30,000. A remodel on the higher end usually tops $50,000. I’ve discussed kitchens a few times before.This entry is more for those who don’t WANT to spend a small fortune, but if you’ve got a big budget, you can work with this information, too!

If you want something other than beige granite, stainless steel appliances, travertine backsplash, and darker wood cabinets…consider bringing one or more 50′s elements into your kitchen! You can do it in a big way or do it in a more subtle fashion. I personally feel it’s the most fun with color added, but hey…your call.

Whether you bought an older home and are working with what you have, or want your newer kitchen to travel back in time, here are some awesome renovated kitchens with elements borrowed from the 50′s:

The above kitchen is the stuff of my vintage fantasies! I love the painted cabinets, the hardware, the apron sink, and the removed cabinets on top to make room for open shelving that houses fun, colorful accents. The white subway tile backsplash keeps it simple but fits perfectly, and the white appliances are a perfect choice here. How much fun is that orange Kitchenaid?! These people get an A+++ from me! They took an older kitchen and redid it in a way that stays true to the era but *belongs* today, too.

Now, you may notice that the “before” photo is the “everykitchen” that is sought after today. It’s tasteful, it’s pretty, but it’s also rather anonymous. I love these people for their excellent and MUCH more fun “re-vamp”! They added shiny new stainless appliances (which are somehow a perfect modern-retro marriage), painted the cabinets white, chanegd the hardware to stainless steel, and (my favorite change), chalk-and-distress painted their pantry door. GENIUS! Perfect vintage touch! What is striking is how different the granite looks after the re-do…it’s the same counter-top, but the white, bright remodel changes its look.

Talk about preservation! These homeowners did a gorgeous job preserving the style and integrity of their 50′s kitchen while still creating something stylish and relevant. They kept and painted their original hardware and exposed hinges. They painted the original wood cabinets off-white. They kept their still-working wall ovens and old gas cooktop. The scallop details that frame the window are pretty and unique. The best thing they did was paint their old counters to an awesome matte black that “fits” perfectly. A re-vamp like this costs nearly nothing!

I want to feature the kitchen of a friend of mine (hi Kristen!), because she is a perfect example of the amazing transformation that countertop-painting can bring about!

I’m 100% being honest when I say I don’t think I have ever seen such a huge transformation for so little money. You may wonder what this has to do with “retro”? The elements are there in a subtle way, with the brightened cabinets and brand-new, glossy white appliances (white/glossy was big in the 50′s, as it looked crisp and clean). It looked awesome before she painted the counters, but painting them completed it all. It took time and elbow grease, but her “I may as well try it, anything is better than what I have” attitude paid off! The resulting lovely shade of grey is the perfect complement to her shiny new appliances and grey cabinets. The kitchen has taken on a more “French country” feel. Let this photo stand as a testament to the fact that a kitchen that looks completely different needn’t break the bank. If you have bad, ugly, or old countertops but don’t want to shell out thousands right now for new ones, get your paint on (make sure to seal it afterwards). You can go classic and elegant like Kristen did, or try out a fun pop of color. The best part? If you don’t like it, try another color :-) There are also countertop-refinishing/refacing kits you can buy specifically for this type of project.

Back to more 50′s/vintage inspiration:

These homeowners painted their old wood cabinets while keeping an original retro stove and backplash. They painted their island and left the green enamel top as-is. Not a fan of that, but hey…it works for them. The biggest problem in this kitchen is THE CLUTTER THAT MAKES MY BRAIN EXPLODE and the yellowed, cream microwave. That should be white, and this kitchen needs a good “organize”, because it’s otherwise charming.

Here’s just an example of how brightening up your kitchen space can take your layout from “wind tunnel” to “fresh, clean, and open”:

Their goldenrod accessories are a nice pop of color, too!

If you’re not doing an actual reno but want to add in a few fun 50′s elements, consider doing so with accessories! I’ve done some of this in my own kitchen and will add a few more soon.

The Bella company makes cooking/kitchen appliances in excellent colors with a vintage-feel:

(I am thinking of buying that toaster for my own kitchen. This line is affordable and accessible).

Another current trend is accessories that feel nostalgic:

(I am clearly partial to aqua blue. Please excuse my blatant bias!)

Appliances that feel vintage are gaining in popularity:

Fantastic microwave by Nostalgia Electrics.

How. Freaking. Genius. It’s literally a breakfast station…coffee, toast, and eggs/meat on the top griddle. All wrapped up in an inexpensive and whimsical package.

If you’ve got VERY deep pockets, you can outfit a kitchen in brand-new appliances that look vintage…by Big Chill:

(I adore the mint green!)

They’ll set you back $3,000 for the fridge, $4,000+ for the range, $600 for the microwave, $1,700 for the dishwasher, $1,400 for a vent hood, and $3,000 if you choose a wall oven. They are STUNNING, but my goodness…the prices raise my blood-pressure!

If you want affordable nostalgia, GE designed a line called “Artistry” which features a choice of black or white appliances that have a 50′s feel for VERY little money…you can easily get the whole kitchen full of appliances for about $2,000-$2,200, which is great!

I fully admit that if I was not set on stainless for the look I wanted, I’d have bought these in white, hands-down, no-contest.

Another easy way to add a vintage element is with a colorful and endlessly useful Kitchenaid mixer!

My hubby bought me this pale pink breast-cancer edition mixer…I named her “Loretta”:

In conclusion, don’t shy away from playing around with 50′s elements in your kitchen, because the results can be inspiring and fabulous! Remember that it doesn’t take a lot of money to DIY a kitchen from something cringeworthy to something you’re proud to show off. I’ve ALWAYS loved the style of the 1950′s…all my life. I did not realize I was going in that direction when we re-did our kitchen, but the end-result clearly shows a lean to vintage/retro. I leave you with a reminder of my kitchen “before and after”, that cost us a measly $2,500:

Now for our “accidental-50′s-inspired” after:

Don’t be afraid to play around with style! Do what inspires you and makes you happy, while remembering that there’s always room for 1950′s charm in some element or another. Until next time…

Nov17

Kitchen Phase 2: Mission Accomplished!

Posted on November 17, 2013 by Dwelling On A Dime

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Our kitchen has come such a long way since we bought our house 6 months ago! It went from looking very 1970’s to sleek, beautiful, and fun. We got our appliances yesterday, so I wanted to show you the way everything looks, because this is the look that will stay for a very long time (until we tackle phase 3, which is knocking down a wall, having an island built, and having a mosaic backsplash put in).

As it stands, even without phase 3, the kitchen is officially fully updated!

Phase 1 involved a large amount of paint and a gargantuan amount of elbow grease, but it was also cheap! Yesterday, appliances went in…and though I can’t call that a “cheap” update, the price we paid for them was outstanding! When you see our kitchen photos from move-in day and from yesterday, you’ll be amazed at the transformation.

I talk often about “good bones” with a house, and I’ve said it numerous times about our kitchen. The layout was workable. There was an eat-in area. The 1995 oak cabinets were solid wood and in good enough shape to keep. They had Granite Transformations put in the counters, and the color was close enough to what we wanted that we decided to keep it. The beadboard on the walls was a plus, just ugly and unpainted. We had a good amount to “work with” and make better. Could we have ripped out the bulkhead, counters, backsplash, floor, beadboard, cabinets, etc? Sure! But I didn’t want to literally sink money into a major renovation. It works wonders for some, but the reality is that we’re both just too cheap and too DIY! 😉

I must say, my favorite “fix” was taking a shiny, oddly-textured early 90’s backsplash and painting it. It was shiny, white, oddly-textured linoleum and some tiles had weird beige bundles of flowers and wheat on them. I had the idea to try bonding primer and paint, and now the once-ugly backsplash matches our beautiful walls. It was a free update because we used the paint we had on hand, and I couldn’t be more pleased. If you don’t want to spend between $500-2000 (depending on your choices) for a new backsplash, consider this easy option.

I’ll walk you through the transformation of our kitchen from the time we first moved in up through today:

See? Good bones indeed, but in need of updates.

Here’s the result after we got our paint on and rid ourselves of the headache-inducing screaming yellow:

The walls looked a million times nicer with the blue-grey color, but that beadboard looked even worse. The solution?

SO. MUCH. BETTER.

Then we decided to paint our oak cabinets white:

Really brightened things up, didn’t it?!

Onto appliances…our dishwasher and fridge were from ’91 and the dishwasher and microwave from 2000 were both not working well. The fridge was shiny black, chrome, and had cream sides. 1 fridge, 3 colors. It drove me so crazy that we painted the sides with chalkboard paint to liven it up to be something I could live with until we could replace all the appliances at once:

I highly suggest that update!

As far as appliances go, let me preface it all by reminding you that I’m cheap. My husband is also cheap. I may have caviar taste and like nice things, but I’m cheap! We couldn’t bring ourselves to buy appliances until Black Friday sales began popping up, as that tends to yield the best deals. I know people who spent 4 grand or more on appliances, and the thought made my heart palpitate. I came up with a budget of $2,000 for the fridge, dishwasher, over-range microwave, and gas range. The goal was good, basic appliances. We knew stainless steel was the look we were going for (sleek and industrial). Our original black-and-gray-and-white kitchen idea morphed into something with many pops of teal blue and something a lot more fun… with a punch of personality!

Home Depot had a “Pre-Black Friday” ad out and I saw exactly what I wanted at the price I wanted to pay. Furthermore, we got no-interest for 6 months (I like paying $500 a month with no interest way better than paying in cash all at once), free delivery, free haul-away, and installation for $2,000 and some tax. We went with Frigidaire. I did the best measurements I could and the fridge ended up being slightly too tall for our “built when fridges were smaller” cabinets, so hubby made a few small cuts and the crisis was averted.

Anyway, we’re more than pleased with the look. The fridge is so much bigger than the last one! Luckily for my parents, my dad was in the garage when their older-than-me spare fridge sparked a small electrical fire and died or “took a crap” in the eloquent and elegant words of my dad. Our chalk-board-sided black fridge goes to them as their new spare 🙂

Once more with “before”:

And now, our current kitchen:

And of course, the fun and new eat-in-area highlighted in my last entry:

The best part of it all is that all of these updates combined cost us just $2,500 between lots of paint, elbow grease, salvaging items for free, a Craigslisted marble-top table and chairs, re-purposing current items, and appliances. It really doesn’t even look like the same kitchen. I couldn’t be happier, honestly. “The Anonymous Kitchen” is my pet-peeve (the same one everyone has, with the dark cabinets, tile backsplash, neutral walls, beige granite, and stainless appliances), and we have one that nobody else does thanks to DIY skills, imagination, and a very small amount of money (as kitchens go). “The Anonymous Kitchen” might be gorgeous, but this one looks and feels like us! I’m a “warm” person…so this is the first cool-toned room I’ve ever had or done. I enjoy that the kitchen has so much personality and stands alone from the rest of our home without clashing from the “feel” of it, thanks to the personalized touched and unique items.

::Happy warm-fuzzies::

Until next time…

Aug30

Bathroom Before & After

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Dwelling On A Dime

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When we got this house, we did NOT like the bathroom. It was…well, to use a friend’s favorite adjective…tragic. It was as if the Jersey shore exploded in our tiny bathroom. I’m talking beachy-keen wallpaper, and border with very large shells on it. Also included were a dated vanity with bad fixtures and a floor comprised of a sheet of white linoleum with grooved squares. If the wallpaper wasn’t awful enough, it was 4 layers deep with one layer of wallpaper tacked on top of another, from the 60’s up through now.

Now for the *lovely* photos…

Not ideal.

With the shower being the exception, the bathroom ended up being a “gut”. The wallpaper over the years ruined the walls and could not be stripped without taking chunks of 1960’s drywall with it. We paid our contractor to re-drywall and paint the whole bathroom. We were not pleased, but felt it was better to have something done once and done right! We had mold/water resistant drywall put in to be safer. I was going to put a cool khaki color on the walls, but decided to use the very warm and brighter shade we used in the master.

We chose a white vanity by Allen & Roth with a matching medicine cabinet that is tall with a large mirror (not to mention a ton of storage). We picked out a brushed nickel light fixture with an interesting swirled design. We found a granite color that we love for the vanity top to complete the look. After choosing brushed nickel finishings for the faucet and toilet paper holder/towel rack, I found some great knobs for $2.95 each at Anthropologie. All else came from Lowe’s.

We just had the floor done with the porcelain tile that resembles wood, and our contractor made us a concrete/silestone room transition since a typical one wouldn’t fit (the room steps up from the hardwood in the hall). It looks like we laid driftwood in our bathroom, and the result is awesome! Neutral enough to keep indefinitely, even if we change out the decor colors in the future.

As for accessories, I fell in love with Croscill’s “mosaic leaves” collection, and got it all at Bed, Bath & Beyond with their 20% off coupons.

The result after the remodel is a bathroom that is warm, bright, fun, and really cheerful. It may be small, but it’s gorgeous and we enjoy it!

Here are the after photos:

So. Much. Better.

This was not a “cheap” project, really. But the end result still cost a lot less than many people I know have spent on their bathrooms. The breakdown is:

New drywall, framing out the door and the windows, new baseboards, new paint: $1500

New vanity, granite top, medicine cabinet, and light fixture: $644 (yep, that’s the exact amount).

New brushed nickel fixtures and finishes: $120

New knobs from Anthropologie: $15

New 6 panel door to replace the ugly and creepy slat door: $25

Bathroom accessories (including outlet covers, decal, painting, and wall art): $150.

Grand total: $2,300 rounded up.

Jul16

Dining Room Decor

Posted on July 16, 2013 by Dwelling On A Dime

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Today I want to switch gears a little, from renovations to decor. I want to focus in on the dining room! Maybe you’ve got a formal dining room, perhaps you’ve got just an eat-in-kitchen. Either way, I hope you glean some ideas from this entry that will help you set it up with style.

Let me first say that I didn’t really want the “typical” dining room that is used once or twice a year. I wanted the room to be a showpiece, but one that could be used at any time, one that felt inviting and did not put out the “Do not touch anything in this fancy room” vibe. I certainly enjoy using my china for tea services and even for just my morning coffee. I’m continually saying “Life is short, use the china!” to the amusement of family and friends.

It would be easier to begin by showing you the dining room as it was when we toured our house so you know what we were working with:

So…yeah…

A 90’s-fab chandelier, decor not to our taste, carpet. AGAIN, though, great “bones”!

If you look back a few entries, you will see that we refinished our home’s original hardwood floors, so I had that to work with when decorating.

The most important thing when setting up a formal dining room is absolutely selecting the furniture, which comes in just about every color, every wood type, every style, every budget. If you do not have a family set, your options are to buy new or buy used. You can go for any kind of look you want…modern, traditional, antique, whimsical. I’m a girl who knows what she wants, so I have always wanted a mahogany set in the formal Queen Anne style. My parents have a stunning cherry Thomasville dining room suite that is Queen Anne style, and I have admired it since the day they got it.

As you can guess, my choice does not come cheap…in fact, it’s one of the most expensive types on the market. I don’t do particleboard and every wood surface in my home is solid. I did not want to plunk $5,000-$10,000 down for a brand new set. My favorite solution? Buy used!

I scoured Craigslist (more on that at a later date), and a family in a wealthy neighborhood was moving. I found my dream set there, for the bargain price of $1,000, which included the table with 2 leaves, 6 chairs (2 captain’s chairs, 4 armchairs), a hutch, and a curio. The maker is Bassett, which is quality. Definitely see if you can find a maker’s mark if you are buying used.

Next step? Getting rid of that awful chandelier! We found exactly what we were looking for at Lowe’s. For fixtures, we gravitate to oil-rubbed bronze, but the bottom line is to buy what you love. $100 bought us our nice, new one.

If you’ve got a hardwood floor, you should absolutely buy an area rug for under your table. It adds style and protects the flooring. I do not like room-size rugs, but that is a personal preference. I like to see my hardwood. I chose just a 5 x 7 area rug to go under the table. My dining room is open to my formal living room, so I used the same rug in that room to, to create the flow and feel of a unified space. The rugs were a reasonable $75 each.

Once you have a light fixture, rug (if needed) and furniture picked out, it’s time to accessorize (the most fun part).

I like formal, but I do not like stuffy!!! I wanted to add some whimsical elements to the room. I am a big fan of the tablescape. Settting up a great table gives your room polish and personality. You can change them with the seasons, which I often enjoy doing. I prefer a runner to a tablecloth, and found exactly what I was looking for in Lenox’s “chirp” pattern:

It had the perfect amount of whimsy, the russet colors to tie in my seat cushions with the rug, birds (which I wanted), and the fun element of nature. I planned the rest of the table decor around it. I got it on sale for $25.

I knew I wanted to set 4 plates out, so I found great bronze wicker chargers and blue plates with a leaf design at Macy’s. They look great together, the blue “pops” and ties into the blue accents on the rug and in the runner. I paid $40 for all 4 chargers and all 4 plates, which was a great deal.

As for accents, I found a GREAT collection that Rachel Bilson (an adorable actress that I love) designed for Macy’s that is peacock-themed. The name of her awesome line is Edie Rose. I bought her peacock box, napkin holder, potholders, and kitchen towels. She also has a salt-and-pepper shaker set that looks like 2 robin’s eggs in a white nest. Each piece was on sale at Macy’s when I bought them. Here are some photos of this collection:

Pretty!

I already owned a bronze set of bird tealight holders from a store called Ten Thousand Villages, which went perfectly with everything else.

Now, it was time to select a centerpiece. Giving your dining table a great centerpiece is going to top off the room. It serves as an accent and pulls everything together. I found a fabulous bright silver candelabra at my local thrift store for $4. It was love at first sight! I knew I wanted to put in taper candles that were a unique color. I lucked out at Homegoods when I found a pack of 6 blue tapers that perfectly matched my plates! The candles cost me just $5.99. The combination of the silver with the blue is stunning, interesting, and different. I get so many compliments on my table setup.

No Italian girl’s dining room is complete without a wine-rack! I like my wine, and I wanted something really special. My favorite thrift store had a tall solid wood wine rack carved like a piano down the sides. It holds 16 bottles and has a top rack for goblets. It was so special that I had to have it! It was priced at $65, but I used up $25 of credit that I had there and used a $20 discount card. So I paid just $32 for it. It’s a fun touch of whimsy in the room!

That corner of the room needed a tie-in with my table, so I found a mercury glass lidded tumbler from Pottery Barn that looks great on top (which you will see in the full photos of the room). The mercury glass matched up with my silver candelabra perfectly.

I kept wall decor kind of simple, with a beautiful, colorful Leonid Afremov painting on the big wall with a set of mosaic leaf sconces framing the hutch. The sconces are from Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and I love them so much that I bought 3 sets for my house. $8 per set after a coupon!

For china, I have a set of gorgeous Limoges china from France. The pattern is lovely, with a blue and gold design. My aunt gave it to my mother, who gave it to me. I still need to have it insured. My mother has our family china made in the 1890’s in Czechoslovakia. I put my many little mementos in my curio cabinet, and I love how complete having china and treasures makes a dining room feel. Shoutout to my sister’s china too…she’s got 2 Lenox collections. She has the holly motif holiday set that I adore, and a classy, modern white set for everyday.

One exceptionally fun element I found are the trellis brackets I got from Anthropologie to frame where the dining room is open to the formal living room. They are normally $50 a pair, but I got these on clearance for $15. I love the bronze color and the twig motif. They’re perfect!

Oh, and that quote decal was $1 at my local Dollar Tree!

Now for some photos of my finished dining room:

It all came together nicely, and all on a budget!

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