A New Dining Room for $16!

yes, you read that right!  $16!

(truth be told, it was a little more because I hired someone to paint it for me), but with a little "garanimal" shopping, "new" curtain panels and a can of paint, i love our new room.

remember those $8 curtain panels i bought last week?  well, they cost me a tad more than $8 because i decided to hang them in our dining room -- which then needed to be re-painted to go with the new $8 curtains (remember i told you it was a pretty shade of dark green?).  so those $8 curtains snowballed into re-doing our dining room.  and our den.  that certainly wasn’t my intention, but boy, do i love the results!  and the price!

come take a peek...

it’s now painted the same color as the rest of our house -- tickled crow by dunn edwards (i think it's retired now, but you can still ask for it).  

although i loved it before, i love it more now.  i just needed it to be lighter.  and brighter.  this lighter shade makes the dining room feel soooo much bigger.  much more peaceful.  i’m really loving my sage green with lots of whites and creams together -- and with just a touch of black.  i’m having a cream and black ticking slipcover made to cover the wood bench.  i can’t wait to show it to you when it’s finished.  i think it will be my favorite thing in the room.  me and fabric.  love it.

and speaking of fabric, notice the new curtain panels?   i took down my dark green toile panels that matched the dark paint and replaced them with these.  again, much more simpler.  and these days, i like simpler.

can't remember where this cute tray came from.  but i love it.

the little compote is from tx maxx.

i made these baskets of veggies years ago.  when we first bought our house, i dreamed of a kitchen filled with vegetables.  back then, i didn't eat them.  but i liked looking at them.  :)

i love setting the dining room table.  just for fun.

the green quilted placemats are from target.  on sale for $2.47 each.

the wicker chargers were $3 for all six!  

the green/white dishes are from marshalls.  the first set i bought for the house.

the glass salad plates are from an antique store.  six for $10.

and the fake apples are from tj maxx.

this is one of my favorite spots in the room.

i found this old frame at an antique store and had the mirror cut to fit.

my sister bought me the old soda crate for my birthday and an old rusty milk carrier holds jam jars filled with sand, seashells and candles.

i originally bought this old banana crate for my son's schoolbooks.  he didnt' really want it.  darn! so i had wheels added to it and now tuck my green toile pillows under the table.  and to think these pillows were headed for my garage sale.  what an idiot!

i replaced my old multi-color hook rug with this indoor/outdoor rug.  in fact, i have these throughout our entire house.  i originally bought two 8x10s for our backyard patio.  until the first one i put back there attracted every bird in our neighborhood to come by and pick it a part to make their nests.  i could never bring myself to put the other one out there so it's been in my garage for about five years.  it finally found a home.

i also found this pine frame in the garage too.  i painted it black, added some burlap and pinned three of my old postcards to it.  cheap and sweet.

ok, and see this basket?  this -- this! -- is what really started my house transformation.  i'm not sure why.  but once i brought this into the house, every room began to change.  i found it at homegoods for $29.  i didn't need it, but i loved it.  i put it in my cart and two women asked me if there were others.  i keep it in the dining room and throw all of our wayward stuff in it and at the end of the day, bring it upstairs to unload.  

so that's our new dining room.  

and you know i don't do all this decorating alone...

newmis helps choose fabrics ... and 

and twigs selects the floor coverings.

(my other assistant creamy was on a lunch break and napping on the stairs).

and though i don't have a picture of him, my amazing painter/handyman gregg thompson did all the hard work.  i'd love to share him with you (email or leave me a comment if you want him to do magic in your home too!)  i'm a very happy girl when gregg's white van is parked outside my front door.  some girls want a private chef or personal trainer.  not me.  i want my own painter/handyman!  

and when i finish one more project in the den, i'll show you around in there too.

so what colors are you loving right now?  tell me.  show me.  i'd love to know!