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Decorating· Home Decor

The Evolution Of Our Dining Room

April 26, 2016

Just like a few other rooms in our house, our dining room has seen its fair share of style changes. Looking back at pictures, I can see how much I was really trying to find exactly what my “style” was. I was switching things up, exploring new design choices, and taking bold risks. Through the trial and error of it all, I’ve been able to really “hone” in on my style. I know what I like, what I don’t, what colors work for me, and the ones that don’t. Each step has lead me to where I finally feel like home. 

Today, I thought I’d focus on the evolution of our dining room. (You can see the evolution of our breakfast nook here.) It’s changed so much since we built the house, and it’s easy to see the different stages I went through, each one bringing me closer to where I am today.

(Let’s pardon the horrific pictures. Several of these were taken with my simple point and shoot camera I used at the very beginning of the blog! Gasp!)

When we first built the house, and moved in, I chose to paint the dining room Tranquility by Benjamin Moore. I loved the soft, gray/green/blue color, and I was just starting to explore color. 
The Evolution Of Our Dining Room By The Wood Grain Cottage

The Evolution Of Our Dining Room By The Wood Grain Cottage

The Evolution Of Our Dining Room By The Wood Grain Cottage
I also decided to place the dining room table vertically in the room. I thought it would fit better if the length of the table was going the same way as the length of the room. The table fit better that direction, but it also didn’t feel quite right. So on a whim, I decided to turn the table horizontally in the room…

The Evolution Of Our Dining Room By The WooThe Evolution Of Our Dining Room By The Wood Grain Cottaged Grain Cottage

Almost instantly, the entire room felt larger. It’s amazing what furniture, and the proper placement, can do for a room. I also bought a rug, which is still what we have under the table. 

Once I moved the table, I had a much better understanding of the room, and the available space. I kept it like this for a little while, and I enjoyed the modern dresser- turned- buffet…

The Evolution Of Our Dining Room By The Wood Grain Cottage

The Evolution Of Our Dining Room By The Wood Grain Cottage

But… I decided to repaint the walls to something more natural, which also made the room feel much bigger.

The Evolution Of Our Dining Room By The Wood Grain Cottage

The new paint color, Halo by Benjamin Moore, helped to really brighten up the room. It suddenly felt really fresh and light…. something I was craving for the house. 

Once the walls were painted, I was ready to add some add character back into the room. We installed our open wall shelving, and I haven’t looked back. 

The Evolution Of Our Dining Room By The Wood Grain Cottage

The shelving has been huge for our dining room. It not only created it’s own room, but it also added an element of depth. Installing the shelving was one of the best decision we’ve made in the house. Not only was the shelving a huge addition to the room, but also to our home. You can basically see the dining room from any room in the house, and I’m amazed at how much the shelves have added to our home.  Here’s what they looked like right after I styled them for the first time…

The Evolution Of Our Dining Room By The Wood Grain Cottage

I quickly realized though, that our existing chandelier didn’t quite fit with the shelves…

The Evolution Of Our Dining Room By The Wood Grain Cottage

So, I swapped it out for this one…

The Evolution Of Our Dining Room By The Wood Grain Cottage

The room was instantly refreshed. 

The Evolution Of Our Dining Room By The Wood Grain Cottage

Never under estimate the importance of lighting. It’s crucial. 

Once the light was switched out, I let the room sit and fully absorb the new style changes. I found myself switching things up on the shelves…

The Evolution Of Our Dining Room By The Wood Grain Cottage

The Evolution Of Our Dining Room By The Wood Grain Cottage

And then I decided the two end chairs needed to be swapped out. I’d been looking for something different, but hadn’t had any luck finding something…

The Evolution Of Our Dining Room By The Wood Grain Cottage

The new chairs changed the whole feeling in the room…

The Evolution Of Our Dining Room By The Wood Grain Cottage

And that’s basically what we have today. Even though we’ve already made a bunch of changes to the room, I can honestly say we have several more to make. I’ve already switched the curtains, and we most definitely need a new rug. Once step at a time… 

So if you’re ever feeling like you’re stuck in your home, just know we all go through decorating stages. We’ll have times of great growth, and times of quiet thought… it’s all necessary in order to get it right in the long run…

If you’d like more help with decorating your home, and switching things up, I created a 5 DAY mini e-mail course to help! Over the 5 day period, I’ll be sending e-mails to help encourage you, cheer you on, and most importantly, give you lots of helpful tips and tricks! You can do this, I’ll help! You can sign up below!

The Evolution Of Our Dining Room By The Wood Grain Cottage

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again… don’t ever feel like YOU or YOUR HOME isn’t good enough. It is. You are.

On Friday, I’ll be sharing a huge announcement. I’ve been working on a really fun, really secretive project and I can’t wait to share it with you. I’m hoping you’re going to love it as much as I do! Come back Friday to see what it is!

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I’m Shayna… The small town Colorado girl who’s obsessed with home and everything that entails! I’m a creative, a decorator, a day dreamer, a huge fan of scones and I’m passionate about loving where I live and making a home.

Tagged with: dining room9 Comments

Comments

  1. Sian Smith says

    April 26, 2016 at 3:13 PM

    Beautiful room .. lm laughing to myself because my husband cannot understand my need to continually change my rooms around. So l was so pleased to read your blog and find lm not the only one. Thankyou ever so much x Sian (Salvage Inspired )

    Reply
  2. Allison says

    April 26, 2016 at 5:20 PM

    I just wanted to thank you for this post. It took us a long time but we finally purchased our first house almost two years ago. I really love our layout but a lot of our finishes are builder grade. I’ve been waiting and longing for years to be able to put my own style into our first house but when we moved in it was overwhelming. I think I’ve felt a bit intimidated. It’s one thing to see something you love in a magazine or on a blog but it’s something totally different to create that on your own. I’m actually going to start painting our living room tomorrow and I’m really excited about it! I love your house and find it so inspirational! I get so many ideas from you! Thank you for saying that the home we have is good enough. I really appreciate that. I think so many people are looking to keep moving up to the next bigger and better home that sometimes it’s just ok to be happy with what you have and make it the best you can.

    Reply
  3. Dianne says

    April 26, 2016 at 5:41 PM

    I just signed up! Can’t wait for the evolution in my new house to take place.

    Reply
  4. Jeanne says

    April 26, 2016 at 7:51 PM

    It’s funny how each stage of your dining room was lovely, but it just kept getting better and better!
    And I can’t imagine it looking any better than it does right now, but I bet you’ll find a way!!

    Reply
  5. Cecilia says

    April 26, 2016 at 8:29 PM

    I love the changes you’ve made and your shelves are still one of my favorite features of your house. I’m signed up for the e-course! Can’t wait to transform my spaces. 🙂

    Reply
  6. Christy@Confessions of a Serial Do-it-Yourselfer says

    April 29, 2016 at 6:38 AM

    I loved seeing the evolution of this space. It has such a sophisticated layered look as it is now and I loved seeing how really simple changes over time brought it to where it is. I just love your style! XO

    Reply
  7. Karena Mclauchlin says

    May 12, 2016 at 11:58 AM

    I am in love! Those shelves on the wall are my new obsession. I have a wall in my dining room that no matter what I put there I’m not happy with it. I might look into some shelves like this to fill up the empty space! Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  8. Jessica says

    January 9, 2020 at 9:06 PM

    I absolutely love these shelves! I am going to steal this idea for my breakfast nook. My breakfast nook is shaped almost exactly like yours just with a smaller window. I recently repainted and am updating my decor. I’m wondering if you can tell me how deep you made your shelves. Great job on the room. It looks so great!

    Reply
    • Shayna says

      January 16, 2020 at 12:44 PM

      Thank you so much! You can see the full post on the shelves here: https://www.thewoodgraincottage.com/2014/08/08/diy-dining-room-open-shelving/

      Reply

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I’m Shayna… The small town Colorado girl who’s obsessed with home and everything that entails! I’m a creative, a decorator, a day dreamer, a huge fan of scones and I’m passionate about loving where I live and making a home.

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