"Going Green" - Inspiration for a Dining Room Makeover

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned that the latest move into our rental had been a challenge and that I was slowly coming around to working on a couple of rooms in the rental house.  While I will not be attacking most of the house, I've decided to do a mini-makeover for the dining room for a few reasons. 1) It is one of the first rooms you see when you enter the house. 2) I like to set up tablescapes, centerpieces and need a place to set them up. 3) It is one of the few rooms in the house that doesn't need a total overhaul (kitchen, bathrooms, carpets) and is easily cleaned up some fresh paint,etc. I plan to show more of the house later, but I wanted to share a bit of what I'm working on in the dining room and some of my inspiration for the room. This is what I'm working with...

In my opinion, it's actually the best room in the house.  Picture frame molding, chair rail, tall ceilings, crown molding, and hardwood floors are already in place so this is easy peasy!  On the surface, the room is cute (except for that light) and looks in good condition, but like the rest of the house, there were some issues and it needed a total scrub-down (dog hair, dead bugs, cobwebs) and no less than 36 various good-sized holes to repair.  When that was taken care of, I've turned to thinking about the look, feel, and color I want the room to have.  Also, when planning a room, I always try to incorporate things I already own first...

If you recall, the picture above is my dining room back in the good ol' days!  This time around, I'm working with about half the space, but still have to make the large trestle table, dining bench, and chairs work. Needless to say, the leaves ( that attach at the end of the table) and two chairs do not fit and will be stored and since the rug is pretty much the exact size of the new dining room, it was relocated to the living room.

That's okay... No need to buy new, I just pulled in my jute rug that used to be in my living room!  Since my dining set obviously has a rustic feel to it, the new look will need to coincide with this.  Blue silk curtains and Ballard Design's crystal chandelier added glam to the rustic look in the previous dining room, but I'm ready for a change of color and some more natural elements...

If you've followed my blog for very long, you'll know that I pretty much decorate with things from nature as much as I can (birds, nests, ferns, butterflies, branches, moss, feathers, botanicals, etc).

While I still love pale blue and plan to use it in the rental home, I've found that greens have been catching my eye lately... fresh greens like boxwood, apples, ferns, etc.  Here are a few "green" rooms that I have inspired me in this makeover (you can see more HERE)...

via

I plan to infuse as much of this fresh, modern green as I can while keeping all the trim and area below the chair rail a nice, crisp white...

via Houzz.com

After much deliberation on the shade of green paint, I finally rolled on the first coat of paint today and I'm loving the new color and clean feel to the room now!

It feels good to be painting and planning room makeovers again!  I can't wait to get it all finished and share it here. I'm on my way tomorrow for some shopping at my favorite antique warehouse in High Point tomorrow!  The semi-annual High Point Furniture Market starts this weekend and I'll be back with some pictures of inspiration, trends, and some of my finds.  In the meantime, I'll be posting pictures tomorrow and throughout the weekend on my Facebook page.

Don't forget that the ticket giveaway for the Country Living Fair in Atlanta ends tomorrow evening! 

Kristen