Earlier this week, I shared how I updated my old curtains and I promised pictures of how I was updating the rest of the dining room.  When we moved in 10 years ago, I was nine months pregnant and we were in a hurry to get the house ready before the baby.  We painted the house in a rush and didn’t worry about most of the furnishings until after I had the baby.  I eventually realized that some of the colors we chose didn’t compliment the furniture, as well as I would have liked.  But we spent so much money on paint, and it was so much work to paint the whole house again, that I figured I would change the colors sometime down the line.  Well, it’s now sometime down the line.  The paint has lasted over 10 years and I can’t ask for more.  The colors that I wanted to change asap were the ones in my kitchen and the color in my dining room.

Although there is a french door in the dining room, there isn’t much natural light that comes in through the adjacent room.  The wall color was dark, the furniture is dark, the curtains are dark…I’m depressed just writing this…  Overall, the room needed to be brighter!  We weren’t about to change the furniture, so I went off to the paint store to find the right color.  I knew I wanted a white shade but finding the right shade of white was harder than expected.  Some whites are cool and others warm, the cool tones were my favorite.  However, cool tones didn’t match the existing decor, so I had to go with a warmer white.  But I didn’t want it too warm, too yellow.  I know…your head is spinning.  Mine was too.

After looking at so many swatches of color, I chose one from Sherwin Williams called “White Duck”.

Like many of my paint projects, I started at night.  After all, the kids were in bed and I didn’t have to worry about them running around while I tried to paint.  Here is the before picture of the room.

 

Look at the difference in the colors.  At first I wondered if the new color was too light.

 

But after finishing one wall, the room was already looking brighter.  Although outside it was getting a lot darker.  I needed sleep.

 

The next morning, I moved the china hutch and painted behind that last wall.

 

And here is the finished product, with the curtains and art back up on the wall.

 

Here is the other side.  So much brighter!  The ceiling was already painted and I wasn’t about to mess with that.  Painting ceilings is for people far braver than I.

I did paint the molding as well to make the room look fresh and complete.

 

One last look at the table and another angle of the room.

All I did to update this room was change the curtains, and change the paint color.  The room feels so airy with the lighter tone and we all love it!

What’s the next room in your home that you will probably paint?  For me, it will probably be the kitchen.

Maria