9.27.2010

Dining Room

The dining room is done! And I must say, I'm quite proud of it. If you have ever stopped by our house before, then you know what the old dining room looked like. It was an empty, catch all, mish-mash, big table with no chairs, beige hole and after Dean was born it became the diaper changing station. Gross. I finally got myself in gear and got inspired. And, despite the minimal complaining & eye rolling Michael did throughout the process I know he is proud of the final product too - and REALLY glad it's done. You won't catch us changing any diapers in there from now on. Promise.

Here are some before & afters.

{The before picture. Made even more awful by the iPhone picture quality. Eeek!}
{Ahhhh...the after shot. Updated paint color, Ikat drapes with metallic drapery rod, new light fixture, rug, chairs, mirror & art. Voila!}


{I am pretty obsessed with the work of artist Cy Twombly. His pieces can cost about as much as a car. Soooo, I decided to commission myself to create the perfect piece of art for the dining room using his work as my inspiration. This is one of my favorite pieces.}
{Here I am. Budding artist. I had just purchased my canvas, paint & brushes. Blank, clean & full of ideas. I painted during nap time in my garage.}
{Here I am again. Completely frustrated artist. After 2 weeks of relentless painting and re-painting I have a complete MESS and the worst color blue I've ever seen. Thank goodness my sweet neighbor - who happened to have a degree in art and is a painter herself - saw me in my garage and dropped by to see what the heck I was doing. She was able to get me past my block and fill me full of new ideas. Thanks Caroline!}
{A few weeks and one new frame later...done. Exactly what I had wanted all along. Definitely not a Cy Twombly BUT good enough.}

31 comments:

  1. That is a great change, I love the way you decorate! Also, you should make some more of those paintings, I would definitely buy one. Love it!

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  2. I laughed so hard at the first "frustrated" painting- I'm sorry but that is totally something that I would do, too! The finished result looks amazing though!

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  3. Sarah - this transformation is AWESOME! way to go girl.

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  4. Love the remodel...amazing! Love our "masterpiece"...the perfect accent piece for the room. You are very talented.

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  5. Your room is amazing! I agree- I'd buy one of your paintings!

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  6. {preface: I came across your blog today and absolutely love it.}

    Your dining room is perfect. Your little one darling.

    Please, come to Dallas and re-do my dining room too??? Thanks.

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  7. I love the rug -- where did you get it???

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  8. and the curtains too, where are those from??

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  9. Wow that is amazing! You've got some serious talent!

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  10. I saw your room on Design Sponge and love it! Where did you get those great chairs?

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  11. Beautiful and absolutely inspiring! Where are the drapes from!?

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  12. I'll add to the questions, also saw your room on D*S. Where did you get that amazing mirror? I'm in love! Your room looks great!

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  13. Love the transformation! I also came from Design Sponge today.

    Where did you get your table?

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  14. Hey everyone! Thanks for all of your amazing and oh-so-sweet comments!
    I just posted about all the furniture and where you can purchase it! Head to my newest post!
    xoxo

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  15. I am totally going to try that painting! It looks AMAZING.

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  16. yes, love the painting, it'd be great if you could share how you did it!

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  17. I LOVE everything! Where did you find that rug??

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  18. yes...I too HAVE to know where the chevron rug was scored!! Love the whole room!

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  19. Saw this on better after!! LOVE it!! Seriously, and that painting is amazing.

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  20. Your room looks fantastic. Well done on the art work too.

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  21. Sarah- I am SO impressed, this is one of the most beautiful transformations I have seen and I LOVE LOVE LOVE your art piece it is AMAZING! Seriously you deserve for me to type this whole comment in caps, this is such a great job!

    Anyway, I feature awesome home projects on my blog and would love to feature yours if you are interested. My blog is www.remodelaholic.com, check it out and if the feature idea works please just respond to this comment! I hope to hear back from you! (You should get some new readers and some great traffic the day you are featured!)

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  22. I just found your blog through, Better After. You dining room is amazing. I really enjoyed what you did to the space. You have an amazing eye for clarity and cohesion.


    Mr. Goodwill Hunting
    http://mrgoodwillhunting.blogspot.com

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  23. Just saw this on Remodelaholic and HAD to come over to tell you how stunning your dining room is! What a fabulous, fabulous transformation - you have every right to be proud! And I love that you did the art work yourself, awesome!

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  24. I totally commend you on making a painting! Art is a really personal thing and I suspect this painting really means something to you, am I right? Not that I'm an artist or anything, but I have been working on some small scale collage pieces just now and even though they're nothing special, I just love them! Your room is totally fabulous - such a wonderful job!! :)

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  25. This is just gorgeous. It looks like a magazine cover! The mirror is a bit intimidating to me - I would have to sit with my back to it so I don't have to watch myself eat...but I guess the narcisstic people can sit facing it! Can you share any more about how you did the painting? It is quite a leap from your unhappy blue canvas to the final piece which is so sharp and really beautiful!

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  26. Hi I saw your room on remodehaholic. Your decorating style totally responds to my sense of style. I love that bold rug. And your own art piece looks like a gallery purchase fantastic job!

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  27. Just came over from remodelaholic and all I can say is WOW! I LOVE it, I can't believe the difference in the paintings! The whole room is fantastic...

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  28. I found your blog on Better After, and I am completely in love with the way you decorated your dining room. It's hard to pick a favorite element, but I do love the painting you made! I want to create something similar for myself, but I am absolutely lost as to where to even begin. Can you give any details about how you created it? I truly love the art style!

    Thank you!
    ~ Brynne
    ducttapecowgirl AT gmail DOT com

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  29. I am totally in love with your dining room. I saw it months ago on Remodelaholic and it was love at first site. I had to pin it on pinterest. Thanks for sharing!

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