Our dining room had creamy white walls when we moved in, and a large freestanding oak hutch that the previous owners left to us. Brandon and I plunked our dining table and chairs in the room, filled the hutch and arranged a display on its shelves, and that was about it. I would love to put up wallpaper eventually, but we still have some work to do on the first floor that will have us opening up the walls so it doesn’t make sense to paper them now. I was growing tired of the wall color though, and I figured it was time for a new coat of paint.
The dining room windows are north-facing and the house next door is pretty close, so we don’t get a ton of natural light in there. I didn’t want to go too dark with the walls since I had already painted the adjacent room black, so I chose Benjamin Moore’s ‘Basking Ridge Beige.’
It’s a subtle, historical pink, one shade darker than the color I used in the nearby library. I love the way it turned out, but at night the room still read as really yellow.
I’ll be working on four projects over the next four weeks, making over rooms with just $100 from Target and GE reveal® LED light bulbs. I knew right away that the dining room would be my first pick for this series, because swapping out that old fluorescent bulb would definitely improve the look and feel of the space. I also decided to use sheets of wrapping paper that we had on hand to line the hutch, new candleholders that I’d repurpose as vases, and napkins that played off of the pierced metal hurricanes.
I put together this video, detailing the changes to the room.
So much better! We eat every meal in our dining room, and we need the light on more often than not. The wall color looks far more true with the new bulb than it did before. Also, I’m so glad that my idea for fixing the lighting fixture with parts from a decorative knob worked! That hole in the bottom of the glass always bugged me.
Ah, the table. It would be lovely to have fresh flowers all the time, but of course I can use the candleholders for their intended purpose too, and the napkins work with them either way.
The dining room was fine before, but it’s making me much happier now.
I’ll be hosting a Twitter chat with GE Lighting, along with Mandi from Vintage Revivals and Brooke from All Things Thrifty this Thursday night at 7:30 Central. I hope you can join us!
Also, Target will be holding a demo day for GE LED bulbs (including GE reveal®) across the country on March 1 with $1 off coupons. The bulbs are also on sale, buy two get one free March 1-7 with no coupon required.
Giveaway
If you had a $100 gift card to Target and GE reveal® bulbs, what would you bring in to update your dining room? Comment below for a chance to win your own #100reveal makeover!
See the complete rules for more information.
I’m so excited to be a GE reveal® #100reveal sponsored blogger. Opinions are my own, projects have been chosen by me, and additional products used in the project were selected by me and provided by GE reveal®.
