#OneRoomChallenge Week 6: Vintage Bohemian Dining Space Reveal!

Well that’s a wrap yall! The Spring 2019 One Room Challenge has come to an end. 🙌

A huge thank you to the One Room Challenge and Better Homes and Gardens for keeping us on task and giving us an excuse to get that room that has been sitting on the back burner D.O.N.E. It was so much fun participating my first time!

So without further ado, I present to you our Vintage Bohemian dining space! I love how throughout a renovation, the room almost starts to take on a personality of its own- whispering to you to add details you hadn’t originally planned. In this space, I adore the almost bohemian colonial vibe it took on… (bolonial? no? okay.) I feel like I’m at Mount Vernon or something- and my inner history nerd is happy dancing like a madwoman.

The Before

Let’s take a quick trip down memory lane, shall we?

Honestly I forgot what it looked like before! Or maybe I tried to block it out? The chairs hadn’t been painted since I was 20, the table was mid refurb… can I get an AMEN for the One Room Challenge?! Thank you for getting my you know what in gear so I could focus on one room and have an excuse to finish it!

Because we are only renting this house for another year or so, and due to a pretty strict budget, this wasn’t the most extravagant renovation by any means- but it makes me even prouder to say I accomplished this amount of change with so little. After all, paint, plants and a new chandelier go a long way!

The Plan

finish the dining table with a weathered wood top
paint the chairs a deep navy
paint the back chair leg tips metallic gold
replace the rug with this one that matches our runner in the entry
restain bookshelf doors (where tape removed the stain) + add new knobs
add wallpaper to backing of bookshelves
install high sage wainscoting
replace chandelier
hanging shelf rehab with leather “straps”
new plants!
DIY plant stand
replace rectangular mirror with this one

Miraculously all of this got done! Of course I could not have done this without my amazing partner Sal, who devoted so much more time than he had to my wild and crazy ideas! I suppose I should also thank my father-in-law for teaching him all the things over the years. (Thanks Guy!) In the end, I am so glad he is also in love with the space we have created together.

Week 1 consisted of putting together the design board, making sure I knew when I needed to order certain pieces, and essentially just getting all my ducks in a row.

I was also already starting to plan around the fact that we were going out of town for a week in the middle of the challenge- but of course, no matter how much you plan, things will still go wrong. I don’t think either of us will forget the 70mph Fight About the SD Card Being Left Behind of 2019 for a loonngg time. Luckily, we made it to Wisconsin still a couple and I wrote the blog post a week later. Life happens!

During Week 2, we watched some YouTube videos and self installed the large beaded chandelier as well as the weathered wood table top. Both of these projects went off without a hitch and there was lots of high-fiving along the way.

In Week 3 the chairs finally became a rich satin navy and I toyed with the idea of adding gold tips to the back legs. (It’s kinda become one of my design MO’s.) In the end, I said ‘go big or go home, Liz’ and they were a solid yes.

Week 4 is when we were on vacation but while in Wisconsin, I perfectly timed and ordered the long-admired rug that matches our runner in the entry. It was really the initial inspiration for the room, with the ideas for the sage wainscoting and navy blue chairs being pulled from it.

Secondly, at 8AM on the way out of Milwaukee we were passing a Target and we pulled over in the nick of time. There I picked up the also long-admired classic Target mirror and it rode in the back the 750 miles back to Asheville. In my opinion that beat getting it shipped to the house and it not ending up in one piece with little time to spare.

Week 5 welcomed our favorite DIY to date- the wainscoting. From the beginning, I thought the chandelier would be the pièce de résistance– and though she’s a show-stealer, I think the sage wainscoting became the real prize that tied the whole room together. It finally had a backdrop. We had arrived.

The best part? Besides the fact that our landlord (luckily!) loves everything I do to the house, is that it’s fairly temporary as we only used a few trim nails in each piece, and when we vacate we can take it with us to beautify a new space.

Week 6’s last minute details included the tan palm wallpaper backing on the bookshelves (EPIPHANY!), the leather straps on the hanging plant shelf, the navy square behind the mirror (using leftover paint from our recent bedroom accent wall) and the gold tips on the chair legs.

I also bought tons of new plants for the space and worked around overcast weather to fit in photography. When it is sunny, this is the brightest room in the house and almost takes on a sunroom feel thanks to the French doors.

I even DIY’d this cute little plant stand by painting it gold and adding the yarn “trim” to match the fringe on the FLF pot and dip dyed wall hanging.

All that and my favorite part just may be the piece of blonde wood that I opted out of using on the table and nailed as trim in the kitchen instead. Ain’t life funny? #thatviewtho

But in actuality, my favorite may be looking at these two photos side by side. It really lets me appreciate how far this room has come. And again, a huge shoutout to my Superman.

And to those non-decoraholics out there, if you are feeling inspired to redo that room in your home, my advise is to go for it. Look on Instagram, Pinterest, watch YouTube videos and mostly, follow your heart. There are no rules- your home should look like you!

Thanks so much for following along! You can check out the rest of the guest participants HERE or the amazing featured designers HERE. Thank you all so much for all of your inspiration and support along the way!

You can also follow along on Instagram by following #oneroomchallenge for more year-round inspo! Until next season, let’s pop some bubbles and take that much-needed nap. Cheers!