{Almost} Entirely Thrifted Dining Room

A few weekends ago, I decided to paint everything white. I read The Nester’s book and realized my fear had been that I would mess it up. But more importantly, I realized I was trying so hard to emulate everyone else’s style and make it my own instead of doing what I liked.

For example, the china cabinet:

I painted it blue just like my friend’s that inspired me to paint it in the first place, and hers is precious. And I loved mine when I did it.

But the more I walked by it, the more I realized, it didn’t work for me. It’s precious in her home because she has an incredible use of color throughout her home.

But, she needs to tell you about it. Not me. (Because I am begging her to blog with me or start her own!)

It just didn’t work in my house. And remember, when I painted the changing table/buffet? I learned so much about my style. And the more I walked by it, its light color spoke to me.

It forced me to paint everything white (so it now has six coats of paint), and it’s perfect in our home. And perfectly me.

The door sideways on top is a cabinet from our very first house. The “frame’ in front of it is actually one of the doors from the china cabinet that I took off and painted and stuck a bow on it.

I painted the inside the blue color that was the outside.

I painted my dining room table (remember, it was $75, including eight cane back chairs, at Goodwill)  first and it stole my heart in all its imperfection and spray painted legs that you can’t even really see.  The top is a mix of unsanded grout and white latex paint. I even think it’s exterior we leftover from the deck rails.

Then, because I couldn’t stop painting, I painted these chairs my favorite shades of blue (each samples I had from trying to my favorite).

One was still wood and one was white from our previous gray and yellow living room. One I picked up at a thrift store for $5 when I realized the cane back chairs didn’t work and I wanted mismatched.

And now, I’m looking for a church pew or long bench with a back. (Let me know, friends, if you find one!) We are currently using a wicker sofa, which I love, too, that was my neighbor’s!

The centerpiece is a window box I found on the side of the road filled with mason jars and oak leaf hydrangeas.

The frame over the buffet was from Kuy’s big boy room that had a sailboat in it. I just replaced with it with a free 16×20 from one of Shutterfly’s promotions.

The chalkboard was brought in from the deck and I just wrote our little Southern phrase on it and hung it in on the wall. I love how the rain made it perfectly chippy.

Under it is another road side find that I painted.

These two chairs (Noticed I moved the buffet to the other wall and put the boys’ chairs here)? Blue high chair borrowed from a friend because her child is older and the white chair that I found at a roadside thrift store.

I’m showing you my dining room to encourage you. Y’all. Everything came from a thrift store or someone else’s house! You do not have to spend thousands of dollars. You just have to be willing to spend about five minutes doing a terrible paint job like I did while your kids are playing outside.

For a breakdown:

Dining Room Table: $75 (it included eight chairs)

Chairs: Two I already had (from thrift stores), one from the side of the road, 1 $5 from a thrift store

Buffet: $60 (but I already had to use as a changing table for Cray)

China Cabinet: trade for something a friend needed (can’t remember what it was!)

Chandelier: $75 from a store closing

Artwork: Dollar Tree Frames that are filled with Kuy’s artwork

Chalkboard Frame: thrift store picture that I painted with chalkboard paint

Frame with the boys’ picture: reused from Kuy’s big boy room

High chairs: thrift store and a friend

Rug: two IKEA rugs that were in other places around my house pushed together

Décor for china cabinet: my mom’s pitcher, thrift store vase, praying people from our couples’ retreat, and a Pier 1 bowl that a gift for my birthday

I still change things daily as I’m learning my style and but documenting it helps me see what I love. Someone mentioned pinning things to a My Style board. That helps, too.

Find what works for you. Not what someone else loves. Find what’s perfectly you. In my case, it just happens to be using someone else’s junk.

If I can remember, I’ll be linking up here:

DIY Show Off, Home Stories A to Z, The Shabby Nest, Cozy Little House, The Blissful Bee,The Turquoise Home, A Place of My Taste, The Happy Housie, I Heart Naptime, Tatertots and Jello, Lil’ Luna, Somewhat Simple, Today’s Creative Blog, Elizabeth Joan Designs, Lamberts Lately, Simply Designing, Tiny Sidekick, Persia Lou, Upcycled Treasures, City of Creative Dreams, I Should Be Mopping the Floor, Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom , Redhead Can Decorate, twelveOeight, Your Homebased Mom, Soho Sonnet, Delineate Your Dwelling, Dream a Little Bigger, Two it Yourself, Child at Heart Blog, Joy in Our Home, Burlap and Babies, The DIY Mommy, Just a Girl and Her Blog, Dolen Diaries, One Kreiger Chick, Made to be a Momma, Miss Mustard Seed