Designed To Dwell: Morning Room Challenge: The Big Reveal

Six weeks ago, myself & 177 others, set out to makeover a room, thanks to some motivation from Linda at Calling It Home. I chose to make over one of the few drab spaces left in our home, the morning room. If you would like to get caught up, here is what I have been up to the past few weeks:

Week One: Before Pictures & a Plan
Week Two: Painting the Secretary
Week Three: Adding Trim to an Arched Window
Week Five: Dining Chair Makeover

We have quickly arrived at week six & after some weekend table drama (that I'm not quite ready to talk about), I am happy to say the room is finished!

Let's start on the back wall with the Ikea Malm dresser. Maybe someday it will have pretty gold handles & a pair of beautiful lamps, but I couldn't quite justify spending money on those items, especially since I know the lamps would never get turned on!

I needed some pops of color on the back wall, so I painted my own artwork on a piece of poster board & placed it in a black poster frame from Wal-Mart. I'm pretty sure my husband is laughing behind my back about my masterpiece! Ha!

I picked up the black tray from Hobby Lobby. (It originally had a navy & white pattern.) I added a few books we occasionally use at dinner & some question cards in a small bowl from Target. My kids love to take turns asking & answering these questions during dinnertime & I love that it keeps us all at the table a bit longer. #momwin

The light was an Overstock purchase when we first bought the house. And can we all just pretend that plant isn't shedding yellow leaves? (I'm sure they are just changing colors for fall!)

The table & chair makeovers were the stuff of nightmares!

I found the six wooden chairs on Craigslist, painted them cream & recovered the seats in a cream leather. Those seat cushions... After working on those I am pretty convinced my brain has left the building! Thank goodness Mark was helping me figure out where we needed to staple.

I purchased the end chairs on Overstock & love the way all the chairs look together.

I am so glad my polyshades table nightmare is over! (sand, stain, strip, sand, stain, polyurethane...) I do love the way it turned out though. This table was in my dad's childhood home & was also the table I grew up eating at, so it is definitely dear to my heart.

Aren't we so fancy with our 89 cent Ikea plates & mismatched silverware? I think the white plates & chairs contrast nicely with the dark wood table. You are welcome to eat with us now that we have seating for eight at the table! (I don't recommend it though. We are having eggs tonight... My sister is the chef in the family!)

I'd say now would be a great time to discuss those curtains. Remember how I saved about $20 a panel by buying curtains that were too short & ripping the seams out to give me 3- 4 extra inches? Let's just pretend that's because I'm a genius, & not because I can't measure. Mkay?

The pattern is a great modern print, much better than the floral curtains I had in the room previously.

The secretary looks so much prettier in it's little black dress! The orange-y oak made this piece look dated, but the black paint gives it a more modern feel.

You can find all the details on how I styled it for free, as well as the links to some free printables here.

Now for the fun part! Let's see how far we've come.

The Before:

And After:

Before:

After:

The Plan:

I would love to hear your thoughts on the space, but please don't ask me if my kids made the artwork. If you do, I will probably answer with, "Why yes they did!".