Our Dining Room & Fall Decor

Part three of our home tour brings us to our "dining room". We bought a ranch, which means we do not have a formal separate dining room, as ours is connected to the living room. 

Here is the said dining room around the time we bought the house in 2007.

Of course I was uber excited to start decorating our first home and jumped right into bad paint colors. Most of the furniture you see is from our college days and has taken us some time to replace. 

Here is the after...or the in-the-process-now.

We painted the above the fireplace and shelves a light blue to offset the blueish gray walls in the rest of the space. We upgraded our table and chose a pub style for height. The mirror we got at a flea market mall for $30 buckaroos. We stained it and promptly put it on the mantel to open the space. Painted the fireplace a dark brown for a more cohesive look.

 

From there we purchased three bar stools for our shallow bar top. These have a new face lift...post to follow. The rest is decor in progress.

 I love having the built ins but I do not love the current look of ours. I take a "put up/out and give it a few weeks" approach to decorating. I plan to change these but I wait for the inspiration to strike.

 This "table runner" is actually some fabric I got at a yard sale over the summer. I loved the colors and they were great for the season so this became its home for a few months. I've already changed this...

In other news. I've begun to change the decor to add some fall flavor as we get start the season. We are a frugal family so it's a slow and cheap process. ;)


The ceramic vase I found at Goodwill for less than a dollar, I think around .75. Spray painted the limbs, framed some fabric from a recent barstool makeover and painted the J (Johnson), vase on candle (that works) filled with cinnamon sticks and acorns, (one is from nature, the other from Hobby Lobby-you decide), the candle tray holder thingy in the middle has to go. Again, I'm just waiting for something to replace it.

 I intend to paint these pumpkins but haven't gotten around to it yet. I have an idea similar to this. Another fabulous card from HB.

Pumpkin courtesy BL and candle from IKEA.
Digging the plum/purple for fall!

 I probably should not be showing this picture. There are about three things wrong with it. (The lamp shade that needs replacing/re purposing, the vase, and the vase on the candle holder. What can I say, I just play around till something works...and nothing works in this!) Love the ceramic squash I nabbed at Big Lots. Any ideas where to find a cute lampshade? Possibly infuse some color?

 Yes, it's a little early for Thanksgiving but the coloring in these cards is perfect. Could not pass up .99 each at Hobby Lobby. They have THE BEST cards.

The "table cloth" is a quarter yard of fabric from Joann's. Bought it a few months ago because it appealed to me, and I think it works great as a square tablecloth. Did you notice it's unfinished edges? Oh you did? Well you are good. Another to do...

 I plan to fill this bowl with pine cones, I just need to find them first!

 I have to show my new shutters. I got these at a yard sale for .25 total! One of those practically giving stuff away yard sales. Helps to stop on a Sunday when people are literally giving their stuff away. I initally was going to paint them, and still might, but I like the height and color on this shelf in our living room. The pictures beneath/in front of them are temporary.  Like I said, I usually leave stuff in once place until the right replacement comes along. I think these shutters are great on this shelf and we got lucky finding them. Another ceramic pumpkim from Hobby Lobby. Who doesn't love that place?!?

There you have our dining room with some fall infusion. 

Anyone else working fall decor into their home?