If you’ve been following along on Instagram, then you know our dining room has been our main focus since we moved into our new home six weeks ago! And although it isn’t finished quite yet (is any space ever really finished?), I wanted to share our progress and where we want to go from here! The idea behind this project came from inspiration on pinterest for open concept homes like ours. Our living room, dining room, and kitchen all share a space - so we wanted to find a way to bring focus to each one. We definitely accomplished it here!

After sampling lots of different color options, we decided to go with Tricorn Black by Sherwin Williams. We painted the wall behind our shelving unit, and a portion of the ceiling and walls next to it - creating a unique color block effect in the room. By doing this, the room brings you to its vocal point and makes the room appear so much larger. We wanted to create a renters-friendly built in cabinet effect, so we actually picked up the IKEA HAUGA and painted it black to match the walls. This is by far the largest DIY project that Ben and I have taken on, and to be completely honest, it may be our last 🫣. I honestly thought that this project would be completed in a few hours after the kids went to bed, but WOW did I underestimate it.

We initially thought we could just paint directly over the shelving unit without sanding it down. We immediately noticed how big of a mistake this was when the dried paint was scratching right off. We ended up having to sand it all the way down to create a grip for the paint. Three coats of paint, lots of sealing, and about a hundred trips to Home Depot later we finished it! I absolutely loved how it turned out, but not sure I would recommend it.

Now, onto furniture and decor! We decided to upgrade our table to the Transformer Table, and it has done wonders for our space! When we have family over or large projects we’re working on, it’s so convenient being able to extend the table and chairs. There’s really nothing else like it! And linked here are our matching chairs.

I found this Picture Light on Amazon and love how it really elevates the space. It’s wireless with a rechargeable battery and so many different settings - it’s so cool! Our Sputnik Chandelier was another Amazon find, we went with the 10-bulb and it brings so much light to the space. I couldn’t believe how cheap it was for the look of the fixture!

Okay, let’s talk decor! I am all about decorative coffee table books, so I decided to pick up AD at 100, Vanity Fair, Monochrome Home, For the Love of White, and Mocktails to our shelves and bar. I also picked up this Terracotta Vase and some faux Eucalyptus and Allium stems to bring some color!

You know when you’re at Target and something catches your eye when you walk past the home section? That’s exactly how I came home with this washed bowl. And although these aren’t the exact wooden beads I have, they are pretty close. When choosing where to place shelving decor, I try to keep the same colors and textures consistent. If you take a closer look, you’ll see that similar decor is mixed and matched through the shelving at different angles. I really wanted to bring in some organic tones to the space so for frames, I went with this wood frame with slats and this natural frame with stand.

Moving onto things that still need done in the space! After going back and forth about a bar top, I decided to just stain a piece of wood to use for now until my kids get a little older. It just doesn’t seem right to invest in something like that when I have a two year old running around with markers, you know?! Also, if you look closely, you may have noticed that I forgot to put prints in my frames - adding that to my to do list!

I’m also in the market for a few more decor pieces and a washable rug since our current one is a bit too small for the table, let me know if you have any suggestions in the comments!

Let me know what you think!!