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Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love the food, the gratitude, the day spent in the kitchen, and… did I mention the food?! (This is one of my popular side dishes, and I can’t even express how excited I was to make it before Thanksgiving for that post!)
Thanksgiving is also my favorite holiday to host. Last year we hosted Thanksgiving in a dining room full of boxes. This year, I want to host in a room that feels like it’s actually our home and in our style so this room needs some major tlc over the next couple weeks.
This is what we’re working with:
And here’s a shot with the lights on so you can really appreciate that wallpaper.
As you can see, our dining room only has one solid wall, but despite the openness it feels really dark in this room. The front of our house has a large porch so I know this room will never be filled with sunlight, but I am hopeful that removing the wallpaper will lighten things up quite a bit.
The changes I’m hoping to make before Thanksgiving:
- Remove all wallpaper and wash/repair walls
- Paint new, brighter color
- Install board and batten (this one might be a bit optimistic)
- New window treatments
I’m also hoping to get new lighting fairly soon, and I would LOVE to install hardwood since we already have it in other parts of the house. Light carpeting plus 4 kids (2 of whom are under 2) makes for rather stressful meals, but that’s definitely not within our budget right now.
Alright, time to get started! I’ll be back soon (I hope!) with our progress. Wish us luck! 🙂
And, because I’m curious, are you hosting Thanksgiving this year? Anything you’re rushing to complete before the holidays?
I love the lighting in there & i love your doors too! I think it’ll be great once the changes are done too.
Thanks, Leslie. I’m excited to make it our own.
Hey Emily! Yeah I’m not hosting Thanksgiving and am kinda relieved because I’m cleaning out for the next few weeks before I get all of my Christmas stuff out. I am redoing my mantle and fireplace screen this week because it’s getting cold enough for fires in the fireplace…yay!! Im excited to follow your dining room redo! Gotta love wallpaper 🙂
I bet your mantle’s going to be adorable. Unfortunately, Thanksgiving’s tomorrow and the dining room is no where near ready for showtime. We’ll be eating in the kitchen this year so I’m thankful to have two tables! 😉 Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope that you would keep the lovely wallpaper! It is soooo cosy and warm! The window treatment. I totally agree. Its not that attractive. I would remove it all and not replace it. Let the window show! And the board and batten is an excellent idea. If you want to brighthen the room then choose the lightest color from the wallpaper on that. A crisp white linnen tablecloth on that dark table and something to balance that really “heavy” cabinet. And more lights! But keep the wallpaper! I dont understand why you Americans are sooo against wallpaper. I think that the right wallpaper really adds that extra to a room. Good luck with the redo!
Thanks for the feedback, though I do hate to the bearer of bad news because the wallpaper is already gone. The pattern wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t “us.” The good news is that the room already feels a lot lighter. Hopefully I’ll have an update before Christmas. The Thanksgiving deadline came and went faster than I anticipated!
Yes. The being “us” is important. But I really love those warm colors. 🙂
There is a Swedish blog/house where this wallpaper would have been perfect. http://www.villavagen3.blogspot.com/search/label/-%20F%C3%96RE%20OCH%20EFTER
But there the style is warm and rich and MUCH and probably not the most common taste.
And that makes it so much fun reading different blogs. To see all different styles. Hope you get it ready by Christmas.
You’re right, the wallpaper would have been perfect in that room! You’re also not alone in loving it. My 4 year old followed me around the room going, “Mommy, why don’t you like the flowers? I LOVE them.” She was very confused by my thought process in choosing to remove it. 🙂
You should listen more to your 4 year old 😉
Should would love that! 🙂
Just started following you and I’m dying to see what you’ll end up with. It’s a beautiful space but I would say you’re right, the wallpaper needs to go 😉
Hopefully you won’t have to wait too much longer. We’ve made a good amount of progress, but we’ve been dragging our feet in finally finishing it. Don’t worry though, the wallpaper’s gone! No tears over that decision 🙂
What a fun project! I’m always trying to find a way to lighten and brighten… not always easy given trees, porches, etc. Can’t wait to see the result:)
Thanks, Seana! It’s looking so much better already.