Transform a Dreary Dining Room With Cottage Garden Style

Host Joan Steffend and designer and Kim Wahl add a new cottage garden style to a rather stark dining room.

After

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The walls are given a graphic punch with a fun paint technique. Wahl creates square "friskets" — clear protective overlays — out of Con-Tact paper and adheres them to the wall to create a faux dentil molding. She paints the walls a raspberry color, then removes the friskets to reveal the original light green base coat underneath.
The dining chairs are enhanced with floral slipcovers. Wahl creates a second tabletop out of birch and paints a colorful floral design on top. Rubber mats are placed in between the two tops to stabilize the new one. The perimeter of the original tabletop is hidden behind a piece of painted canvas stapled to the new painted top.
New floral shades dress up the chandelier.
A piece of remnant linoleum is painted for a fun floorcloth. Wahl applies several coats of a clear sealer to protect the design.
Checkered wallpaper is applied to the backs of the china cabinets to help them blend in better with the new colorful design.
Storage comes in the form of a painted chest. Wahl paints an old dark chest with coordinating colors and adds black shelf brackets and a quartered fence post for the legs.

Before

A decorative wrought-iron accent and a painted design behind it add whimsy to one wall.

Craft boxes are covered in leftover wallpaper to create decorative but functional storage.

Itemized Design Elements

$80 - wall treatment (Hirshfield's: Cherry Rose AC127N, China Pink 7905D, Marshland Green 8154, Restorative White CW025W)
$70 - slipcovers (pattern for chair slipcover: Hancock Fabrics - McCalls #750; piping: Jo-Ann Fabrics - Wrights, Berry #084)
$42 - tabletop (canvas - art supply store)
$47 - lampshades (Jo-Ann Fabrics: Hollywood Lights - #360-2463)
$85 - floorcloth
$29 - wallpaper (Hirshfield's: Bewster - #134679P11)
$8 - valance
$57 - trunk (re-use it center)
$15 - wrought-iron wall art (Pier 1)
$10 - plate rack (TJ Maxx)
$10 - knobs
$9 - ornaments
$8 - craft boxes
$4 - grape ornaments

$472 - Total Cost