How to Convert a Spare Living Room Into a Formal Dining Room

• The walls are painted a light shade of green to create a neutral backdrop.
  
• Salvaged garage door panels are cut up and used for wainscoting on the lower half of three of the walls.
  
• A window seat is created out of kitchen cabinets. It's topped with a piece of fiberboard and the homeowner's sofa cushions.
  
• The window is dressed with a large-scale valance and panels on either end, held back with tiebacks made of men's ties.
  
• Two salvaged columns and porch pillars are repurposed into a stylish dining table. The columns are cut into planks to create the tabletop and the pillars are cut in half to create the legs. Recovered garage-sale chairs complete the set.
  
• A secondhand chandelier is the light source over the table.
  
• A china cabinet is created out of an old sink base and a salvage-store hutch. Leftover planks from the columns are used for the top. The sink base and hutch are both painted black to create a unified look.
  
• The small bar top is extended with a 2x6 covered in black mosaic tiles. The tiles are adhered to the wood and grouted, then secured to the wall and bar top with brackets.
  
• A separate entry is furnished with a side table, wing-back chair, mirror and accessories.
  
• A glass door from the homeowner's cabinet is repurposed into wall art with the addition of black and white photographs and black paint.
  
• The homeowner's lamps are painted silver and topped with shades made to match the fabric on the wing-back chair.

Itemized Design Elements

$18 - paint (Hirshfield's: Benjamin Moore - #1333199310)
$14 - garage door panels used for wainscoting
$2 - fireplace columns
$74- window seat
$38 - window treatment
$7 - pillows
$3 - shutters
$39 - chairs (garage sale)
$66 - dining table
$12 - chandelier
$192 - china cabinet
$23 - bar top (brackets: The Home Depot - #3392393014; mosaic tile: The Tile Shop)
$4 - fabric for side chair
$4 - artwork
$1 - lamps
$3 - wire basket

$500 - Total Cost