Updated Dutch Colonial Dining Room

I currently have openings for new E-Design Projects. Click here for details. 
I hope you had a wonderful Labor Day Holiday. I'm sure there were lots of home projects knocked out this weekend. I hope they all turned out amazing! Last week, I was busy in the studio working on a Whole House EDesign Plan for a client's Dutch Colonial home that is undergoing renovations. You may remember the Kitchen and Dining Nook that I shared from this project  (if you missed it, click here). Today, I'd like to share the plan we designed for their "new" Formal Dining Room. 

Part of the renovation plan included moving the Dining Room to the Formal Living Room and the Home Office into the previous Dining Room. This meant that the new Dining Room has the luxury of a lot of space and a gorgeous fireplace! My goal in this project was to give the room a fresh, new, updated, look while maintaining a traditional Dutch Colonial vibe that is true to my clients romantic style preferences and the style of the house itself. 

Here is what I created...

Back to work! Thanks again, for stopping by! More from this home to come!

If you're ready to get started on a room in your home, now is the time! Once the cooler weather approaches, fall nesting kicks in and my design studio fills up fast. Let's get ahead of the rush! 

Click here to make your reservation!

31 Days of Building Character: Board and Batten

Welcome to day two of my 31 day series,  Building Character.  I am sharing 31 simple ways we have given our newly built, builder grade, spec home character.

Our master bedroom felt large, cold and empty when we first moved in.  It was a great space with a large tray ceiling but it lacked the cozy intimate feeling a bedroom should have.  My solution was to wrap the room in board and batten style wainscoting...

Bathroom Update for less than $30

Before

My kids came to me one day and confessed that they were embarassed of their bathroom. I guess when you are 10, 6, and 3 you are waaayyy to old for little ducks. I had to agree that I was tired of the generic theme as well. It didn't take much convincing for me to change things up in there.

I am still working on the vanity. I am doing something special with it and will post pics soon. I was able to complete this mini-makeover for the cost of a new shower curtain ($6) and towels ($20). I used leftover paint from other rooms in my home and created my own custom artwork out of lumber scraps, leftover paint and glitter (the advice is priceless).

Thanks for visiting!

Fireplace Makeover "After"

Here it is! Instant "cozy". It's definitely what the room needed!

I painted the ceramic surround and gas insert with a high temperature enamel. I used a traditional board and batten style wainscot design as the wall treatment. Finally, I gave the existing mantel a fresh coat of cream paint to match the millwork. The project was easy, budget friendly and I did it all myself while my husband was away for two days.

In case you missed them, the before pictures were posted a couple days ago. Scroll down to view them. Thanks for visiting! Check out other projects built by us girls at Sawdust and Paper Scraps!