bethanycrum
- May 10, 2022
- 4 min read

Dining Room Reveal (AKA the first 2.0 blog post)

I'm addicted to room reveal blog posts. THERE, I SAID IT, ok? No, but seriously I really am. I can't think of a darn thing to blog about unless it involves me showing you before and after pictures in my home. And since there have only been (and will most likely only be...) before pics for QUITE some time I am thrilled, nay, ELATED to show you an after picture.

When you move twice within 18 months and buy not one, but TWO houses that need major love you grow weary, my friend. So weary. So while I will still be cruising along with projects at Crummy Castle 2.0 the engine (that's me) well she sometimes sputters and then sometimes she gives out completely so we just float for a little while. (Mostly because the OG Crummy Castle was full gas at all times 🥴. And also because I am designing for clients now and wasn't when I was cruising full speed. Grateful as heck though!)

Enough about me(or just enough about me?😏)...let's look at the before of this room, shall we? This is the listing photo. We bought our home from the original owners and they used this room as their TV room/den. We opted to make it our dining room. (You've seen the first version of this space on ol' insta perhaps...but she's gettin' a glow-up...sit tight...)

It's long and narrow and there's no great place for a TV and/or a couch because of the huge sliding door. We love the door and don't want it covered up. SOME MUCH LIGHT. Let it in, friends, let it in. This room is also right off the kitchen. It just made sense.

Ah, the fireplace. Doesn't work. Thought it would. Totally bummed. But there she is.

We use this room every day. We have an eat-in kitchen with a small table that we use too, but our dining room is where we eat every dinner, where art happens, where games are played and where I sit and contemplate paint colors for all of our houses. It's my favorite room in the house (mostly because it's done, but still...it's great.) Wanna see it? Good.

Scroll on...

I just, I mean....

I love her.

Yes, I painted the fireplace yellow. And it's one of my new favorite paint colors. All I did in here is paint. Well we ripped up the carpet, removed the mantle and then hired someone to install a ceiling light (where there was none). BUT AFTER THAT...paint...the walls, the sliding doors, the trim...it's paint. That's it. (The only DIY I like to do around here 😬.)

(Can we ignore the deck that needs to be ripped out? We can? Good. Thank you.)

These peachy/pink chairs are a delight.

That Tullsta IKEA chair right there...it used to have a slipcover on it similar to this but not as nice 😬. I didn't like it. Ours was so browny-beige and very...not me. So I took the slipcover off to wash it (so I could sell it). AND THAT DARK BLUE GODDESS WAS UNDERNEATH.

I love a nook. You KNOW I love a nook. Lamp and pillow are all from a little boutique called Target. Fiddle is from Aldi. I love Aldi. Pouf is an overstock find and the sheepskin and plant pot are from IKEA.

We use this spot all the time. Every color in this room just makes me wanna stay. If someone asked me what this room is I would say HAPPY. It's real freaking happy.

The birds are back! They used to be in our family room in our old house and I just love them. Is it crazy that I have a rug under my dining room table? Sure. But it works. Here's why. There is so much happening on the rug that you DON'T KNOW IF IT'S A STAIN OR JUST THE RUG. Genius. Plus it's honestly so easy for the kids to vacuum it after every meal. And that's what we do. This is the first rug I EVER purchased and I still love it. This room needed it. And I don't mind cleaning it. It's worth it to me. So I'm gonna live this rug-under-the-table life.

Here is the before of the sideboard area:

And the after:

The sideboard is the same one from our last dining room. It just got a very small upgrade with new hardware. And this is the pic that IKEA COMMENTED ON AND ASKED FOR MY PERMISSION FOR THEM TO USE IT (and then I never heard from them again...).

But the shelves are awesome and I still love IKEA. Did I think we were out of the friend-zone though? Sure. Yeah. I did.

I repurposed this mirror from the half bath and this light fixture called to me from the Amazon interwebs. I ANSWERED.

I would like to open up walls in this room but three things are standing in the way of that:

1 - One of the walls is load bearing (crap).

2 - The stack from our - ahem - toilets is in the other one (literal crap).

3 - My husband. Love him. And he loves walls. He is not an open-concept guy, at all. So since none of the walls HAVE to come down and we don't have the money to do it...it's all a hard no for him. BUT A GIRL CAN DREAM.

We will be able to open the wall between the dining room and the kitchen a LITTLE bit (basically to the stack). I'm glad for that at least! Would I love to blow out that load-bearing wall? YES, yes I would. Is that an option? No, no it's not. But MAYBE we can do an opening someday...(Josh is going to read this and just start yelling "NO".)

Previous homeowners left this plant for us so I painted the pot and added a stand. (Some of the leaves are REAL tired, let them sleep.)