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July 27, 2020 by Bre

Modern Vintage Dining Room Makeover

It took me almost three months, but I’ve finally finished putting together the dining room in our new house!  It is no longer being used as our virtual learning classroom (thank goodness!), but instead is a beautiful modern vintage dining room that we love!

This dining room before and after makeover is awesome! See how the owner took it from bland to beautiful with paint and creative accessorizing. This modern vintage dining room is so pretty.

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Before I show you the new look, here’s the obligatory “before” photo.  We left all of our dining room furniture at our old house with the new owners, so we set up folding tables in here temporarily for the kids to do their schoolwork during virtual learning.  It was great to have the space, but it was such a mess in there and SO BROWN.

This is the BEFORE photo of a modern vintage dining room makeover. It has a dark oak built-in china cabinet and dark brown luxury vinyl plank flooring. It was set up as a temporary classroom.

Once the kids got the boot, I refinished the dated oak built-in china cabinet in a green that’s almost black, and then I got to work furnishing and decorating the space!

I carefully followed Emily Henderson’s Dining Room Rules to make sure that I got size and placement of everything just right, and I’m so glad I did!  Her blog post helped me pick the right size rug, table, and chandelier for this narrow room, and I didn’t have to return a thing.  If you have design questions, her blog is an amazing resource.

This modern vintage dining room makeover features a dark green built-in china cabinet, sleek mid-century modern furniture, and brass accents.

I felt like the dining room was a space where I could have a little fun and be dramatic, so I went bold on the wall opposite the china cabinet and installed this vintage-look wall mural (this linked wall mural is similar as the shop from which I purchased is now out of business), which I framed out in trim I spray painted in gloss black.  I got this idea from Aniko at Place of My Taste who inspired me with her framed wall mural.

This modern vintage dining room makeover features a peel and stick wall mural that has been framed to serve as art, and an acacia bowl accent wall.

This wall mural (similar product linked here) was the perfect solution for this wall because the thermostat is placed in a very inconvenient spot.  That thermostat, plus the fact that there are pocket doors in the wall, meant that I couldn’t nail into the wall or hang artwork in a way that made sense here.  So, I cut the mural around the thermostat and then painted the thermostat black to blend in.

My peel and stick mural gave me the look of artwork without disturbing the thermostat or the pocket doors.

This modern vintage dining room features a large wall mural that hides the thermostat.

On the adjacent wall, I also had to contend with another set of pocket doors in the wall and a strangely placed light switch.  I chose to hang a mix of vintage acacia bowls and new acacia bowls on this wall.  I fastened them with Command picture hanging strips so I didn’t have to nail through and potentially hit the doors or the framing.

An acacia bowl wall serves as art, as does a peel and stick wall mural that has been framed with trim. The wall mural hides the thermostat, which has been painted black to blend in.

For furniture, I chose a slim mid-century look dining table that has built-in leaves to expand.  The end chairs are also slim, and the other chairs are vintage cantilever chairs I got at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and had reupholstered.  I also spray painted the legs a vintage brass color to coordinate with the new light fixture and the hardware on the refinished china cabinet.

Vintage cane back cantilever chairs are a homey touch in this vintage modern dining room.

This room was so much fun to put together and I just love the finished result. To me, it feels like a dining room you’d like to linger in; enjoying a glass of wine and nice meal with friends or family.  It feels special but not too fancy, and that was my exact goal: to create a space that was welcoming and warm but a little elevated from the rest of the house.

This modern vintage dining room is dramatic and homey at the same time. It has dark green cabinets and sleek mid-century furnishings.

I hope you like my modern vintage dining room!  If you do, you may also enjoy checking out some of my other home decor posts.

-Bre

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Comments

  1. Caryn says

    July 29, 2020 at 5:05 pm

    Absolutely beautiful I love the wall art all of it really but that wall art is stunning!

    Reply
    • Bre says

      August 25, 2020 at 7:31 pm

      Thanks, mom!!

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Hi, I'm Bre! I believe in working with what you've got to create a home you love. I hope to inspire you to do the same!

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