Dining Room Before & After: All Things Brady

The dining room redesign was one of the easiest because it required very little effort and time to complete. Aside from fixing a few trouble spots on the drywall under the window, I couldn’t prep and paint the dining room quickly enough to cover up those b u t t e r yellow walls. As one of my girlfriends termed them—the “bane of my existence”—since that terribly outdated color was covering our dining room and kitchen walls. I am a firm believer that painting can fix nearly everything (did I say firm?). Fresh paint can completely change the character and personality of a room—and in this case, I wanted it to be calming and crisp.

We decided to carry over the gray from the living room but I wanted to break up the monotony of my staple color, so I was mulling over the possibility of an accent wall. I usually don’t lean towards accent walls; in fact, I have never painted one before! I usually view accent walls as dated and more often used in a master suite. In this case, however, I really thought a navy blue wall—although risky—could boldly transform this room. And if any of you know me well, you know my LOVE for the color navy. Simply stated, I’m obsessed. So, I picked out a great shade of navy and got to work. Worst case scenario if I didn’t like the look of the accent wall? Paint it again! Not too hard, right?

Well, I loved it! I’m sure many people have their opinions on it but I was really drawn to the contrast of the navy with the gray and the crisp white of the trim and crown molding. The one thing that did take forever to pick out was a light fixture—I went back and forth between spray-painting and updating the existing chandelier, adding a candle-lit chandelier for a lighter glow, or adding something more modern. I finally settled on a modest linen drum shade from Lowe’s. We hung it at it’s highest setting and I really liked how it is understated but brings a lot of warmth to the room.I still have some work to do styling the shelves and carts in the room, but I am content for now. Here are some before and after shots of the room. Note: colors are Indigo Cloth and London Coach by Valspar.