Going Orange - Dining Room Mini Makeover

We have lived in our current house for 2 years. When we moved in we painted all the bedrooms and the living room but we left the dining room and kitchen alone mostly because I didn't know what I wanted to do with it.  The kitchen is pretty dark with a lot of paneling and wood.

About two months ago, I decided it was time to do something to brighten up these rooms. I thought orange would be a great way to go. I got my husband on board. Well truthfully the conversation went something like this:

Me: I want to paint the kitchen and dining room orange.

Hubs: Orange?!

Me: Yes, not caution cone orange but a pretty orange.

Hubs: Hmmm, ok. Do whatever you want.

See, completely on board!  I roped my mom into helping me paint while she was here visiting and honestly, I love the way it turned out. For some reason the pictures all seem to show a different wall color. When you are looking at the pictures keep these colors in your mind. 

Closest to actual colors

As you can see in the following picture, we really didn't have much on the walls before this. We had kid posters on several walls, including numbers and letter charts. 

I still would like to do something with the paneling but I haven't decided what. My mom think I should paint it white but I'm note sure how that will go with four children.

View from Kitchen

My mom made me these pretty curtains with fabric we got at Hobby Lobby.

Dining Room Window with new Curtains

Here is a picture of the kitchen curtains, which shows the fabric much more clearly. 

I love the blues and greens in this fabric and they are the colors I used in the wall decorations. 

1. I made a chalkboard with a serving tray (a thrift store find) and chalkboard paint.

2.I added clothespins to the chalkboard so we can put the kids posters up when we want them but don't have to have them up all the time or when company comes.

3. I painted frames I found at the thrift store and painted clothespin to match (I had seen this several times on Pinterest). This frame has an awesome printable from Julie at Joy's Hope. (I got it for participating in a very friendly link party PinterTest Kitchen).

4. These frames are displaying the kids' artwork. See the post where they made the artwork here.

We also added a coat hanger for the kids behind the back door under the edge of the counter that separates the dining room and kitchen. On the other half wall that separates the two rooms, I added a purse hanger I made from wood pieces, scrapbook paper, and a knob. It hangs below a calendar my mother-in-law gave me for Christmas. 

Overall I'm really happy will the big change a couple gallons of paint and some fun accessories did to the room. I'm still hoping to redo it more in the future but I love how bright and happy it now is. 

Check out our link parties here.