Aaron and Heather's "New" So-Fresh-And-So-Clean Dining

Heather's home is clean and clutter free, but she wanted to add "fresh" to the mix and nix some of the builder beige.  We started in this dining room nook that is right off of the huge kitchen and opens to the living room.  As you come in the front door, it is one of the first areas you see, which is why we started there.  

In a day and for less than $100, we created this little oasis:

Fresh, clean and crisp, right?  There were a few things that set the color scheme here.  First, it was the fabric choice for the adjacent living room window seating:

So, although we weren't using it in the dining room, because it is all one open space--it was important everything flowed well.  The second deciding factor was actually spray paint, if you can believe that!  We knew we wanted to breathe some life into the black chairs and spray paint colors are not as varying as wall paint colors.  When we found that Krylon Dual's Ivy Leaf matched the lighter green in the fabric swatch almost perfectly, we sprung for it and knew we could find a happy blue for the walls.

With 6 helpers by my side (Aaron and Heather's children), I educated them in the art of spray painting these black chairs a glossy green.

I highly recommend a cheering section for every spray-painting project.  The youngest girl eagerly exclaimed, "It's so CUTE!" multiple times, when I only thought it in my head.

The wall color is Benjamin Moore's Green Wave.  It's a warm, light blue also known as, light turquoise. It has some gray undertones which makes it perfect for an adult space like this dining room, but could easily translate into a nursery or tween room or spa-like bathroom.  It definitely made my go-to color list.

Besides painting the chairs and the walls, we dug through all of Aaron and Heather's plates and found cheery greens and yellow ones to fill her plate rack that always hung on the wall in the dining room.

For the wall opposite the plate rack, Heather had white frames on hand that she really wanted to use.  I simply painted some squiggles on the cardboard backing with the paint colors they had on hand and it made for some no-fluff, chic-cafe-ish art.

Yeah, that runner is totally a throw rug.

We found it on clearance at Kohls and I insisted they needed it.  Not only did it pick up the green and blue, but it also had cream, orange and brown--which are found in the adjacent living room's area rug.  Pairing the throw, err runner with three glass tumblers and lemons and crab apples--we had a centerpiece for the monstrous dining table.

And, this room was a wrap.

Before:

After:

A very cheery wrap.  When we broke down the budget--Heather got a little happier.

Paint--$34.41 (with a $10 off coupon at Ace Hardware)
Benjamin Moore's Green Wave color matched at Ace
3 cans of Krylon Dual Ivy Leaf
Throw Rug turned Table Runner--$16.95 at Kohls
3 Glass Tumblers--$6.99 each at Ross
Faux Fruit--$22 at Walmart

Total: $94.33!!