Earlier in the year I decided to give my dining room a bit of a spruce-up on a £200 budget. I’ve lost the shabby chic look and instead have some form of scandinavian-meets-rustic-slightly-industrial thing going on instead.

I have to be honest, I ‘borrowed’ a lot of bits from other rooms for this makeover, however I actually spent less than £200. So what have we been up to?

The walls were painted with three coats of Dulux Timeless Emulsion costing about 30 quid. I’ve used this shade in lots of rooms now as it seems to absorb the colours around it making it suitable for every room and extremely versatile.

The best £16 I’ve ever spent was on a tin of Valspar ‘Charcoal Sketch Eggshell’. I bought our large white cabinet about two years ago and always intended to paint the inside a darker shade. However I really felt the room would benefit from a standout piece of furniture and so my Dad very kindly spent a day painting the outside of the cupboard. I absolutely love it. Even though Adam thought it was from Ikea… James also used the same paint to add a few coats to the old mirror we hang above the fireplace.

I meant to replace the bulbs in the light fittings for something more snazzier but couldn’t find any bulbs which would provide adequate light so the standard ones remain. I also had no luck finding a new table lamp for the room. I originally had my eye on this one from BHS but decided it looked far better in my living room.
The very simple tripod base for the floor lamp was only £22 from B&Q. It does twist slightly but I think it adds to the styling! I found the white shade in their end-of-line discount section for a tenner.
I love my DIY Lightbox from the This Modern Life. Unfortunately the light isn’t working in mine at the moment and I didn’t get around to replacing it (though the lovely folks at This Modern Life were very obliging). For £30 you get the box and a load of film letters to create you own quotes and messages. Total cost for lighting came in at £62. The festoon lights were purchased earlier this year from Next.

The dining table was left untouched but at some point I do intend to strip off the varnish and wax. I would have loved mismatched chairs but for the moment I’m storing my tolix style stools from the garden in the dining room instead to add to the eclectic style. I already had one of Ikea’s faux sheepskins so I bought another one for a tenner to top and tail two of the chairs. It makes for a much cosier, scandi style look.

I splashed out about £60 to have my David Ehrenstråhle prints framed. The New York and Paris prints were birthday presents so I wanted to give them the treatment they deserved. Sadly the paper has begin to pucker so I need to sort this out ASAP.

I bought a few cacti and pots from Ikea for about a tenner and as my budget doesn’t stretch to Fired Earth tiles for my bathroom I just bought one single patisserie tile to use as a centrepiece. Here I corralled a H&M vase by mum bought me last Christmas and an Anthro candle James gave me for my birthday.

Finally James sprayed a multi aperture frame I’d bought from Laura Ashley about five years ago to a matt black finish to hang on the wall. All the other items were previously owned however I’ve tried to link as many of them as possible (or at least a few things in a similar style in the widget below).

The room isn’t radically different but it’s surprising how refreshing a lick of paint and some new accessories can be! Anyone else planning a room makeover?

{STEAL THE STYLE}

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