HFHS House: Dining Room (Before + After)

If you've been following along with our Habitat for Humanity project house reveals, then you've probably already seen a few glimpses of the dining room. One thing that we loved about this house from the first moment we walked in the front door was the layout. The living room, dining room and kitchen feel separate but also open and easy to access (and see) from any of these spaces. This makes the house feel big and inviting—which is great!

The dining room initially had old, smelly, stained carpet (same as the living room) and one wood paneled wall among other dingy, stained walls with holes and cracks that needed some repairs. You can't tell from the photos, but two of the walls in this room ended up needing almost a complete skim coat before we could add a fresh coat of paint.

We restored the hardware floors that were underneath the carpet, bleached spots in the ceiling, repaired walls, and painted most of the walls white. We painted one accent wall with grey chalkboard paint to add just a touch of personality to the space. :)

In most dining rooms, the biggest expense/purchase tends to be the dining room table and chairs. Since a dining room table that seats six could easily fit into the space, we decided to build one for the future family that they can use. You can read that DIY tutorial here.

We love how the simple updates to this space made it feel so much more clean and also fit in well with the updates we made to the living room and kitchen. We hope that future family loves it too! xo. Emma, Elsie, and the ABM team.

And be sure to check out more photos in this month's Real Simple or on their website.

Credits // Author: Emma Chapman. Photography: Janae Hardy and Sarah Rhodes. Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess actions. Bar stools/Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Chairs/Wayfair, Rug/Serena and Lily, Chandelier/School House Electric, Rolling Cart/CB2 and To-Do Print/ABM.