Our Victorian Home: The Dining Room

In my last interior post I shared with you our living room transformation, and today I will be showing you our dining room makeover! The dining room was one of the most important factors on our shopping list when we were looking for a house. Apologies that the photos in this post aren’t the best quality – taking pics in winter is always a nightmare!

I wanted a house with a separate dining room rather than a kitchen diner or a living room diner. I love having a ‘proper’ dining room with a big table and plenty of space for when we host drinks or dinners, so this house was a big tick from me! I also love the original stained glass door in the dining room, plus the lovely high ceilings and big window.

Pineapple Theme

When we moved in all of the rooms were painted in plain magnolia which was fine, but not very exciting or imaginative. Here’s a couple of before and after pics…

I decided I wanted the dining room to have a gold and pineapple theme (I’m not sure where I got this idea from!) and I felt like the luckiest girl in the world when I found some pineapple print wallpaper in the clearance section at Laura Ashley for only £4 per roll reduced from £40 per roll! Apparently pineapples in your home also symbolize that you have a welcoming, hospitable, warm and friendly home so I thought that making a feature wall using the pineapple wallpaper would be perfect!

Lick Paint

We used the wallpaper on the side wall and then used Lick paint in shade White 04 to paint the remaining walls [gifted]. This shade of paint is a lovely soft linen colour which is a very pale grey with slightly beige undertones. Lick is a new designer paint brand – their paints are all self-priming and designed to cover any room in up to two coats, so there is no need for a primer or finisher.

What makes Lick really special is that they provide video consultations with colour specialists to offer expert advice and recommendations. They also offer super-speedy next day delivery so you can get started with your latest DIY project ASAP! I loved using this paint as it was so highly pigmented that we didn’t even need to do two full coats as it gave full coverage straight away.

To go with the light grey walls I accessorised with grey curtains (an Asda bargain!) and matching placemats and coasters, all with a grey tiled pattern. The placemats were from Next and the coasters are actually ceramic tile samples that I ordered for free online, but they are the perfect size to use as coasters!

Fireplace Transformation

I actually ordered the tile samples because our chimney breast in the dining room had an empty ‘hole’ where the fireplace would have originally been, and I wanted to get it all tiled. But as a temporary measure I used some tile effect wallpaper from B&Q instead and it actually looks so realistic and is so cost effective that it’s staying that way!

I then added a cast iron fire basket that I bought off eBay for £20, some decorative logs, slate placemats from Poundland which act as the hearth, and a wooden mantelpiece which I bought off Facebook for £5. These cost effective additions have transformed an empty hole into a very realistic looking fireplace which really adds to the warm, homely look of the room.

Thrifty Furniture

The dining table is the main feature of the room which is also one of my favourite thrifty buys. I bought the solid wooden farmhouse table and four chairs for only £37 off eBay and I then spent many laborious hours sanding it down and painting it using Frenchic chalk paint. I also found two additional matching wooden chairs on Facebook Marketplace for only £5 each so the table now seats 6 people.

The rest of the furniture in the dining room is also all second-hand. The tall cabinet is originally from the Ikea Liatorp range and would have cost £279, but I bought it on eBay for £20. I also found the matching sideboard on Facebook for only £40 instead of the store price of £299!

And finally, the vintage glass drinks cabinet is a recent purchase which I found on Facebook for only £20. I painted it using Frenchic paint in Hornblower blue and I absolutely love it! I highly recommend buying second-hand furniture even if you’re not on a budget – it’s just so much cheaper and you can find some really interesting pieces!

I found the gold mirror in the Dunelm sale reduced to only £10, and the gold pineapple Laura Ashley lamp was a gift from my friends. I have a few gold pineapple ornaments too which I’ve collected from various places, and the bar shelf is just from Amazon.

I’m really happy with the finished result of our dining room – it’s still quite traditional but with a mix of modern and vintage furnishings and some quirky decor. We’ve almost finished redecorating the whole house so I will be back with another home interiors makeover soon! Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram for the latest updates.