• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header left navigation
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • Shop
  • Get The Email
  • Work With Me
  • About
  • Search

  • DIY
    • DIY Home Decor
    • With Power Tools
    • Renovation
    • For Kids
    • For Parties
    • Wearable
    • Organization
    • Cricut Crafts
  • Home Decor
    • Room Reveals
    • Kid Friendly
    • DIY Home Decor
    • Renovation
  • Lettering
    • Hand Lettered Printables
    • Free Practice Sheets
    • Handlettered DIY
    • Free Brush Lettering Quickstart Guide
Lemon Thistle

Lemon Thistle

Rad DIY, Lettering and Design for Real People

  • Printables
    • For Cricut
    • Party Printables
    • Home Decor Printables
    • Bachelor Bingo
    • Handlettering Practice Sheets
    • All Free Printables
  • Entertain
    • Party Printables
    • Party DIY
    • Tablescapes
    • Kids Parties
  • Blog

Modern Neutrals Dining Room Design Plans

Mar 03

We’re giving our dining room a refresh in one weekend- today we’re sharing the modern neutrals dining room design plans we’re running with. From warm wood elements and soft whites and creams, to pops of black.

Modern Neutrals Dining Room Design Plans

When we made over our kitchen a year and a half ago, we technically renovated this dining room. It’s one space with the kitchen, but beyond painting and flooring… and trim (eventually- ha!) we didn’t finish it. We still haven’t even painted the trim. Or filled the nail holes in it. It’s just waiting for some love.

So when my friend Lindi asked if I wanted to makeover a room in a weekend, I knew this was the perfect space to take on. There’s actually a lot that needs to be done in this room, but it’s manageable if we focus on it for a weekend. Let’s look at what it looked like when we moved in first, why don’t we?!

Dining Room Before Photos

Ok so this might be a bit confusing because we actually swapped the kitchen and dining room when we renovated. So this bay window with that shelf full of food? That’s our dining room now.

So when we renovated the kitchen, we…

  • Opened up the wall to the kitchen
  • Painted it white
  • Opened up the doorway to the entry
  • Replaced floors
  • Replaced windows and trim
  • Replaced light fixtures

So… a lot, right?! But there’s more to do, friends! Here’s what it looks like now.

Modern and minimalistic dining room decor
Modern Dining Room Renovation with Bay Window

I have shared it pretty strategically to not look like an empty white room on the blog. See that first photo? That’s all you have probably seen of this space unless you checked out my recent full home tour that talked about all of our project plans (the second photo). That box in the corner is a curtain rod we’ve yet to put up over the bay window. Almost two years with no privacy while we eat dinner guys. Haha! Why? Because we keep saying we need to fill the nail holes in the trim and paint it before we can hang them.

Not anymore- this weekend it’s getting done! Here’s our list of projects for the weekend:

  • Sand down and refinish our table top (it’s looking rough)
  • Fill, caulk, sand, paint the trim
  • Patch walls and paint
  • DIY large scale wall art
  • Hang shades and curtains
  • Get a rug in here!
  • And probably some kind of centerpiece
  • Trying to decide if I need art on the smaller wall

See? It’s a bit to tackle! If we weren’t refinishing the table, this would be EASY. But sawdust and epoxy make for a bit of a project day. That will probably be one of our whole days. We made this table a few years back and totally adore it. But our kids have done a number on it. Here’s some close ups of what we’re working with. Paint we can’t get off, lots of dings, and a bunch of fork stabs… thank you children.

Soft Wood Live Edge Table before Refinishing
table before refinishing

Okay so let’s talk design plans! I want to keep it pretty neutral since this shares space with our kitchen and green cabinets is enough of a feature for me. But I don’t want it to be boring. So lots of texture and shades of neutrals.

We’re doubling down on the soft wood tones and different shades of white and taupe.

Modern Neutrals Dining Room Design Plans

I have wanted to try a rug in my dining room always- we never had one growing up and I loved the idea but we did try a rug in here before… and it was NOT a dining room rug. We moved it to our living room because it’s so deep, the chair legs don’t move unless you pick up your chair to move it and food got caught in all those woven sections. It also stained easily. The rug we’re using in this space is one Ruggable sent to me and it’s meant for this- it’s washable. WASHABLE! I’m so happy about that, hopefully we won’t be able to ruin it! Ha!

The windows, I’m layering up much like we did in our living room (see here). Woven wood shades and textured white curtains with a black curtain rod. The bay window may be a bit of a challenge but I’m hoping it all fits perfectly with no issues. #fingerscrossed

The last piece is the art! I want something that’s unique to our family and affordable so I’m going to go the DIY route. I love the feeling of this large scale printable from Juniper Print Shop (used in the design board) but want to have a photo that I take… with my kids in it. It’s hard to explain but I have a vision in my head and I’m going to take my kids out to the beach tomorrow morning to try and get ‘the shot’ so I have something to work with this weekend. Wish me luck, haha! I’ll also be building a custom frame since giant frames are expensive.

Paint is going to be the same… but we have a lot of patching and painting to do so I’m mentioning it. So you understand what’s taking us all freaking weekend. Ha!

The only thing I haven’t decided on is if I need another something on the smaller white wall in the dining room. I’m waiting to see once everything is up if it calls for something. Designing on the fly, right?

Can’t wait to share the process with you! If you want to follow along and see this take shape in one weekend, you can follow me on Instagram @colleenpastoor where I’ll share all my progress in my stories!

Sources:

  • Light: Wayfair
  • Art: Juniper Print Shop
  • Rug: Ruggable
  • Table: DIY
  • White Chairs: Similar on Wayfair
  • Grey Chairs: Article
Category: Home Decor
Facebook0Tweet0Pin0LinkedIn0
Previous Post: « modern rustic diy brick fireplace makeover... love the painted brick, tile hearth and the chunky wood mantel DIY Brick Fireplace Makeover
Next Post: Modern Dollar Store DIY Wreath for Spring DIY Dollar Store Wreath for Spring- Boho Style »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sidebar

WOOHOO!

Check your email to confirm!

(+ get your freebies + discounts)


Thanks for dropping by!
I’m Colleen: wife; mom to 4 wild ones; and DIY blogger behind Lemon Thistle. You can expect to see rad DIY, modern home decor, renovations, hand lettering and the occasional party on Lemon Thistle. Read More…

email facebook youtube instagram pinterest

Unless otherwise noted, all content and images are mine. Full posts may not be shared without express written consent. But I love when you share! Feel free to share, without altering, one image with proper credit and a link to the original post. All free printables are for personal use only.

Everyone loves proper credit- if you ever notice something improperly credited, please please shoot me an email and I’ll fix it lightning fast.

Find all my policies right here.
This includes my privacy policy, info on the GDRP compliance and information on affiliate links (Including Amazon Affiliates).

Visit Colleen Pastoor’s profile on Pinterest.

colleenpastoor

My house is never this clean
-
DIY + Home Decor Blogger
Mama of 4 👶🏼🧒🏼👦🏼👧🏼
Renovating our 🏠 the DIY way
🖤 Lettering & ☕️
-
✉️[email protected]

colleen pastoor/lemon thistle
What’s next on your project list? Spring is teas What’s next on your project list? Spring is teasing us so we’re starting on outdoor projects around here!
$100 play room makeover is DONE! This room has se $100 play room makeover is DONE! 
This room has seen so much change over the past year (swipe over to see it 2 weeks ago, 10 months ago and 1 year ago!). I took this last week to make over this space with mostly pieces we already had and I’m so so happy with the results! It’s a good reminder that some hard work, creativity and of course paint can work magic.
I’m sharing all the details (and that under stairs space!) on YouTube today (link in my stories!) and so is my friend @thediymommy (she made over her daughters bedroom for $100!).
Do you think dried grasses are only for fall decor Do you think dried grasses are only for fall decor? I used to think so, but these bunny tail grasses are too cute to put in a bin until next year. Plus the name sounds like spring decor to me ;) What do you think?

Ps. Today’s going to be a full day of playroom progress! I’ll share as much as I can in stories as I go :)
Paint is honestly magic.✨ I am so excited to sha Paint is honestly magic.✨
I am so excited to share this kitchen makeover with you guys! These are the same cabinets, just painted (countertops too!) And some updated finishes. I blogged the full before and after if you’d like to check it out!
Big thank you to @schaubhardware and @wagnerspraytech for partnering to make this space possible!
Ps. Most of the work done here was by the homeowners so if you’re thinking about taking on a makeover in your own home, maybe this is the encouragement you need 😘
As I’m sitting here staring at the dishes on the As I’m sitting here staring at the dishes on the counter while I try to focus on editing a video, I thought it’s as good of time as any to share this reminder 😘
I feel like I’ve lucked into the best job out th I feel like I’ve lucked into the best job out there, but then I’m also so aware of the amount of work it took to get here. Today I chatted with two of my blog friends in an Instagram live about DIY blogging as a job and answered some questions we get asked all the time about our work and the balance of it all! I saved it as an IGTV so you can watch it if you missed 🥰

Big thanks to @love_create_celebrate and @thediymommy for chatting with me today! One of the biggest perks of this job is all the talented ladies I’ve had the privilege of meeting and calling friends- these two are top of that list!
I’m having some fun in stories with a little giv I’m having some fun in stories with a little giveaway guessing game. I’d love if you played along!

I put up a question box and you can guess my next room makeover and the guesses are all over the place. Some are projects on my dream list, some are rooms I wish to even have in my house and some are spaces we’ve already tackled! Like our main bathroom ✨ these photos are from my spring home tour I shared over on the blog earlier this week. Hung up a pennant and called it decked for spring 🐣
Who is ready for spring?! I know we totally are- w Who is ready for spring?!
I know we totally are- we’ve been soaking up outside time this week with the kids home on spring break but over on the blog... it’s spring home tour time! I am sharing my home all ready for spring along with some amazing bloggers as part of the #seasonalsimplicity spring series!
You know I love a touch of DIY decor in every spac You know I love a touch of DIY decor in every space in my home, so I’m so excited to be partnering with @HGTVCanada to celebrate #$aveMyReno being back TONIGHT! #partner
 
My favourite thing about $ave My Reno is that they encourage home owners to get involved and DIY to maximize budget. They even help kids get involved- it’s everything Shane and I work towards in our own projects. You can catch it every Tuesday at 9/9:30PM EP on @HGTVCanada or catch up on episodes on STACKTV through @primevideoca!
 
PS. I made those tie dye pillows, similar to the ones featured in tonight’s episode! You can catch my stories to see the super speedy how-to :)
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2021 · Lemon Thistle · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Mai Theme