Our Hopeful Home: Dining Room Reveal Plus French Farmhouse Favorites

farmhouse dining room sideboard ironstone demijohn olive branches balance scale olive buckets cutting boards boxwood wreaths

Ever since our dining room remodel was finished (can I get a "hallelujah!"?) I've been practically paralyzed over how to actually decorate the room. Other than knowing I want to decorate it along the same lines as my French farmhouse living room, I've toyed with various ideas. While still somewhat in the planning stages, there are some real concrete changes that have been made for the better. And I have some new decor to share as well!

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Here's the room pre-remodel. My first line of attack was getting rid of this traditional old school china cabinet (on the right wall, sitting atop a sideboard I'm still using) that I've used and loved for more than 20 years -- but it was time for a change. Enter my estate sale farmhouse hutch:

farmhouse china hutch corner cabinet ironstone

I just knew that this farmhouse hutch was much more in line with the look I was going for. (Don't you just love that old wallpaper? Just kidding.)

Next up was a new chandelier. The old chandelier was a pretty traditional brass country-style chandelier with a milk glass globe in the center. Boy, has my taste in chandeliers changed!

Menard's Patriot Lighting Victoria 3-Light Caffe Patina Chandelier birdcage

Here's the chandelier we ended up going with. I couldn't be happier with it. It totally fits with the farmhouse aesthetic beautifully - vintage farmhouse glam.

vintage side table buffalo check pillow hanging boxwood wreath

The only formal pictures I've taken of the dining room since the remodel, before now, were at Christmas. But I think you get the gist. You can see many of the things that were changed.

Dining Room Updates

1. changed out dated custom window valances

2. changed dated custom wallpaper to fresh and light new paint!

3. painted dark chair rails and trim

4. replaced chandelier

5. demolished the tray ceiling (which opened up the room to so much more light!)

6. replaced old china cabinet with farmhouse hutch

vintage side table buffalo check pillow hanging boxwood wreath dining chair slip cover

I'm not sure you can appreciate the "Agreeable Gray" color on the walls, but it is such a lighter, brighter look and I love it! It works great in the adjacent living room as well.

French farmhouse living room reveal white slipcovers shag rug rustic ladder

The living room was definitely the first room to be "done" with most decorating details (although we all know that no room in any home decor blogger's home is ever done). Which currently leaves me with the dining room as a work-in-progress.

On that note, I have to admit that there's been a few new additions recently since I got some Mother's Day money that I earmarked specifically for vintage and/or farmhouse decor. (A list of retail resources is available at the end of this post for your convenience.)

farmhouse dining room demijohn olive branches balance scale olive bucket cutting boards boxwood wreaths

Let's start with this super-huge French vintage-inspired demijohn filled with faux olive branches. I purchased the demijohn on clearance at my local Old World Pottery for $11.00, and the olive stems online from AliExpress for $15. If you've ever priced olive stems you know that I got a great price for the number of stems (5). I'm only using three in the photo!

farmhouse dining room demijohn olive branches

As for the demijohn's price, suffice it to say that a true vintage French demijohn of this size can easily sell for upwards of $75.00. (I get nothing for telling you where I bought these two items. I just wanted to share.) The bottle is 20 inches tall! I was so excited when I found it on clearance. I had previously passed it by on an earlier visit because of the original price.

farmhouse dining room balance scale cutting boards olive buckets boxwood wreaths

This farmhouse decor purchase made me absolutely giddy. I always wanted a vintage farmhouse balance scale but couldn't find one within my price range. I actually saw the exact same balance scale online for $120.00. My price? $44.00. Much more in line with my thrifty farmhouse mission!

farmhouse dining room balance scale olive bucket

farmhouse dining room ironstone balance scale olive bucket

I purchased it from Antique Farmhouse but it is currently sold out. They may get it again -- you can check out their awesome farmhouse decor by clicking the interactive ad in my sidebar (near the bottom) that says "Antique Farmhouse Deals" above it (I'm an affiliate). In the event you don't want to wait for another sale, I do give a different online source for this scale in the list provided below.

farmhouse dining room distressed metal balance scale

It's vintage-inspired and distressed in all the right places. Right now I'm "balancing" two of my mini olive buckets filled with faux plants and I love it! It's also rocking one of my boxwood wreaths as well.

farmhouse dining room ironstone balance scale cutting boards boxwood wreaths

This beauty leaves me speechless every time I look at it. Have you ever seen such a beautiful, HUGE acacia wood cutting board? It's from World Market, and I purchased it through Wikibuy who compensated me for the purchase.

farmhouse dining room cutting boards boxwood wreaths

I've drooled over vintage European "bread boards" for a long time. Again, the cost was prohibitive. But this World Market find was half the price of the vintage boards I found online. And it's an impressive 35 inches tall! I knew when I purchased it that it would be used as decor rather than as an actual cutting board. At least for now.

I'm not sure which farmhouse decor item I'm most excited about -- the demijohn with olive branches, the balance scale or the bread board.

I'm very happy with the look on this side of the room right now. But I still plan on painting that corner cabinet white with gray accents, as well as creating a plate wall and a wall of floating farmhouse shelves. Not too ambitious, ha! Those projects will be keeping me pretty busy for quite some time I'm sure. But overall, it's all good.

RESOURCE LIST

1. Glass Bottle Vase

2. Olive Branches

3. Bread Board

4. Balance Scale

5. Boxwood Wreaths

6. Bird Cage Chandelier

I do hope I've inspired you to go out and conquer a room in your home and/or a project that until now has seemed daunting. I'm so glad I did. The best way to do it is to jump right in!

Well, that's it until next time, friends!

I hope you enjoyed reading about my

Dining Room Reveal Plus
French Farmhouse Favorites

and that I've inspired you in some way!

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