Dining Room Planning with HomeGoods and TJ Maxx

*This isn’t a sponsored post.  I just really love HomeGoods and TJMaxx because of the great selection and great deals.  I only wish they’d pay me to shop there.  🙂

We bought our home more than two years ago, and to this day, the only thing you’ll find in my dining room is a table.  It’s a sad but true fact, y’all.  Before we bought a small kitchen table, we ate in our dining room all the time, not because we wanted to, but because the only other option was the couch.  (I won’t lie.  We ate there a lot, too.)

I’m not really sure how ideas get into my head, but my brain is packed full of ’em, and one morning not long ago I woke up with the image of my dining room with a vintage American flag hanging on the wall.  This is what I like to call…

{Source}

And what do I do when inspiration strikes?  I plan an entire room remodel, duh!

The very same day as that epiphane about the flag, I was skimming a recent HGTV magazine and found this:

Sha-BAM!!  You know what happened right?

Yep.  My brain went into overdrive thinking of yellow sideboards and flags and how all that would tie in nicely in my navy blue dining room.  Oh it’s on, y’all.  On like Donkey Kong.  It’s time for…(drum roll please…)

Or Operation Drab To Fab Americana Dining Room Makeover.  Just go with it, mmm-k?

First, I needed a color palette.  I searched and searched until I found:

Ain’t it purty?!  I found that picture on Google Images and made the color palette to match.  Now let me show you what I’m working with:

We painted our dining room a gorgeous, rich navy blue two years ago.  It just pops against that white wainscotting, doesn’t it?  And then there’s the table and chairs.  Just sittin’ there.  Not doing anything.  B-O-R-I-N-G!!

{Yawn!}

After my inspiration struck, and I determined my color palette, I spent a lunch hour window shopping at HomeGoods and TJMaxx.  Oh the ideas that floweth from my brain, y’all!  (Who knew you’d get Shakespeare & Southern, all in one sentence?)

Let’s start with that sideboard, how ’bout it?  I love, love, love that yellow sideboard, and want to find one that I can fix up myself.  While perusing the aisles at HomeGoods, I stumbled across this bad boy:

Cute, but pricey.  I found one on Craigslist recently for only $45, but it was sold before I could get my grubby little DIY hands on it.  But I’ll wait.  It’ll totally be worth it when I find one for cheap and make it exactly what I want!

Once I do have my lovely yellow sideboard, I plan on putting it between the windows, at which time it will need some accessories.

This lamp would be perfect!  I bet I can find one for next to nothing at a yard sale or thrift store, paint it white, then use a marker to make the design.

I like this little scale/clock thingy.  This particular one is broken, so if I decide to go back and buy it, I might get a discount.  Cute, right?  And it would go with my vintage flag in keeping with the Americana theme I’m looking for.  I dig it.

I also saw this tray.  It’s like buttah.  I probably wouldn’t put it on the yellow sideboard – too much yellow all in one place.  But it’s cute, and they had it in white, too.  Could be good for a table centerpiece or something.

Speaking of table centerpieces, I love this cloche and the faux lemons.  That would be fabulous on my dark wood table, don’t you think?

Initially when I pictured the yellow sideboard, I pictured it between the windows flanked by white semi-sheer curtains.  Until I saw these lovelies.  Too much navy blue in one spot, though?  Honest opinons – white or blue curtains on a navy blue wall with a yellow sideboard?

Oh, hey, I forgot to show you these napkins!  Wouldn’t they be stinkin’ perfect on the table?  Yep.  That’s what I thought, too.  (You’re so smart.  I’m glad we’re friends.)

Ok, moving on…

Another project that I see in my head is converting two or three of my chairs into a padded bench for one side of the table.  See, my table is square, but when you take out the leaf, it’s rectangle.  I want to take out the leaf and put a bench on one side.  I figured out that I can attach three chairs together, cut a template for the bench seat, add padding and fabric, and magically have a groovy bench seat.  It’s that easy (I say, as I throw my head back in raucous laughter, envisioning future DIY nightmares of broken chairs and wasted fabric.)  But I have faith in myself, and my hubby.  He built a deck, for cryin’ out loud!  He can certainly help me build a bench!

Once that magical bench seat has been built and covered in gorgeous fabric, it’ll need some pillows.

Ooooohhh….aaahhhhh…..pretty, pretty pillows!  I just love pillows, don’t you?  They instantly cozy-up a space.  I doubt I’ll buy any, though.  I’d rather make ’em myself.

There is also a corner that I’d like to fill with a bunch of art – some will be photos that I’ve taken over the years, and some will be random artwork that I find along the way.   I’ve been searching already and have found a few things I love:

{L to R, Top to bottom: Black Dog Cafe, Cafe (HomeGoods), Sweet Tea, Cow, Maddie the Coonhound}

Looking at all of this stuff together in collages is making me all squidgy.  (For y’all who don’t speak “Kirsten”, that means I’m super excited.)  I’ll leave you to enjoying the pictures, I’m going to get to work!  But before I go, I’d love to know your thoughts.

What do you think of my ideas and color palette?  Any thoughts on the curtains?  I’m open for suggestions!

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