Beach Villa Makeover: Dining Area

It's no secret that I love coastal decor. Although I live in the Midwest, I decorate with turquoise and white (and pink, of course!). I've got sea glass and driftwood scattered around my home, but I try not to go overboard with the coastal thing, since I don't live anywhere near an ocean.

When I go on vacation, I love to stay in rental homes that are decked out in all their coastal glory.

So, I was a bit disappointed that the dining room in our new beach villa came furnished like this...

Just like the family room I showed you in the last post, this room was too dark and formal for my taste.

Next to the dining table is a bar area overlooking the kitchen. Well, sort of overlooking the kitchen if you peek through the opening below the upper cabinets.

Although the furniture doesn't match my style, it is good quality. And, new furniture was not in the budget. So I had to work with it.


The plan to improve this area of the villa included:

• removing all the dark artwork and accessories
• painting the walls
• recovering the chair seats
• removing the kitchen cabinets that were obstructing the view to the dining area

Things didn't quite get finished by the time we left, but I did take some progress photos.

I moved the table so the chandelier was centered. The walls were painted Benjamin Moore "Linen White." I added some coastal wall decor from HomeGoods.

The one project I didn't complete was recovering the chair seats. I purchased this indoor/outdoor fabric for the seats…

Thankfully, my aunt and uncle are going down to Hilton Head next week and are going to do the seats for me. Yay!

I did manage to recover the barstool seats...

And I added a few coastal accessories to this nook at the end of the bar…

But, by far the biggest difference in this space is how much lighter and brighter it is without the cabinets hanging over the bar.

It may not be my dream coastal dining room, but it's one step closer. 

If you're interested in renting our home away from home, shoot me an email at sweetchaoshome@gmail.com.

Thanks, friends!! Have a terrific weekend!