Today I'm sharing the DIY dining room makeover reveal of our small 1960s humble abode. The goal of this last phase of the makeover is to liven up and brighten the small dining room. What a huge difference and all it cost was a can of paint! Not only did it add so much light to the room but it completely changed the mood of this space too.

We love that our dining room went from a dark and dreary space that no one wanted to spend much time in, to a bright and cheery space where we now congregate. Instead of absorbing light, the room now reflects so much you'd think we added a window! We couldn't be happier with the results of this transformation.

DIY Dining Room Makeover: How White Made A Huge Difference

The goal for our DIY dining room makeover was to get rid of the dark brown-on-brown tones going on in the room. Between the dark walnut stain on the built-in cabinets, dark walnut-stained tabletop, dark brown parsons chairs, and the taupe wall color, the room felt so heavy.

Pardon the mess on the table in the before photo below, I forgot to take a picture before starting to dismantle the room.

In phase one of the DIY dining room makeover, we added a board and batten feature wall to add visual interest to the long wall that runs the span of our dining room and living room. Instead of chair rail height, we opted for a taller wainscotting to add visual height.

Painting the feature wall white really helped add brightness to the room, but it also makes it feel larger. But we're not done with the white paint just yet!

An Affordable DIY Dining Room Makeover

Besides adding a board and batten wainscotting feature wall in our DIY dining room makeover, in this phase, we are changing the color of the dining room cabinets.

Painted Built-In Dining Room Cabinets

This is the third makeover of our custom built-in dining room cabinets. Originally they had a golden oak finish.

Then we stained the built-in dining room cabinets dark walnut.

What were we thinking, too much brown! With this room makeover...the wood lovers are going to hate us...we painted the cabinets white!

What a night and day transformation!

I could hear my uncle's voice in my head (from whom we purchased our home) gasping with every paint stroke on HIS custom cabinetry. Sorry, Uncle Billy! We did keep the dark walnut stain on the top of the lower cabinets.

Ideally, we would have loved to replace the door fronts but this is a room makeover on a budget so painting them was the next affordable option.

For a lasting paint finish, we applied the same techniques used in our affordable kitchen makeover. Now, the dining room cabinets match the painted kitchen cabinets but they also match our DIY built-in fireplace in the living room. All three rooms have visual sightlines to one another so it is important they have a cohesive flow.

Painted Upper Cabinet Backs

We added a pop of color to the back of the upper glass door cabinets. They have a paintable beadboard wallpaper back that unless you touch it, looks just like the real thing. They are painted with two coats of Luscious Lime by Country Chic Paint but unfortunately, they've since discontinued the color.

To tone down the lime color a little, I brushed a light coat of white wax. I love how the lime green makes the white cabinets pop.

Removing Scalloped Wood Valance

We removed the scalloped wood valance between the upper cabinets that framed the window.

Instead, we added a heavy crown molding around the top of each upper cabinet and framed the window with a faux roman shade. I think I need to decrease the width of the roman shade valance so it is an inside mount instead?

You can see in the photo above and the one below that even the flatware chest displayed on the built-in china cabinet unit was painted white too!

Updating The Dining Room Cabinet Hardware

To save money, instead of replacing the bronze handles on the dining room cabinets, I painted them. They are spray painted a primer white and lightly distressed with sandpaper. I didn't want high contrast so the white color makes them blend in with the cabinet.

What a difference a can of white paint made to our DIY dining room makeover but you probably noticed in the photos that the furniture has changed too!

Dining Room Makeover Upcycled Furniture

Remember the dark brown vinyl parsons chairs in the before photo? Those went to our daughter's home. The oval pedestal dining table got a grey and white modern farmhouse table makeover and now resides in my nephew's home.

We hit the jackpot when we found a Duncan Phyfe dining table at Goodwill. I painted the table base white and stained the mahogany top a dark walnut color to echo the top of the built-in lower dining room cabinets.


Weeks later we were thrilled to find four Duncan Phyfe-style wooden chairs at our local Salvation Army store. They too were painted white and the seats reupholstered with new fabric.

Still not enough seating for our growing family, we built a farmhouse dining bench from a vintage headboard set that we found at Habitat ReStore. It too was painted white and the seat upholstered to match the Duncan-Phyfe chairs.


We are thrilled with our new to us dining room furniture, especially because we spent a fraction of the cost of buying new furniture!

The antique-style mirror hanging above the dining bench is also a DIY project where I made an inexpensive floor-length mirror from Walmart look like an antique.

Listed below are the supplies we used for this affordable DIY dining room makeover. Some contain affiliate links so you can see what products we used or recommend for this project. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from any qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!

Supply List

Bulls Eye 123 White Primer
White Satin Behr Premium Plus Paint and Primer
Varathane Premium Diamond Coat Finish
Lime Chalk Style Paint
Primer White Spray Paint
White Wax

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