Renovating and styling your dining room on a budget

We've just recently given our dining room a makeover and Suncorp have asked us to share with you how we made change for less

So this video is all about our tips and advice on how you can make change for less when renovating and styling your dining room

This is what our dining room looked like before

And this is what it looks like now

We didn't make any major structural changes in this dining room instead we focused on cosmetic fixes and I'm going to share with you a few really clever and cost-effective ideas on how you can improve your dining room

I'm not being crazy look if I tuck this in it looks has a petal quality I'm trying to, can you see that it's like a flower

The furniture in your dining room can often be the most expensive part, we actually decided to bring in a new dining table and chairs however our previous chairs we just picked them up from a local op shop, they actually only cost us a hundred dollars and we simply upcycled them by sanding them and giving them a clear coat

Another option to save money on furniture though is mix and match and use what you've got you don't have to have a perfect matching set of dining chairs you can mix them around and a good way

To do this is to mix up just the heads of the table just changing these two seats

Another great option is to bring in a bench seat this is great for additional seating and then you can save money by not having to have as many chairs

You know what I love our dining room and it's not actually a true before because two birds one stone, when we're fixing the lighting in the living room we actually got the pendant be put into here

Think about creative ways to improve your lighting without having to do a lot of work because improving your lighting is pretty much the same as giving your room a fresh coat of paint, it will instantly change your interior

We only had one source of light in our dining room it was just a single pendant light over the dining table and so instead we decided to change up our pendant swap it over and bring in a pendant with nine lights so this actually casts a lot more light around the room and help to create a really lovely moody ambience

As well as pendant lighting don't forget natural light so that means paying attention to your windows windows are obviously fantastic because they bring in a lot of that natural light so you want to enhance that but don't forget to think about your window furnishings

For one they will instantly improve the decor of your space and two if you choose off-the-shelf options they can often be a lot more cost-effective than going custom

If you want to bring in more light another great way to do this is through a mirror

Mirrors are fantastic because they reflect the light around the room and help enhance the feeling of scale in your dining room

I love creating vignettes in my home and I absolutely love styling with flowers, however fresh flowers can be very expensive because you need to keep buying them if you always want them to look good

So think about purchasing an everlasting arrangement things like dried flowers, branches, cottons, grasses these are things you only need to purchase once and they're always going to look great and last you forever

When it comes to styling a question I often get asked is how do you style your dining table when it's not being used, now I've got a couple of easy tips for you to think about when you're styling your dining table

For one think about odd numbers, one three five items is probably max you don't want it to get too cluttered

For me my favorite sweet spot is always three items

And then when it comes to the items you're popping on your table I like to use practical vessels things like bowls and jugs

It doesn't look too forced and more importantly they don't look empty if they're not being used

And lastly a touch of greenery, I've actually just popped a devil's ivy clipping here it's sitting in water it's so low maintenance I just need to remember to top it up every now and again

Another idea that you can try for your dining table is to actually style by using a tray or large platter as your base and then layering up your items on top of that

Again practical items maybe a salt and pepper shaker, perhaps a bowl with some fruit or some nuts, a candle is always great, otherwise always a touch of greenery works well

Thanks for watching guys I hope this video has given you a few ideas of things that you can do in your dining room

A big thank you to Suncorp for asking us to share with you how we made change for less

I put together some more tips and advice on the suncorp website so hit the link below to check that out and like and subscribe we've got plenty more videos coming your way