Dining and Mudroom upgrades!

I'm a big believer in gradual decorating...building a room over time often results in a much better rounded look, and avoids the "I bought my room on Tuesday" look.

However, I have to admit to impatience in building our home's decor! so, I am always thrilled to update our furniture, art, or really anything else in our house.

So, here's my latest update, with a before and after photos.
First, the dining room (shelves inspired by the beautiful dining room belonging to Katie Bower at All Bower Power) before...
...and after:
And our mudroom/reading nook. Here's the before:


And the after:


Now, my favorite part of this change is that it was so cheap! the chair, usually $129 at Ikea, was free! I found it on the side of the road, the lovely natural color was hidden -and protected- by a blue slipcover.
I had the lamp already, but didn't like the dark bronze finish. So I purchase a can of Rustoleum paint in Metallic Aluminum for $3.44 at Home Depot and gave it a good shellacking.
The flower art on the dining room wall was 2 for $20 at a furniture consignment store, and the small mirror was free -a gift from my parents.
The shelves were on clearance at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for $5 and $10 -they'd been opened and one was missing some hardware.
Everything else was purchased at Ikea.

So, still a lot I'd like to do, but I am enjoying even these small improvements as I can make them.