The Garden Room, or why gardeners don’t have dining rooms

Back last fall, I wrote about getting rid of my dining room to make room for a Garden Room here. Well, the Garden Room is done and ready to host some seedlings, in addition to the multitude of amaryllis, narcissus, and hyacinth bulbs.

Just because they’re gorgeous, here’s some pics of the amaryllis:

Back story in a nutshell

I knew I wasn’t going to have enough room in the dining room for seedlings this year. After some brainstorming, I sold the dining room table and chairs, kept the breakfront and moved the furniture from our former sitting room into the dining room. The result is a cozy room for coffee in the morning and the grands to play in. Not to mention the perfect spot for bouquets!

This left a blank slate for me to create My Garden Room. As an added bonus- this room overlooks the raised beds and, coming soon, the greenhouse. ♥

I knew I was going to keep the wall color. I like it and since we have an open floor plan I definitely didn’t want to go with an entirely new color. That would lead to repainting all of first floor, and, since I know myself, all new furniture. (look up the Diderot Effect to see what I mean)

The Desk

I brought up my thrifted lino-top table from the basement and placed it right in front of the west window, where I can see my cut flower garden. At the moment it is under 18″ of snow but a girl can imagine.

Then I shopped the living room and brought in a metal floor lamp I scored for $6, and painted yellow. I replaced the ancient unsafe light with this new hanging lamp. LOVE the curvy lines on this lamp!

The Cabinets

I thrifted two metal cabinets. I need closed storage badly, not just for seed-starting but a myriad of jars and vases, buckets, watering system supplies, netting, and all the other gardening stuff. They were super utilitarian but U.G.L.Y.

After mulling it over, I decided to cover them with peel-and-stick wallpaper. My first stop was Spoonflower. The stunning wallpapers will leave you drooling. Then I did the math- yikes! I decided to paint them and paper just the doors instead.

My vision started cheery with a little Scandinavian vibe as far as color and pattern. The walls are (if I remember correctly) Sherwin Williams Sea Spray which is a aqua tone. My top pick for paper was this simple vine, but again out of my price range.

Then I thought maybe I would stencil the doors. I’ve been in love with this stencil for years so maybe now was the time.

The stencil just didn’t do it for me though. I did some hunting on Amazon and ultimately chose a peel-and-stick wallpaper from HAOKHOME. I needed three rolls and there’s leftover for a small project. The paper went on surprisingly easily. You have to match the pattern but there is no repeat on this paper which is a bonus. And it cuts like butter with a utility knife.

I painted them the same color as the lino-top table legs, so I already had the paint.

Replacing the pitted chrome handles on the cabinets with wooden knobs from Walmart was an inexpensive upgrade. Painting them the same color as the lamp keeps a cohesive look.

I did have to do a little hack on the knobs- they’re a smidge smaller than the hole from the orginal handles. Two washers to the rescue, one on each side of the door to hold the knob in place. I spray painted the outside washer so it looks like an escutcheon.

All in all this cabinet makeover cost me just $55.

The Shelving

I started off with some plastic shelving units from Home Depot. They were utilitarian but not very attractive. It was a challenge finding shelving as I wanted 24″ deep so I can fit the seed trays lengthwise. Mr. Bee was not a fan so he bought me three chrome units 36″x24″x54″ from ULine. They look great and are really sturdy so should last for years. The plastic shelving will be perfect for the greenhouse so not wasted.

Finishing Touches

Isn’t the best part of decorating the finishing touches?

At first I was going to keep the floors bare. Since there’s a lot of dirt going on in that room I thought it wise! But it felt too empty and echo-y. The

rug is from RUGSUSA, it’s affordable and washable! Win-win!

Who says you need to use a trash can for a trash can? This plant pot looks amazing as a trash can! The magnets I made years ago- they were living in my office but are perfect on the cabinets.

I have a pair of these metal vintage chairs. I’m still pondering what color to paint the embossing. An IKEA sheepskin on the seat is a perfect, comfy touch.

And of course plants! I used to collect pre-WW2 Japanese pottery and isn’t this little elephant the cutest? It looks very African sveld under the dracena.

Here’s the very first plant babies- snapdragons and eucalyptus.

Words can’t express how much I love this room! I’m so ready for the 2022 Winter Bee Garden season.

Happy President’s Day everyone! Will you be doing something fun this weekend?