easy ways to decorate an old house ~ before and after

i love antiques. of all kinds.
i also love looking at ideas on how to decorate an old house.
i want to be able to have modern, functional living space but still be able to display my favorite vintage items.
i also don't want to spend a lot of money.

so when we moved in, we inherited this dining room with a hideous light fixture and dark paint.

we kept the floors the same, and just painted!
it's amazing what a little paint can do!
then we had all these walls to decorate...which can be a little overwhelming!
so i just decided to decorate 3 walls and leave the rest plain.

because i love boston so much, i decided to make my focus wall be all about boston. i bought this cute canvas at marshalls that has all kinds of boston stuff on it, and also got the clock and "c" at marshalls.
i got the frames from a yard sale, (except for one was a house warming gift from my sister :)) and the old frame i got at a thrift store. i filled the frames with pictures we have from our visits to boston.
i have an old menu from a boston restaurant, but it is hidden in a box somewhere that i have not yet unpacked, so i just put a piece of a boston herald newspaper in the frame until i find it!

the awesome green dishes were a find that my mom made at an antique store, and i LOVE them!
the buffet is something that adam's grandfather made us a couple years after we got married!
i think this is the perfect spot for it, and i can't wait for him to be able to see it in person!

i love the wainscoting in the room, and i love that our dining room has a door! i don't know why, i just think it's cool.

it's just so beautiful to see all the details in this house! 

it does not get old!

we got the chandelier for 10 bucks at restore!
and we got the table from craigslist last weekend! we can finally eat together!

i got the cool square frames from a yard sale, and cut out some music that i had in an old etude magazine! i love how it came out.

i know...i'm weird that i have suitcases and an old typewriter in my dining room, but hey...i like to take random things and put them in my rooms.
it gives people something to look at and talk about when they come over!
so all it takes is keeping your eyes open at yard sales and thrift stores and you can decorate with a vintage twist!