My dining room

Hi there all of you. I hope you are still reading my rare posts.

I do have a good one today with lots of photos. It's my dining room. It is the largest room on my first floor and it's the first thing you see when you enter the house.

Here are the before pictures.

You can see that the wall color is tan and there is that ugly border above.

We decided to go dark. We used SW Naval as the color and here it is.

This is in process.

And here is the finished (or not quite finished ) product!

None of my artwork is hanging in this room. We wanted to keep it traditional.

As you might notice there are several things left undone. We need to change the chandelier to the one we had in our old house. The hallway off to the left needs navy paint but that was decided after everything was finished. Last but not least the window treatments need to be hung.

It is a bit of a list of things still to do but I know we will get them done one at a time.

Design delight

Several weeks ago I was aimlessly scrolling through Facebook and saw the link to Traci Zeller's blog post on a dining room that she recently completed. Imagine my surprise and delight to see a painting that was commissioned directly by her client last year.

The client used Traci's Double Day Design service that is more personal than e-design and more affordable than full service design. I had no idea my artwork would end up in such a delightful room.

See the whole room HERE

Traci Zeller Design  Dustin Peck Photography

Room of the week

The architecture and fine pieces of furniture and art in this room are quite beautiful. They are classic and mixed in style which is a great combination. There are many elements that I love here but I am going to nitpick.

I love books on a round table but I find it slightly confusing to also have chairs pulled up to the table. The thought crosses my mind that some crazy person would leave them there while eating.

Next let me pose this question: When you have a fresh flower arrangement, do you mix in a few plastic stems, you know just to fill it in?

Yeah, me neither. 

So why in the heck are there fake palms inches from real ones...indoors?

Discuss.

Room of the week

AD

I have blue and white on the brain lately...more than usual so this room jumped out at me.

I have seen two different fabrics on one chair but don't recall seeing two fabrics on the same style chairs in a room. I like the idea.

I do, however, think that the wallpaper and the ornate chairs along the wall fight with the simplicity of the table. I generally love a juxtaposition of styles but that aspect of the room doesn't work for me.

Thumbs up or down ?

The worst client in the world

" You can get wit this or you can get wit that"

That song is stuck in my head as I try conquer my indecisiveness on chairs for my kitchen table.

The time as come to change out the chairs and I am torn.

 Let's recap. Several months ago, I came up with this as my favorite option. The farm table stays but I will be using a different light fixture. The curtain fabric is the same and  I now have a faux bamboo sideboard.

I was pretty set on black Louis chairs.

I had a few other ideas that I think I have nixed.

 

Last week I was sure that I wanted some Danish modern chairs that I could recover in hot pink on the seat.

 Now I am thinking Louis chairs in a fun color.

As I talk the worst client in the world (me) through this, I discover the crazy lady's main goals are #1 not to be boring #2 not to be so risky style-wise that the the chairs in question are hated in a year or so.

So basically, I want a safe choice that is not boring. WTF Kerry!!?

The Louis chairs are on sale now so I think I should jump. I am not in love with the turquoise color. I was thinking hot pink is more relevant to my house but that would involve reupholstery.

Lime green doesn't really make sense in my house either.

 Which leads me back to black...yawn.

My thought is to get the Louis chairs and recover them in a few months.

What do you think?

I am a huge pain as my own client.

Virtual Show House Day 3- dining room

 Welcome to day 3 of the Virtual Show House. I asked Lindsay of Sadie and Stella to do the dining room because she recently did her own dining room and knocked it outta the park. As far as I am concerned she is batting 1000. Check it out.

 I have to tell you, I adore a good virtual showhouse. Why you ask? Probably because budgets are unlimited and your imagination can run wild. If you read my blog, Sadie + Stella, you know that my style and aesthetic is unconventional and definitely eclectic. Full of major color, pattern mixing and unapologetic style. Well folks, when I first saw the gorgeous showhouse that Kerry presented to me, my first thought for a dining room was monochromatic. Lawd. What can I say? The heart wants what the heart wants. Here is my inspiration for this bright and airy dining space. 

{inspired design}

You want to see what my space would look like? Here it be. Neutral color family and all. Lots of layering and pattern mixing. 

Chairs/Settee /Wallpaper/Table/Ceiling Wallpaper/Mirror/Chandelier/Rug

Thank you so much for peeking into my virtual dining room in our virtual showhouse. I will say, this room is not toddler, sticky hand friendly. Come and visit me over on the blog for more and more and more. Loves! XOXO

 What did I tell you!? Awesome right? Come back tomorrow to what Stefan has in store and take a trip to the blogs of all of my very talented participants.

Loi Thai of Tone on Tone

 Beth of Chinoiserie Chic

Lindsay of Sadie and Stella

Stefan of Architect Design

 Nancy and Bethany of Powell-Brower Home

Beth of Chinoiserie Chic

Decorating infidelity

My dining room

I "finished" my dining room last April and was thrilled with the masculine, moody, and English country house feel.

view from the living room

 

About twelve minutes later, I saw this and wondered if I had done something horribly wrong.

Meg Braff

I'd love something this sunny and happy.

I chided myself for not doing something a bit more creative and sassy.

I missed out on a great opportunity for wallpaper and Chinoiserie heaven.

Bunny Williams

The truth is that the sunny, happy rooms are wonderful but I am far more drawn to this über-trad look. My dining room is mostly used at night and the chocolate brown walls and twinkly, antique chandelier lends itself to a cozy dinner party.

I have to remind myself that Christmas in Virginia would not look right in a white and coral, West Palm Beach looking space. I still occasionally want to stray.

Do you fantasize about cheating on your decorating style?

Playing with toys

If you are a design junkie, like me, a new aquisition is like a new toy is to a kid. You style and restyle around your new goodie and wake up the next day with a "better idea" that you can't believe you did not think of sooner.

Last night, when I got home from an annoying trip to Richmond, I was pleasantly surprised to see a box awaiting and I knew what was inside.

I ordered two trumpet vases from The Pink Pagoda store and spent some time playing with different looks.

I tried it with my truly ancient ginger jar but the scale bothered me.

I liked it with this ginger jar and it even worked with the African textile underneath.

The main problem is that my great, great-grandmother's soup tureen usually lives on this table and there is no good alternate spot for it.

It is blue and white but it is English. English, Chinese, and African didn't work for me.

 

 This is how it is now but I am sure that those vases will move around my house "visiting"  all of the other blue and white in my collection.

 

Everyone needs a little funky fun sometimes

Last night I opened this fabulous birthday present from my mother. It's not my birthday yet but I knew she would want to hear about the gifts before she heads of to Russia.

I knew instantly that my lovely but uptight dining room was the perfect spot for a bit of funky fun from Zimbabwe. I have been meaning to find just the right textile for that table and I wanted it to be a total departure from the very traditional surroundings but also not trendy. Not trendy meant no ikat or suzani fabric.

Maybe I should move the soup tureen

The colors are the same as in my oriental rug so it works in the room even though the feel is completely different.

Speaking of funk.... I am in a bit of a painting funk.

This painting is still a work in progress. I struggled with it for much longer than normal and then just plopped in my mantel so I could decide what it needs and free up my easel.

I am working on sailboat paintings now.

What kinds of funky projects or shopping have you been up to?

"Spring into Action" the reveal

 ***UPDATE***

 I just realized, based on some of the comments that it seems like I did the entire room in two weeks. I absolutely did not. Much was already in place, I just wanted to show the evolution of the room as whole. This project was about framing and/or hanging eleven pictures, moving things around, and adding the little bar for an overall zhush. Sorry about the confusion. Carry on.

It is not modern. It does not have a sassy mix of styles or anything all that clever but I loooooove my dining room. It has a decidedly masculine feeling but I think that is fabulous in a horsey, cigar and brandy sort of way.

Let's take a minute to recap.

The dining room started as a blank canvas.

We painted it a chocolate brown and added this trim to separate the two rooms that share a wall.

I made a huge mess.

I also bought a bunch of prints to frame and had some that were framed but not hung.

This was my inspiration.

Here is my interpretation of that.

I went with a more symmetrical arrangement because I had similar frames and my husband can't deal with the haphazard look in my inspiration photo.

In this last photo are all of the prints I framed. The two I had originally hanging on this wall belonged to my grandparents and at the last minute I decided to frame them like the others.

Anyone have a cigar?

I am so glad I did. I think a great-great uncle framed them in the 30s or 40s and gave two to each of his nephews and nieces, including my grandfather. Let's just say they needed a redo.

There was a caption taped to the back of each that I saved and will mount to the backs under acetate to preserve them. I have not done this yet.

You can see that their coming into contact with the wood inside the frame had drastically discolored the edges. It was well worth the added cost to reframe them.

Speaking of cost here is the breakdown...

Open back frames 50% off $9 each                                             7 @$9 = $63

UV glass $7                                                                                    7 @ $7= $49

Mat board $5 with coupon                                                                            $5

Foam board                                                                                                     $4

Miscellaneous hardware                                                                                $10

Total                                                                                                         $131

I dug out a receipt from last year when I had something framed. It hadn't dawned on me yet that I could do this myself. It was a comparable size and frame and I paid $52. The regular price was $139 but with a sale and a coupon it was only $52. What I am saying is that even with a sale and a great coupon, having all seven of these framed would have cost me a minimum of $364!!!!

If that doesn't convince you to do your own framing I don't know what will. Even if you have the store cut the mat if you do the framing you will save.

If you did not see my mat cutting and framing tutorials on video they are HERE

In all, I custom framed seven prints and cut mats for two more and used ready-made frames. Then I hung them all. I moved a few things around and grabbed that antique folding table from another room to set up the little bar table. My dining room is now the first room in my house that I feel is "done". I would like an antique huntboard and hardwood floors but that is so far down the road I don't count it as being undone.

Don't forget to check out all of these other great "Spring into Action" projects

  Suzy – Saved by Suzy
Tiffany – Living Savvy

Kerry – Design du Monde (me)

Laurie – Traditional & Modern

Cathy – Room Rx

Carrie – Hazardous Design

Lisa – A Room with A View

Sam – The Junk House

Becca – from Gardners 2 Bergers

Jean – Flower Hill Design

Nancy – Powell & Brower Home

Linda – My Crafty Home Life