My Dining room is almost finished. Its been "almost finished" for well over a year. During the Kitchen and Breakfast Room build and renovation, we lived, cooked and did homework in the Dining Room. And to be really honest by the end of it, I never, ever wanted to be in the Dining Room again. I say "almost finished", but it may never get finished. With the new Breakfast Room we hardly ever use the Dining Room anymore. We are not formal people, so when we have dinner with friends and family we always want to stay in the kitchen, eat in the Breakfast Room and enjoy the lovely view.Read more about the Breakfast Room here. 
My old Dining Room had a pretty yellow painted table and slipcovered chairs with blue check skirts. Very country, very cutesy. They found a new home at the beach house. But, let's start at the beginning with before photos.
This is the room as it was decorated by the previous owners. It was very lovely and nicely done, but not my style. The drapes had lace under panels which completely covered the windows. I remember asking my sister to push them back when we took this photo. When she did I fell in love with the light that came flooding in. I did not care for the faux painting on the walls - the woodwork was also painted an antique white which did not match the rest of the house and looked dingy to me.
(Such an unflattering shot of me, let's all remember it is a "before" photo)
Here is the after. I loved the crystal chandelier and so it stayed. I repainted the walls and the trim, and used the same linen and hand forged rods as in the Living Room. Keeping the drapes, walls and trim colors uniform with the Living Room and Conservatory added a lightness to the entire first floor of this older historical Colonial.
My old Dining Room had a pretty yellow painted table and slipcovered chairs with blue check skirts. Very country, very cutesy. They found a new home at the beach house. But, let's start at the beginning with before photos. This is the room as it was decorated by the previous owners. It was very lovely and nicely done, but not my style. The drapes had lace under panels which completely covered the windows. I remember asking my sister to push them back when we took this photo. When she did I fell in love with the light that came flooding in. I did not care for the faux painting on the walls - the woodwork was also painted an antique white which did not match the rest of the house and looked dingy to me. (Such an unflattering shot of me, let's all remember it is a "before" photo)
Here is the after. I loved the crystal chandelier and so it stayed. I repainted the walls and the trim, and used the same linen and hand forged rods as in the Living Room. Keeping the drapes, walls and trim colors uniform with the Living Room and Conservatory added a lightness to the entire first floor of this older historical Colonial.Read about the Living Room here. 
The table is from Belgium and has an old carved wood base with a distressed stripped wood top. The lighting in this photo is awful, but it shows a good close up of the table base which is over 4 inches thick and washed in a Gustavian gray. The chairs are the same as in the Breakfast Room but more slipcovered ones and less upholstered ones. Because most of the chairs are slipcovered it gives the room a much different feel - and now I have matching seating for 12.
We also added some wonderful lighting to highlight our artwork. This painting, though not captured in this photo, has all the green/gray/blue tones of the chairs.
Here is the before from a different angle. That door leads into the Kitchen and the Butler's Pantry is directly to the right. You can spy a bit of the honed marble and gray cabinets of the Butler's Pantry when you sit at the table. You can read more about the Kitchen and Butler's Pantry here.
Here is the after. The pine corner piece I bought many years ago in Bavaria and is Swedish. The spire is from Aidan Gray and the console from Wisteria - I like how the marble top echos the marble in the Butler's pantry. The small chair is one of two I found at a flea market in Bavaria almost 20 years ago.
Here is a close up of the painting. I bought it in Denmark when I went to my sister's wedding. It still needs a frame, not sure where I am going with that - maybe silver, maybe gold, maybe "gilver", black or maybe no frame?? Thoughts??
A before from another angle.
And the after. Clearly I need a rug. But I am torn, a sisal? an antique oriental? what about a needlepoint?? And I want to embellish the slipcovers, but with what?? Embroidery? Trims??Edging?? Thoughts???
Or maybe just keep it as is. Do I really want to spend money on room we almost never use???
What do you think??
Here is another before photo - Can you guess what we are doing with this space??? I know you all love the rug and wonderful drab trim, but just wait a see how this will be transformed.
The table is from Belgium and has an old carved wood base with a distressed stripped wood top. The lighting in this photo is awful, but it shows a good close up of the table base which is over 4 inches thick and washed in a Gustavian gray. The chairs are the same as in the Breakfast Room but more slipcovered ones and less upholstered ones. Because most of the chairs are slipcovered it gives the room a much different feel - and now I have matching seating for 12.We also added some wonderful lighting to highlight our artwork. This painting, though not captured in this photo, has all the green/gray/blue tones of the chairs. Here is the before from a different angle. That door leads into the Kitchen and the Butler's Pantry is directly to the right. You can spy a bit of the honed marble and gray cabinets of the Butler's Pantry when you sit at the table. You can read more about the Kitchen and Butler's Pantry here. Here is the after. The pine corner piece I bought many years ago in Bavaria and is Swedish. The spire is from Aidan Gray and the console from Wisteria - I like how the marble top echos the marble in the Butler's pantry. The small chair is one of two I found at a flea market in Bavaria almost 20 years ago.Here is a close up of the painting. I bought it in Denmark when I went to my sister's wedding. It still needs a frame, not sure where I am going with that - maybe silver, maybe gold, maybe "gilver", black or maybe no frame?? Thoughts??
A before from another angle.
And the after. Clearly I need a rug. But I am torn, a sisal? an antique oriental? what about a needlepoint?? And I want to embellish the slipcovers, but with what?? Embroidery? Trims??Edging?? Thoughts???Or maybe just keep it as is. Do I really want to spend money on room we almost never use???
What do you think??
Here is another before photo - Can you guess what we are doing with this space??? I know you all love the rug and wonderful drab trim, but just wait a see how this will be transformed. Stay tuned!!
