Our Dining Room Final Reveal!
Here we are at week six of the One Room Challenge, our Dining Room reveal! I’m so excited to share with you all that we’ve been working on during the past six weeks.
Our Dining Room Reveal
My Husband said to me the other night, “I think this is the best room we’ve done so far”, and I think he’s right. Together we’ve learned so much over the past year and a half. I can see an evolution in my design style since we’ve been working to restore our 1863 Queen Anne Victorian. We’ve also acquired so many new skills. For starters, my husband BUILT our gorgeous dining table without using a single nail or screw. It’s a beautiful piece constructed of oak hardwoods, that you have to see in person to fully appreciate. He also managed to run the electrical wiring and install all of our new lighting fixtures. On the other hand, I’ve done a deep-dive on the fine art of removing old paint and old staples (both rather unpleasant but necessary tasks). I’ve also been learning a bit of upholstery and furniture restoration, which has helped in our renovation and design projects.
Our Dining Room Paint Colors
Let’s begin with the paint. I selected Benjamin Moore’s Violet Dusk 1409 for our walls, It’s a soft grey-lavender color that I love more and more each day. At night this room seems to sparkle, and I can’t wait to see our Dining room decked out with white and silver Christmas decor.
For our trim I chose Benjamin Moore’s White Dove OC-17, a new favorite paint color that I’m planning to carry throughout our house. White Dove is a warm white with gorgeous greige undertones that perfectly complement the cool tones in our Dining room.
Dining Room Lighting Fixtures
For our Dining room renovation, my husband ran electrical wiring and installed a new pair of wall sconces. I selected the Quincy 1 Light Wall Mount from Crystorama to go on either side of our windows, the first wall that you see when you walk into the room. I love the contemporary elegant aesthetic of these sconces, and how they perfectly complement so many other features of the room. I have bits of cut crystal/ faceted glass scattered about the room, from the candlesticks, to our antique decanters, to the drapery finials, and these sconces tie-in perfectly. You’ll also notice that I have a bit of a circular theme going on as well (the mirror, the wall sconces, our drapery finials). All of these understated elements tie a room together and make it feel cohesive.
Arguably the centerpiece of our Dining room is our new Broche 8 Light Chandelier in Antique Silver from Crystorama. This is a fixture I’ve admired for years, and it’s every bit as lovely as I dreamed it would be. I especially love the texture of the overlapping silver leaves, and the beautiful antique silver finish. I’m going to be hosting a birthday dinner for my Mom this evening, and can’t wait to share a meal with my family under our new chandelier.
Our Dining Room Rug
Speaking of texture, that’s the third theme I wanted to point out to you. Texture is one of the elements of design that I wanted to emphasize in our Dining room, and nowhere is this more evident than in our beautiful new rug. I selected the Calvin Klein Mesa MSA01 in Barite from Nourison. I absolutely love the elegant and understated design, its’ subtle sheen, and the way that the texture of the rug grounds the room. I also love how our new rug ties together the other textural elements of the room, from the summer covers on our fireplace, to the chandelier, to the lush velvet drapery panels, to the stacks of dishes in our china cabinet.
Built-In China Cabinet
Our original built-in china cabinet was a labor of love, and at times a labor of tears. I mentioned in week 4 that I had originally planned to strip and re-paint the cabinet. However, my husband had his heart set on leaving the original wood exposed. Little did we know that this built-in had always been painted, meaning that it’s nearly impossible to remove all of the old paint, as the paint tends to settle-in to the wood grain. I worked at this cabinet for a week, and in the end, I’m happy with how it turned out. I’m even more thrilled that I now have a place to store all of our gorgeous dishes. I’ve been the lucky recipient of multiple plate and glass sets from both of my amazing Grandmothers, so we have a plethora of plates. You’ll also notice a tray of antique crystal decanters on the lower shelf of our built-in, which belonged to my Grandparents.
The finishing touch on our china cabinet is our gorgeous T-shaped knobs from Emtek. These knobs are a limited edition release, and I knew when I saw them that they’d be perfect for our space. The kiln-fired glass pulls carry through the crystal and glass theme that I mentioned earlier. Furthermore, the base of each knob has a beautiful polished nickel banding which coordinates with the finish of the tray on the shelf above.
Our Dining Room Decor & Furniture
My goal for our Dining Room was to create an elegant and serene space, incorporating my old-meets-new design aesthetic, where the original elements of our 1863 home feel integrated with favorite antiques and contemporary pieces. Speaking of favorite antiques, I have a new prized possession which you’ll see in this space. It’s my French Empire chest, a surprising Facebook marketplace find that we lovingly restored and have given pride of place in this room.
Other favorite elements of the design include our dining chairs (another find at an antique market last year) which I restored and upholstered with a fabric from my new textile collection (releasing in January). I also LOVE that I was able to use all of the original picture rails in this room to display our artwork. This is a look that I definitely plan to repeat in other rooms of our home. If nothing else, it’s just plain practical, as I have a habit of moving artwork around the house and I hate drilling holes into our plaster walls with each passing whim.
And speaking of artwork, you’ll notice a painting in this room which is my own. I did about a hundred revisions on this one, and wasn’t sure that I would finish in time, but I’m happy with how it turned out. I’ve also included a pair of black and white photographs over our French chest. I took the photos on a backpacking trip to Sweden in 2012 and was thrilled when Framebridge offered to frame them for me.
All in all, I feel that we accomplished everything that we set out to do in this space. More importantly, I’m thrilled that my husband and I now have a gorgeous dining space to enjoy and to share with others.
A special thank you to my amazing sponsors for this event: Benjamin Moore, Crystorama, Emtek, Framebridge and Nourison. I couldn’t have done this without you. Thank you for partnering with me to see this room through to completion.
And a special thank you to YOU for dropping by today. I hope that you’ll let me know your thoughts in the comments below, and if you’ve enjoyed this reveal, that you’ll subscribe below to stay updated on all of our upcoming projects.
Until next time!
