House Progress: Dining Room Decor Plan

Our dining room has definitely caused me the most design obstacles so far. It's a formal dining room—something I haven't really had before. It's a big, spacious room. The radiators and built-in cabinet are gorgeous—and also pose furniture arrangement challenges. Oh, and it's the only place we can fit and plug in our must-have keezer—fresh homebrewed beer on tap is such a luxury!

Right now, the room is lightly decorated with a navy, light gray, and white color scheme. The solid navy rug under the dining table collects my white cat's tumbleweeds of fur. And honestly, the navy blue and light gray is just too bland for my taste. As we approach cooler weather and finish up our outdoor projects, we're getting closer to peeling wallpaper and painting. I'm trying to get the rooms decorated how I want them so I can decide on a wall color that works with the decor.

Anyway, I can't even say how many inspiration boards I've created for this room. Trying to figure out what colors will work with the blue tile in the built-in. Trying to figure out how to meld my bright, bohemian style with rustic accents and beloved beer memorabilia. Trying to figure out where to store the beautiful, fancy china G's mom gave us. (I'm not keen on displaying it in the built-in since 1. it opens from both sides and 2. that's where we keep our collection of beer, whiskey, and wine glasses handy.) 

I think I've been trying too hard. I took a step back and I thought about my whole approach to design: decorating with colors I love, patterns I love, and things I love. And since I share this house with the darling boyfriend... it needs to be things he can live with—and maybe even love—as well.

So, here's the plan for the dining room:

Rug:

This rug started it all. It caught my eye and called out my name. The bold cobalt blue will match the blue tile in the built-in. And orange, like turquoise, is one of those colors that finds its way into nearly every room of my house. It's a hue that makes me feel happy, comfortable, and creative. The rug also features some red, light blue, and white. I think the white will really pop against the white legs of my dining table.

China cabinet:

Since our china is currently tucked away, I've been looking for a storage solution that puts it on display but also keeps it safely contained. Lucky me, Target had a sale on their Threshold Windham cabinets and I ordered one in lovely burnt orange. I also have this cabinet in dark purple in office. It's simple to put together, doesn't take up too much space, and is the perfect size for storing the china. Plus, it'll match the rug!

Curtains:

Going a bit further with the burnt orange accent, I ordered some curtains in the color. Properly long curtains, I might add. (We have 10 foot ceilings and I like my curtains to touch or skim the floor.)

Artwork:

We have some artwork G's grandmother painted. They depict southwestern pottery and items, which isn't normally what I'd pick out for art. But they're beautiful and sentimental so I've been looking for a nice place to hang them. The burnt orange and dark reds will work with the curtains and Threshold cabinet. Plus, a couple of the paintings have some blue and turquoise accents, which will pop with the colors in the rug and tile.

Furniture:

Besides the Threshold cabinet, we'll also have the keezer, my gold bar cart, and our new-to-us dining table which is white on the bottom and a beautiful dark wood on top. We're still using the chairs that go with our old dining table. They actually match perfectly, but they'll go with the old table when we sell it. I'm still deciding what I want to do for chairs... dark brown wood to match the table top? all white? mix and match? industrial metal? So many choices! 

Accessories:

I want to blend a little bit of all things we love. That's pretty much my approach to other rooms and the end result is eclectic and happiness-inducing. So there will be some beer-themed items. Some antique and vintage objects. And probably some other random things. I'm hoping to tie them all together with colors from the rug (orange, blue, turquoise, or red) and neutrals (dark brown, black, and white), and some metallics for a bit of sheen.

Wall color:

Here in a month or so, we'll be getting our hands on some wallpaper steamers, peeling wallpaper, repairing plaster, and painting walls! I'm excited and overwhelmed. (We have seven rooms with ugly, peeling, bubbling old wallpaper, ugh.) Since our original wood trim is dark throughout the house and I'm bringing in color and pattern through accessories and big rugs, I'm intending on some light and neutral colors throughout the house. Grays, greiges, pale blues, and even some white. I'm thinking really pale greige for the dining room... something mostly cool, but a little warm. 

I can't wait for it to all come together!