Dining in Style

This weekend my friend Justin Riordan of Spade and Archer Designs came over to style my dining room. The room has grown stale and I was beginning to hate it. I just couldn't figure out how to solve all the issues without spending a bunch of money. And I found myself no longer entertaining in that room. But Justin was able to breathe new life into the room using stuff I already own. He also took some things away. Editing is so important. Now I have a whole new room and it didn't cost a dime.

Before:
After: Justin moved the buffet from a side wall to the main wall, now visible from the living room. He emptied my buffet of all my pottery and picked out the green pieces to create instant interest on the top. When I get tired of it, I can switch it out for the red pieces, or the white, or whatever. He said to just stick with one color. He re-oriented the table across the room and put all six chairs along the side rather than one at each end, two on the sides. The peacock picture, the lamp and mirror were taken from elsewhere in the house. And finally, he took down the very tired white drapes leaving only the existing shades. He even repurposed three of the curtain holder brackets to keep the shade cords out of W's reach. The changes he made are wonderful. We keep commenting on how the buffet's new position somehow makes our whole living area feel more like a home.

I do have a few little projects to finish off the room. I am going to replace the mirror with a gold gilded framed mirror. Justin tipped me off to the Hotel Liquidators who reportedly have gold mirrors in abundance for about $20.

I do not love my light fixture. I will be looking to replace that and am pretty excited about finding just the right piece. Let the hemming and hawing begin!

I also have a large wall (where the buffet used to be) that definitely needs art and that's what I'm going to tackle first. My plan is to hang plates and/or platters. I have a few but I'm going to raid Linda's cabinet and maybe visit Goodwill too. I'm not sure if I want to do all white, patterns, solids, or a mix of both. I also need to come up with a layout. The internet has been busy providing lots of inspiration.










You'll be the first to see the what happens in my dining room so stay tuned!