I so spicy.
Not really. But I sometimes talk in third person to get Jeremy to listen. Weird I know…but it works 🙂 Usually it perks him up from the zone-out when I start rambling about really interesting things like the new Bachelorette’s sassy bangs or the pregnancy stretch marks on my sides that look like I tried to claw my spare tire off or how sometimes when I spraypaint multiple items different colors, my snot looks like a rainbow. Important, interesting things. I lost ya, didn’t I?
I so spicy.
See? it works. I gotcha back. So now that I have your full and undivided attention, let’s talk about this trainwreck of a room that we turned into a slightly less filled but still fully wrecked room. How’s that for a catchy line?! Back off HGTV, that one’s mine. On to the room.
The dining room was pretty much the dumping ground for all our don’t-need-it-right-now crud. I have a lot of that.
And it pretty much stayed that way till just this past week. The real problem was that we didn’t have a light fixture in there…so I couldn’t even see what was there to get it sorted. At one point we moved the table and chair into the basement (for Will’s birthday party) and that is when I decided that it was high time to filter some stuff out and around a bit.
But first the fixture.
We needed light. And no dinky little light would do. I decided that the oversized drum light from Will’s old nursery would be just the thing to bring a little sophistication to this space. I know. It sounds ridiculous to talk about sophistication when you have empty egg cartons on the table and a carpet remnant on the floor.
But if you can see past the mess and the horrible wall color, you will notice that the light is pretty darn gorgeous in here.
In fact, it was just the inspiration I needed to clear the table and bring in some chairs.
Both Jeremy and I kinda hate this table. Jer also hates the chairs….I LOVE them. He doesn’t get it. And yes, eventually I will need new cushion covers on the seats…but for $30 for all four chairs, I think they were a great deal that brings texture and charm into this room. Thank you Craig and your list.
We also brought in the shorter bookshelves. I love the darker wood. I think I might just go with this wood color and get rid of the white furniture in here….who knows. Just taking it one step at a time. And for now, I love that this gives me an extra space to display my white dishware.
Obviously these photos aren’t staged. This is real life people.
You may also notice the hot mess behind the table and chairs. You’d have to be blind not to. No offense to blind people. I respect you. and wonder how you are reading this.
The frames from all over our house. They need a home. Of course, I am too lazy to find one.
And some more frames…and mirrors, shades, shelves and a few canvases. I might paint them for in the dining room. I’m thinking of just shamelessly copying something awesome that I have yet to discover.
At first I was gonna use this giant canvas I got a while back (when Sherry told me about the sale at Michael’s I hurried over with a coupon faster than Will can disappear and eat an entire roll of toilet tissue…which is insanely fast by the way). Then I decided that I didn’t like the light with one big canvas. Scrapped that idea and now I think I’ll do three in the dining room and the big one in the reading room. Perhaps with song lyrics. I have no idea.
So there you have it…our current dining room. A light got switched from a nursery to an eating space….some clutter got put away. Not a hugely exciting post…but for me, just to have light in there makes a world of difference. Who knows…maybe someday we will actually DINE in there!?
How’s your dining room looking? Anything new in there? Did you make your own art? Did it have song lyrics? Or perhaps you got stuff from Craigslist that you love but your spouse hates? Spill it…like the stuff on my buffet.
I think the giant drum shade looks awesome. I love the chairs too, although I’d be really tempted to paint them so they popped against all the wood. But I would fight myself on that decision for a long time before I actually did anything–it’s harder for me to paint wicker than wood, for some reason.
I like the idea of song lyric art. Have you seen the stairs with lyrics from “Hello, I Love You” by The Doors? It uses different fonts, it’s really cute. I also like the art that has the background painted but the letters white–using sticky letters from Hobby Lobby and letting Will do acrylics or watercolors on the background would be adorable. I love kid art.
My dining room is blah. It’s just a space next to the kitchen, no formal dining room here. So far pretty much all I’ve done is stenciled a Roman shade with a quote from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it”) and painted two of my chairs red. I’m painting a kilim-type rug for under the table and eventually I’ll paint three Chinese-style wallpaper panels for the big blank wall and frame them. Tomorrow the window trim is going from ’70s wood to white and the window frame is going from ’70s wood to black.
I just finished recovering some 1955, dining chairs, just need to sand down the poly, wipe them down with a stain and repoly those suckers, and it only took me 2 years to do it! So no worries if you still having decluttered the room, the rest of us haven’t either…
Love the light, looks great in there. My question is- the room appears to have no doors, how you gonna keep that boy outta those bookshelves full of gorgeous but highly smashable white dishware. I’ve got a boy, I know the eat-a-whole-roll of toilet paper speed (tho mine likes to shred it and spread it round my bed), so it looks pretty, but can’t surely be staying like that?
Oh Katie, you had me at stretchmarks that look like you tried to claw off your spare tire. I have a 6 month old. I feel your pain. Did I mention she was 9 lbs? Consider me stretched. I don’t have a dining room; just an eat-in kitchen. I do actually have a giant canvas that I painted myself. Yay for DIY art!
Katie, I love your new place! I have been reading your blog for some time now, and am looking forward to seeing the transformation of your new house. I agree with the above post, I love an honest post about stretch marks! I’ve got a 7 month old who definetly left his mark on my belly. Love your blog: )
So far our dining room is this space that we pretend to use when people come over. Ive decided to use it as an extra living room type hangout area with lounges and a coffee table because our house is kinda small and we need all of it used.
Its a lovely space you have there! your right about the colour though, its so overwhelming…cant wait to get into the DIY art… thats next on my list 😀
Love your blog
xx
I don’t have photographic evidence of what I’m living with on a daily basis when it comes to clutter and unfinished rooms and furniture that one or the other of us really doesn’t like…
Suffice it to say that I have been in my house for 16 years this summer and I *just* got rid of one of two couches that I hate, a couch that actually won “Worst Sofa in the World” on an internet contest, and I’m still living with the matching love seat AND the dark chestnut brown curlicue-style end tables and coffee tables that my loving and wonderful husband got for himself when his 1st wife changed the locks on the door…
We have taken that giant step and painted our walls a color OTHER than some shade of white (Navaho, Antique, Bone, Oxford, to name a few that have been used in our home…) and have some cranberry colored walls in the library, some golden yellow walls in the kitchen, some light sage green walls in the dining room, some pale taupe walls in the living room and adjoining hallway, some darker sagey-type green walls with a hint of blue-green in them (I can’t describe that color any other way) in the guest room, manila colored walls with an accent wall in sage green in our bedroom, 20-year old floral wallpaper that came with the house in the second spare bedroom, a deeper taupe in the newly renovated bathroom, and a pastel-watercolor wallpaper in the attic bathroom that we never use except to flush once every couple of months so the pipes are okay…
Wow. More information than I’d planned to share but…
Just reread this post and thought I should mention that my home is NOT an open floor plan – I have rooms that are very separate and distinct from each other and little of one is visible from another so the multiple colors DO work… just wanted to toss that disclaimer in there…
The drum shade looks ah-mazing! I’m so proud of you for getting the room cleared out! How does Will do with the white dishware within reach?
Actually it’s been like that for about two weeks and so far, Will is totally uninterested. We generally don’t let him go to that side of the house without saying NO constantly so maybe it is setting in that being over there is just not fun.
xo – kb
Love the drum shade. Maybe you can stain the furniture to match the bookshelf if you like the darker color?
Also, why is it that it’s so annoying to hang pictures on the wall? It took us forever before we hung any art. Woops!
In one of the vacation posts I think you said you are not funny. Are you sure? Because you so funny.
My dining room looks a lot like yours, but blue. We moved in March and still have our hand me down table and chairs and a lonely little sofa table along the wall. Boxes of china and other misc. take up space in the corner. Will be following along for some inspiration as you’re a few steps ahead of us!
Just wanted to say how happy I am that I found your blog. I’m obsessed! Just got my first place with my husband and I’m feeling very inspired by your blog. Thank you!
Last summer, we did a dining room overhaul: http://ourhumbleabowed.wordpress.com/2010/08/03/dining-room-updated/ My hubby welded a steel table with a marble top, we painted, added a new light fixture (also a drum shade) and new chairs.
Your dining room is going to look amazing when it’s done. I agree about your table and I’m about 80% there with you on the chairs. For the price, how could you say no? Have you considered spray painting them? Maybe a contrasting color for drama?
I love those chairs and the drum shade in your new dining room! Looking forward to seeing it all come together!
Our dining room is looking… kind of like a hot mess. I recently swapped our 46″ round table our for a rectangular one that we had in another room while Robert was at work. (He and my mom were both sort of shocked and amazed that I moved two tables, 8 chairs and a bench by myself with scratching the wood floor.) It’s easier to walk around now, which is good because our dining room is more of a pass through than anything else. I tried to post a picture on my blog, but it’s not showing up, so I’ll have to fix that later. I kind of want to ditch the chairs that match the table and go with these instead, and redo the hutch I painted now. We’ll see what happens.
I like in the last picture your reflection shows you waiving 🙂
My husband and I have an old gold chandelier in our dinning room that came with the house. We hate it and I hung some pom poms from it to make it look more fun-they are a hit with our dinner party guests. However we are eyeing one of those fixures that looks like candles on a big tray. We think it will go with the whole rustic look we are going for. We love our table and chairs which are dark wood with wide planks and little imperfection in the wood. Since we don’t really have a dinning room set that matches our table we are just using as a buffet and cabinet a small set I got from Target when we had our apartment. It’s very, very small and way off scale and looks really funny in our big dinning room but one day we’ll upgrade. Right now if we can just get a new light fixture and have all the wallplates matching we’ll be happy 🙂
Love the drum shade! We just put up a similar one in our kitchen nook and the Hubs was NOT a fan only now he thinks I am the smartest person EVER and totally loves it. Done!
Our dining room has a table in it and a sad light fixture the bank put in to cover whatever gaping hole was there after the previous owners took off. Pretty boring and definitely in need of a serious makeover!
I also bought on sale canvases from Michaels! I am toying with what to do with them… I love that if I completely mess them up, I can start over.
Yesterday I bought the most BEAUTIFUL solid wood pedestal table off Kijiji for $125 , it is FABULOUS- even came from a nice home. I cannot wait to find chairs and set this baby up!
The light looks good in the dining room! My house still has piles of unpacked stuff similar to yours. Glad to know I’m not the only one!
Creepy… I JUST made some large canvas art with song lyrics on them last week. I posted pictures here at the bottom of this post: http://liveonce.posterous.com/condo-love-guest-bedroom-two-little-redecorat
So obviously I’m on board with your lyrical art project. And you can shamelessly copy if you’re interested, I won’t beat you up.
Mandy
I know you don’t think so but it looks like it’s really coming along. Love the new light! I like the modern look in the traditional room. My dining room is far from being put together and I’ve been living in it for two years! But I finally got a rug for it recently:
http://domesticfordummies.com/2011/05/its-here.html
I was going to ask the same thing about how you are planning on keeping Will away from the dishware. My son would be all over that lol! And he doesnt seem to take no for an answer most of the time. Boys! My antique buffet table has two side cabinets, both of which are empty (and I could really use the storage space) b/c my little guy likes to open them and either take stuff out or put toys in. And while at my in-law’s camper this past weekend, he discovered toilet paper- didnt eat it, but was unraveling it!!
Love the drum shade. Maybe I am partial to it b/c I made one to cover the chandelier in my dining room! Sadly enough, it may get replaced with a ceiling fan at some point, only b/c we dont have central a/c up in this mutha in Buffalo and this Southern Belle who is used to a/c is dying! It isnt even that hot here yet! I am seriously considering coming down south where it is 10 times hotter, just so I can be in a house with a/c! Well, I will hopefully be at my dad’s in Roswell, GA in July and enjoying his pool. Guess I need to work on my post baby body for that- yes, it is 18 months later. Dont judge me,lol. Here is a pic of my homemade drum shade.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1854883526412&set=a.1311903232244.46307.1070545961&type=1&theater
Just discovered your blog {via Young House Love} and I’m loving the font in the ‘Tour more Dream House here’ link.
Do you mind sharing what font ‘dream house’ is in?
My dining room sucks. I don’t have a formal dining room area like you, though. I really need a drum shade like yours….where did you buy it? I like the room so far!! Are you going to keep it that color? It looks really dramatic with the white and the black furniture!
No…we are thinking something more soothing…like light blue or green. Believe me, if you saw the way my family is at dinner time, you would understand why we need a calming color 🙂
xo – kb
Thanks Ash!
The font is called Budmo Jiggler. I forget where I got it but I’m sure if you google, it’s still available!
xo – kb
great job on the homemade shade Cordia!
Hope you can stay cool!
xo – kb
I love the drum shade in there! What a great deal on those chairs, but do you know where they would look fantastic? On your front porch, maybe painted black? You could put 2 on one side of the door with a small table in between or big potted planter and 2 on the other side. Would look amazing! I love wicker but think it belongs in a sunroom or outdoors.
When I see your dining room I think the look from my FAVORITE restaurant in San Francisco would be an awesome inspiration. The Wayfare Tavern, Tyler Florence’s new place. (Yes, I got to meet and take a pic with the hottie-I MELTED….) Their website doesn’t do the decor justice, but if you google image it, you get some better views from patrons and bloggers. I have to say my absolute favorite spot in the restaurant is the ladies downstairs bathroom, http://bit.ly/ktEjI4 . I wish I could replicate this whole place into my house.
Really digging the drum shade, very chic. And the chairs are gorgeous. You’re right, with the right chair pads/fabric they will be awesome. Cheers!
Keep up the good work Katie, it will all come together in the end!
Yeah…Jeremy believes it belongs in the trash 🙂
xo – kb
Hey! Just wanted to say, third person would be “Katie is so spicy”. You’re talking about first person, but without the verbs 🙂
We used to have those chairs! They were dining room chairs in my husband’s house when I met him, he had a matching table with a glass top. Totally not our style, but I loved them too. We used them in different configurations in different houses, then finally sold them in the last one. About 3 years ago. It kind of broke my heart!
Dearest Jenna,
Being a blogger allows me to bend the rules of grammer, spelling and overall verbage 🙂
xo – kb
I actually really like those dining room chairs – love watching everything come together 🙂
Thanks for that Jenna, I was confused about that too when reading. But just went with the flow, so I could finish the post. Now since Katie has pointed out it’s actually Bower-verbage I get it! (He he.) Also to that, “No offense to blind people. I respect you. and wonder how you are reading this. ” KB you are hilarious!! That had me cracking up! Congratulations, on the progress. One step at a time, & let’s face it there are alot of steps to be had in that HUGE house of yours. And…it’s a forever home, so you have like, forever to ‘get her done’ !
You can imagine my mother’s distress when trying to teach english & grammar, Ange….oh the joys of being a homeschool mom.
xo – kb
Too funny! I actually posted about a new white drum shade in my dining room today! Great minds think alike : ) Our dining room sat completely empty for the first eight months we lived in our house and I only finally got to it last January when Atlanta got snowed in and I had nowhere to go for 4 days!! But hey- decluttering is progress!!
…which is extra hilarious since it’s actually “grammar” and “verbiage.” Sillycrazygurrl.
We made our first trip to IKEA last week and I bought the smaller Maskros light to hang over the table in our dining area! Woop!!! 😀
xo
We have “Art” printed from the computer and taped to a wall in our dining room. The idea was to see how big I wanted to matt the pieces before actually buying anything… three months ago.
Please imagine the inlaws at a formal dinner… They just don’t “get” me! LOL ; )
Actually their comments cracked me up. So I chose not to explain myself.
I must know – where did you find that oversized drum shade pendant? I have been looking everywhere. They either are too small, are a bazillion dollars or have a funky chandelier hanging out of the middle. HELP! DESPERADO over here.
Nevermind! Found it! Looked up one of your nursery posts. Thank ya! I just ordered mine. Woo! For anyone else wondering: it’s the Antique Copper 4-Light Pendant Chandelier from Overstock.com
Good job Emily. Sometimes I even have a hard time finding old links 🙂
xo – kb
Great progress! The dining set is going to look great once everything is said and done. I’m looking forward to seeing the outcome of the room! Also, I’m loving the “bar” area 🙂
As far as art work, I actually completed a piece two nights ago. I’m trying to decide whether to hang it over the mantel or hang it over the buffet in the dining room. Decision, decisions! Here’s the painting:
http://myersmaison.blogspot.com/2011/06/artsy-fartsy.html
Your dining room looks like by basement when we moved in! BTW, it was like that for 3! years. I painted, then moved furniture numerous times to where it now has a permanent home. It looks like you have plenty of nice things to “shop” from which is awesome! I FINALLY hung pictures last weekend. Luv. Everything will come together eventually and p.s. don’t fret about the pictures. I don’t think anyone wants their walls looking like a drive-by shooting occured there with all of the nail holes.