Ashland Dining Room

It seems that dining rooms tend to be at the bottom of everyone’s redo list, and I can understand why - unless its your only space for eating, its a room that you don’t necessarily spend a lot of time in. It can seem like a waste of money to spend on a space you’re really only in once a year, but I also believe that family dinners are so special and having a beautiful space to share them makes you more likely to want to use the space. In other words, “if you make it [beautiful], they will come [enjoy it].”

In this dining room redo, we wanted to allow the natural light from the windows to stream in and keep the space fun and functional (durable) for the young family it was designed for. The windows have wood blinds already on the windows which are in good shape and chair rail with picture frame molding throughout the room. They also have red oak hardwoods which are just beautiful and will be remaining. Keep reading to learn why we made the selections we did!

Furnishings

This family was moving from a home where they did not have a formal dining room, so they were starting from scratch with their furnishings. We wanted durable furniture that would stand up to the little children and make for easy clean up. With this in mind we selected 8 of these dining chairs (3 on each side and 2 on the ends) which are solid wood and will be easy to wipe clean when messes occur - inevitable with little ones. While I love the look of upholstered dining chairs, its nearly impossible to keep spills from happening so very important if you go that route to pick an upholstered fabric that is easy to clean (look for performance fabrics or leather types that can be wiped down). The curves in the chair also offset the hard lines of the light and table to introduce some variety.

We selected an industrial style table with iron legs and a slab top. This style table will look good even with some wear and tear, which reduces stress of daily dining. The wood warms up the space and brings in a natural element, offsetting the coolness of the metal legs.

We also wanted to include some storage for serving dishes, table linens, and provide an extra serving area. With this in mind, we found a buffet in a deep navy that acts as a neutral, but still adds visual interest with the lines on the front of the piece. The brass hardware adds some warmth and contrast to the navy.

Window Treatments

As always, we needed to add finishing touches with the window treatments and grabbed these white linen drapes to layer over the white wood blinds that were already in the space. The drapes add softness to the space and are light filtering (as opposed to blackout) which will allow the natural light from the windows to stream into the space. Reminder to hang the curtains high and wide to create an illusion that the windows are larger and the ceilings higher than they appear.

Wall Covering

This room has chair railing already in place with picture frame molding. Because there are little fingers we need to make sure that the paint is a durable finish for easy cleaning. We selected a satin finish for this space, but semi-gloss would also work. You can get away with eggshell for rooms without a lot of use, but if you know you’re going to be in the space regularly, satin is a great option that is easily wiped down without being overly shiny (which will also show any wall imperfections that exist). I do not recommend using a flat/matte paint (except for ceilings) if you have children or pets unless you want to repaint regularly. You will find little finger prints regularly (why do kids love to drag their fingers along the wall as they walk?) and you can not clean it without scrubbing the paint off.

Above the chair rail (and out of reach of little fingers) we will install this wallpaper. It has a great vertical stripe which will draw the eye up the wall, giving the illusion that the ceiling is taller than it is. It is also in a great neutral colorway which will keep it feeling fresh and timeless.

I prefer to use neutral colors in a dining room because saturated color can really impact the way you look at food and your emotions surrounding it. By keeping the color palette neutral, you allow the food (and company) to be the star of the show. This is also why most restaurants use white dishes and linens for their tables - it allows the color of the food to pop.

Light Fixtures

I have to tell you - I am absolutely in LOVE with this fun and funky chandelier that creates a focal point above the dining room table. It also pulls the hardware finishes in the room together with the black exterior and gold interior. It offsets some of the more traditional finishes of the space to keep it feeling youthful while still grown up.

We also selected some sconces to go above the buffet which will provide accent lighting and help create another focal point above the buffet. These also combine the black and gold finish, which just reinforces the mixing of materials. You can definitely mix metals in a space - there are a few loose rules to follow: combine warm metals with warm metals, cool with cool and make sure every metal shows up at least twice.

Accessories

I know lots of people struggle with the idea of a rug under a kitchen or dining table (my husband included), but it really does add warmth to the space and helps create a finished look. The type of material you select for a dining room rug is super important as you want something that will be easy to clean and resist staining. You also want to select something that is low pile so that you don’t have to worry about pieces of food getting hidden in the fibers (eww). This is a low pile wool and viscose blend rug and the pattern was based on the bark of a birch tree - bringing in natural elements to space. Wool is naturally water repellant, making it a great choice for a dining room space. As far as size goes, you want to make sure it is large enough that all legs of chairs will stay on the rug when pushed back from the table - last thing you want/need is someone flipping their chair backward when the legs get caught on the edge!

The fiddle fig tree in this project is a great option for bright corner and adds some fun texture. It’s important to note that fiddle figs, while extremely popular right now, are poisonous if consumed. If you have pets that like to nibble on plants (or children?) then I do not recommend a real fiddle fig tree. The good news is there are lot of plants out there that are pet safe - and there are lots of faux fiddle fig leaf plants that look real (this is actually one of them… I know, gasp - shock, horror).

A final accessory piece we have selected is a large mirror to hang over the buffet. Mirrors help bounce light around the room which always makes them a great option. Because we are using a wallpaper throughout the room, we really wanted to let that shine, so we didn’t worry about filling every open wall space with artwork. Sometimes, less is more.

If you’re ready to have a space put together in your home complete with shopping lists, floor plan, and how to guide - fill out my contact form. I would love to connect with you!