Dining room designs

Happy Monday!

My kids started camp today, so we are getting back to some kind of structure around here.  The last two weeks felt like two months (in a good way!)

Back to work, back to blogging.

I recently got to see an old client again to get started on the dining room!  (We did her bedroom, living room, and spruced her kitchen all about 2 years ago).  Back then, I was calling her style "Bohemian," but as I look back on it that's not quite right.  There's something a little bit elegant French farmhouse with a contemporary spin to the look.  We talked about a farmhouse table, a mix of upholstered chairs, a chandelier with glass to echo the kitchen pendants, and incoporating the existing painting and sideboard, which bring a strong red to the palette.

What would you choose?

Big Art in Context 2

You guys: I am so inspired by the big awesome paintings I shared the other day!

I made another art-inspired dining room.

I think I love this even more than yesterday's.  Or, let's say this is my city dining room and the other is the breakfast porch in my country house.  Right?

Painting, table, chairs, rug, buffet (similar), mirror, buffet lamps, tree basket.  Chandelier, Oly, no longer available.

By the way, that painting is actually 5' tall by 7' wide.

These boards always make me want to start over--except, of course that I did this one with no thought to price, and I can't afford this room!

Switching up the elements

One of the things I think about a LOT in my work is sight lines, and the relationship of elements from one room to another.  For example, if we have blue on the walls in one room, I might put it on the upholstery in another room or the floor in a third.  This helps keep a tight palette but allows you to experience color at different levels and in different materials.

When revising the dining plan I showed you the other day, I remixed some favorite elements to get this:

But the pair of armchairs they are currently favoring for their living room are leather in a similar tone.  To achieve the same mood but take the leather off the chairs, I did this:

The blue stripe in the chairs, the leather on the floor (and we can even use an existing hide!)  My client couldn't be happier.

Design Plan: Dining Room

I've been working with a local photographer to plan and decorate her new home.  She has a great eye and she and her husband want a mix of more transitional pieces with some trendy ones.  She's also not afraid of options, and I had lots of fun putting together some possible furniture plans for her dining room.

The color palette comes naturally from existing elements around the house, she wanted something brass, and we know for sure that this piece will go on one wall, opposite the kitchen.

The table and chairs are in front of a sliding glass door to the deck, so I wanted to keep the side chairs short but the head chairs tall to bridge the height of the sideboard.

Here are some of the options I presented:

This last one departs a bit from the red, blue, and tan palette to include mint, another favorite:

What would you choose?

Happy Monday!

Back to Work

Happy New Year!

After a truly delightful 2 weeks off, including a week in sunny Florida, I am getting back in the design game.  I feel like I have lots to share with you!

First up, the final FINAL design for an open living/dining space in a gorgeous townhouse in Jersey City.  You can see some of the initial design boards here, as well as a peek at the chandelier and entryway here.

Once we settled on the major pieces, we came back in to add the next layer, mostly addressing the walls and auxiliary furniture.  I am loving the final look and can't wait to see it all complete!

And here is the floor plan:

There is an original marble fireplace splitting the space.  In reality, the grey chairs sit in front of the fireplace, and the dining table is centered on that awesome leather buffet.  The bar stools are at the island in the kitchen just next door.

My clients will do a stack of bright blue picture ledges with leaning artwork in Black and white--a mix of prints, originals, and family photos.  I did a little mock up using prints from Minted, 20x200, and Dwell Studio.

I love that the mirror over the mantel and the eclectic mix of modern and unique pieces gives it a sort of Paris Apartment feel.

It's coming together!

The Story of a Project: The big reveal!

Thanks for following along as I take you through the process on an ongoing project!

Monday we looked at the before and talked about the plan, Tuesday we chose a floor plan for the living room, Wednesday we perused some design boards, Thursday we tweaked the accents.  Today is the big reveal!

As a reminder, this is how the living room and dining room looked before.

And here is what they look like now:

And some details:

The living room from the dining room:

I often feel like I want to move in when a project finally comes together, and this was no exception.  Now, my client feels like memories of her family are all around her through the beautiful things they collected, but they are not overwhelming HER presence in her home.  I love the way we were able to accomplish that, and all the personality that her parents' thing imbue to a very current sensibility.

I'm sort of sad that this one is over!  Though we do still have her office to work on.....

Have a great weekend!

Design Boards to start the week

Happy Monday--I think my painting arrives today!

I'm sharing some design boards this morning that show, yet again, how you can achieve wildly different looks even when using the same key pieces--in this case, the existing navy leather sofa and rustic/modern dining table, plus grey raw silk roman shades and fancy modern chandy.

The living room and dining room are one big room, so everything has to play nicely together.

And in the end, we threw most of this out and built a new look around a boucheorite rug, which is on the slow boat from Morocco.  It changed the palette completely.

Hope you have a great week!

Sneak Peek

Ages ago, I shared this design board.

Last week, we finally installed the major pieces in the dining room, and it is so, so pretty!

We are working in stages, and the living room (open to this space) will be next, along with window treatments, art, and possibly new carpet.  This will all take a while, and goodness knows I am impatient, so I just had to share the progress.

A pretty living room

Hi friends!  It's spring break for my girls this week, and we slipped off to visit grandparents for a couple of days.  I'm mostly taking the week off, but wanted to pop in a few times to share some goings-on.

I shared a pretty, simple dining room the other day.  It shares space with the living room, open-plan style.  We started, some time ago, with floor plans, and after playing around with the layouts with their existing furniture, we decided on this:

The goal was to create two distinct spaces while keeping a reasonable traffic flow.  We also wanted to create a more intimate conversation area, and managed this handily with a pair of facing apartment sofas.

They entertain with a big group a couple of times a year, so we ordered a table with extra leaves.  Both the wing chairs and the stools in the living room can be pulled over to the dining room to take seating from 6 to 10.

Here's the living room first draft:

(the chairs will be a tweedy blue)

And here it is all together:

My client did not want a lot of pattern, and wanted to keep things simple, restful, but pretty, so this is all about those repeating curvy shapes.

So pretty!  Can't wait to see it come together.

Elegant Dining (Design Board)

Just ordered all the furnishing for this elegant dining room.  (Don't worry: the chandelier is actually a dark antique brass that read more in the iron family.  And yes, there will be six chairs.)

Working on the adjoining living room now.  Can't wait for everything to arrive!

Merching the Fall Catalogs: Dining Rooms

One of the fun things about putting together vignettes that are pure fantasy is the opportunity to experiment a little.  For years, I wanted to be a window dresser at ABC Carpet and Home, and this feels a little like that, lite.  In these dining rooms, I pulled benches up to the table, repurposed dressers as buffets, and generally pushed it just a bit with the mix.

Source here

I'm loving this dining room.  It isn't "me" exactly, but man do I love all of these elements.  I decided to try on some West Elm faux-wood wallpaper for size, mixed three different kinds of seating at the parsons table, and used a campaign chest as a buffet.  Loving the rope chandelier and the mid century bar cart.  It all feels on-trend without going overboard trendy. 

Sources here

And this here is the kind of dining room I always thinking I'm going to do, but never actually do.  Love the mash up of pseudo-Gustavian (bench), updated Chinoiserie (mint chairs), beach (bead chandelier and rattan mirror), coastal (striped dhurrie and galvanized metal table), and regency-lite (dresser and gold garden seat.)  I think I would pull the daybed up to the table and finish it off with six of the minty chairs.  Oh, and gold curtains?  Where have you been all my life?

The first one reminds me a little of the work I did at the local restaurant Cheeky Monkey (which I still need to share properly).  I would love the first one in a second home, and the second one in my first home.

What about you: any favorites?

Vintage Modern Dining Room

One of the challenges with designing for a client from scratch is creating personality when there are no personal items to bring it.  I always feel a little strange creating collections for people, or even selecting objects--some things in your home (as man as possible!)  should have a story.  Your story.

I'm working on a project right now that is an absolute breeze because the client has "story" pieces for each room.  Slowly but surely, we are taking the house where she grew up and making it her own, but keeping the mid-century treasures her parents left behind.  Like amazing danish modern rope dining chairs, a mid-century china cabinet, and a cool tree stump coffee table.

Here are the dining room looks.  (I'll save the before, with the 80s era burgundy and hunter green floral wallpaper, for the big reveal.)  The room is smallish and squarish, and will house the aforementioned mid century china hutch.  There are four rope chairs, similar to those shown here, but a bit more substantial and refined.

The final result?  Number one, with the table from number two.  Can't wait to see it come together!

Client breakfast nook

I've been working with a client in a sort of modern craftsman home, bringing in investment pieces little by little.  They have a charming breakfast nook, surrounded by windows, with medium wood frames and green beadboard below.  We recently brought in a lovely pedestal table and cross back chairs (which came in white but will be painted.)

Now: fabrics!  The banquette will get a cushion in the stripe, with a suite of throw pillows that can move between this space and the living room sectional.

I'm pushing for orange chairs (see paint swatches above), but we may settle for a warm ivory that matches the table base.

Here's the inspiration I sent my client to put on the hard sell....

Adorable, right?

Surprise!

I love this room a surprising amount.  (Okay, I love nothing that is happening on the table top or in that back corner.)  But the table, rugs, chairs, lighting, and oh, those doors?

I'll take 'em.

Here's the thing: this image is from a pottery barn catalog.

Surprised?

I was.

I want those light fixtures bad. 

I really should live in California, style-wise.  And weather-wise, says the girl who chose to RETURN to Minnesota, the land of 7-month winters.

But it's spring now, and I love the summer feel of this dining room.