I’ve always liked the Strut Table from Blu Dot. I’ve found one for half-off, and I’m strongly considering it for the dining room. What do you think?
'F' for Furniture, Dining Room, Filing Cabinet, Wish List • 58 Comments • September 13, 2011
Thanksgiving kicks off a season of dinner parties and holiday meals, so I’ve put together a few options for setting a festive table. I kept it it monochromatic, adding metallic accents instead of color for interest. Here are the base pieces I used (some I own, some were borrowed).
PB White Soup Bowl, Pottery Barn
Scalloped Bowl, Target
Wood-Slices Organic Dinner Plate, David Stark for west elm
Wood-Slices Organic Bowl, David Stark for west elm
Silver Charger, Pier 1
PB White Salad Plate, Pottery Barn
Wood-Slices Organic Salad Plate, David Stark for west elm
Lotus Bowl, Cost Plus World Market
Dazzle Dinner Plate, Crate & Barrel
PB White Dinner Plate, Pottery Barn
Here are just a few of the possible combinations (and no, I don’t mind mixing silver and gold).
The Marimekko Lumimarja tablecloth was a gift from my mom last year, but it is available this year in gold. I also mixed in bird napkin rings and plain white napkins, along with our everyday flatware.
I know, I’ve taken far too long to show you the ‘after’ photos. The problem is that I don’t really see the dining room as a completely finished room yet! It does look a million times brighter with its painted white trim though.
Here’s why I decided to paint the wood trim, and here’s what the room looked like before. Still to do:
Before and after shots:
I’ve shown you how I’ve rearranged my dining room hutch full of white ceramics before, but I hadn’t ever shown my process. So here’s how I do it… I start with the big items first. You can’t shoehorn them in at the end anyway, and if you start with a pleasing arrangement the rest will fall into place.
Obviously I have such a hodgepodge of items that a symmetrical layout isn’t an option for me (though I do love symmetry). I work around that by making sure that the overall layout is visually balanced. For example, see that open lattice-work square in the bottom left? That gets balanced out by the votive holders on the right middle shelf and the scallops of the vintage cake stand on the top left.
I add all the little bits and bobbins that I love at the end. Admittedly they can make the arrangement a little cluttered, so I do edit them down some. Not all of my pieces made it back in, but I tend to rearrange things often so they’ll be back next time.
I love having the built-in hutch to display everything. I wasn’t so sure about it when we moved in, but I’ve since embraced it. I’m still undecided about the beadboard (paint it or leave it natural?), but I’m going to live with it for a while before I choose. It ties in the wood floors and our wood dining set, and the contrast is nice with all of the white. I’ve pinned fabric to the back many times before, so that’s always an option as well. Besides, closing the doors gives the whole thing a bit more polish. Doesn’t everything always look better behind glass?
The baseboards and trim in the dining room have been painted white. The windows have been primed and painted, but are awaiting a second coat. The built-in hutch however, has only been partially primed.
I left the beadboard backing untouched because I thought it might be a nice contrast to the white (and nice to maintain just a touch of the original wood). I like it, and I think I’ll leave it, but what about the shelves? Do you think they should go white or stay natural? I can’t quite decide, and I would love to finish painting soon.
