Tag: Dining Room

The Dining Room, Shortly After Moving in

We’re still getting settled in and unpacked. Eleanor’s room is looking good, and I’m going to assemble August’s new bed today. Everything else is coming together slowly as we come out from under mountains of boxes.

The dining room is one of the more put-together rooms, if only because all we needed to do was to clear out some of those aforementioned boxes and plop the dining room table and chairs into place.

We were never able to use both table leaves before, but the dining room in this house is a few feet larger than our last. I’m not sure if we’ll keep the table set up like this, but it’s nice to know that we can. We would need a couple more side chairs — I tucked the two end chairs in among the rest, but that’s a little weird.

I haven’t done anything with the giant breakfront yet, so don’t judge the styling in the room. It’s non-existent! Lone bird vase on table, big head vases because they need to go somewhere, window unit air conditioner, and boxes in the corners. So pretty.

We also have access to nine vintage Thonet chairs that belonged to Brandon’s grandmother. They were being stored up at the lake house, and we brought four back with us. (Some are sturdier than others.) If we don’t use them in the dining room, we can find places for them elsewhere.

Brandon and I have different approaches to unpacking. I get weird about wanting to put everything away perfectly the first time, and he wants to just get it all out of boxes and worry about the organization later. It’s a good combination though, and we’re making decent progress on getting this place in order.

September 9, 2013
DIY Colorblock Christmas Trees
Here’s a cute DIY project to add a little sparkle and shine to your holiday! These colorblock Christmas trees took a few hours to create, but if you simplified the palette (and skipped the glitter paint), you could finish them in about an hour. Here’s what you’ll need.

Supplies
- Kraft Paper Cones
- ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape
- Paint Brush
- Martha Stewart Crafts Paint
  Light Pink Trees: Pink Carnation (Satin), Rose Chrome (Metallic), Sugar Cube (Glitter)
  
  Dark Pink Trees: Peppermint Bark (Satin), Rose Copper (Metallic), Florentine Gold (Glitter)
  
  Green Trees: Artichoke (Satin), Citrine Gold (Metallic), Peridot (Glitter)
The smaller cones were to be glittered on one side, so I first painted the entire cone in a solid color. The larger cones were each going to be painted one one side with metallic paint (which I knew to have good coverage), so I started by taping them off and painting just half in a solid color. It’s easier to tape a cone vertically, though I’m sure these would look fantastic done horizontally if you’re up for the challenge.

Acrylic paint dries quickly. I found that by the time I was done painting the last of my six cones, the first would be ready for another coat (I did three on each). After the last coat had dried, I removed the old tape from the larger cones and retaped them to paint the other sides. The metallic paints I used looked good after just one coat, but I still did three — because I am weird and like to keep things even.

Adding the glitter… there went the whole ‘keeping things even’ idea. I lost count of how many coats of glitter paint I used! I knew they would take a while to build coverage, and I think I may have put 10-12 coats of paint on each cone. Early on in the process, I considered ditching the paint and just using glitter, but it was my hope that by using the glitter paint, each Christmas tree would be less likely to flake and leave a sparkly trail wherever she may go.

So far, so good. The glitter is staying put, and I love the two-tone effect.

I’m not sure if I’ve found the perfect place for these yet though. I like the effect of the mirror, doubling them and showing off both sides, but there’s already a lot going on in the hutch above, and with the stockings below. What do you think?

This post is a collaboration with ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape. To join the creative community, visit www.facebook.com/ScotchBlue.
December 18, 2012
New Marais Chairs in the Dining Room

New chairs provided in part by Industry West.

I recently wrote elsewhere about the evolution of my dining room. Everything is always changing a little around here, and the latest big difference is that the dining room has new chairs. Woot! I switched out some of the pieces in my built-in hutch too. So long, all white; hello, pink and coral.

I still have the other chairs down in the basement because it feels wrong to break up the set. I love my vintage dining table, with its beautiful wood grain and modern trestle base, but the chairs weren’t working well for us. The kids were getting food all over the upholstery, and the wood was getting dinged up from too many run-ins with a toy stroller, a toy shopping cart, and too many toy cars. The cats were equally to blame for the chairs’ downfall too. The seats were constantly furry because they slept on them, and breaking out the vacuum every time you’d like to sit isn’t terribly practical.

I’d been considering new chairs for a long time, but hesitated because I wasn’t sure what I wanted. I like Eames chairs in a dining room, but I think my house has reached its Eames quota. I figured it was time for either plastic, bare wood (like these spindle/stick-back chairs), or metal.

I had contacted Industry West ages ago, with a proposal to work together on my basement studio. They provided four of their Marais A Side Chairs, which I’d intended to use as seating around my faux-Saarinen tulip table. I brought them up to the dining room on a whim one day though, and I really liked them around the wood dining table.

The chairs are narrower than the wooden ones we had, so I was able to add some additional seating around the dining table. I bought two more side chairs for the sides, and two arm chairs for the ends.

Yep, we like ’em. The chairs are good for crawling around between too, and for putting on puppet shows. You know, the important stuff.

November 28, 2012
Mystery Box Challenge: Setting a Table for Four

I recently received fifteen brown paper packages tied up with string, filled with a few of Pottery Barn’s favorite things. Then, as part of their first-ever “Mystery Box Challenge,” I had to set a table for four with it all. I was free to use my own things too, so I got a little foxy.

And yes, that’s a punch bowl turned into an open terrarium. What else was I supposed to use it for? (Punch?)

Four other bloggers are participating in the challenge, and you can vote for your favorite tablescape. It was fun to take part and the blogger with the most votes will win a Pottery Barn gift card, but here’s the fun part for you: three lucky voters will receive their own Mystery Box package with all of the items we used in the challenge!

I incorporated white plates, linen napkins, candle holders and candles, a 3-tiered stand, a glass cake stand, two small glass bowls, three large serving bowls, a serving spoon and fork, and a punch bowl – all as part of the challenge. Then I mixed it with my silverware, placemats, glasses, vases and flowers, napkin rings, small bowls as candle holders, and a little wooden fox.

The items make for a very full table, with room for a lot of food. And a lot of desserts. My table had plenty of room for a feast.

You can see the other bloggers’ tables, vote for your favorite (hopefully it’s mine!), and enter to win at Pottery Barn’s Facebook page.

I was not paid to participate in the Mystery Box Challenge, but I did receive product on behalf of Pottery Barn.

August 9, 2012
Mini Terrarium and Fern Centerpiece

I made a terrarium last week that I will share with you soon, but this isn’t it. This is a little premade guy that I picked up at Sprout Home while I was gathering supplies to make my own. The fern was supposed to go inside the one I made too, but it was too big for the container so I’m trying it in the dining room. Apparently it’s a high maintenance plant, a lover of humidity that will require a daily mist. It is also particularly appealing to the cats, so I don’t think it’s going to last long. I’ve had that tree stump planter forever though, tucked away behind the computer on my desk, and it’s nice to give it center stage with a new plant in it.

And how many trends can I gather in one setting? If you were playing a decorating drinking game, you’d be pretty smashed! Birds, a terrarium, a tree stump (painted silver for a bonus!), an agate geode, a big hunk of rose quartz…

April 16, 2012
The Dining Room, Set for Easter

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As I mentioned, I spent the weekend painting the ceiling in the dining room. I had intended to do so years ago, but I’d never gotten around to it until now. I chose a dark color to bring the ceiling down a bit, and the effect contrasts nicely with the living room’s higher ceiling and lighter paint color. It’s a trick that Frank Lloyd Wright used a lot; I just borrowed it.

Everything in Chicago is greening up and Easter is almost here, so I set the table with a nod to spring. Corals and pinks, plus the requisite eggs, chicks, and bunnies.

The sequined animals were from west elm, several Christmases ago (they were part of a line to benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital). The dishes and bowls were also from west elm, the napkins and silverware from Crate & Barrel (from nearly eight years ago when Brandon and I got married), the glasses from CB2, and the runner by Chilewich. It reminded me of eggs. And speaking of eggs, the egg cups are vintage melamine.

I usually stick to white for dinnerware, and I still do like it as a foundation, but those coral bowls are so cheery.

Cute place settings, colorful dinnerware, and a little fresh paint. The dining room is feeling good, and all set for spring. Have you done anything to freshen up your dining room lately too?

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April 3, 2012