This past weekend the painters came and painted the dining room to match the living room. I was sad to see the blue go, but am much more pleased with how well the two rooms now flow together. I now have a nice neutral back drop to begin brining in layers of texture and pops of color.Warning: the photos you are about to see are not styled but are snippets of how we actually live. So these are not pin worthy- I repeat- not pin worthy. Dining room painted out in Restoration Hardware's Stone:
You may notice a new addition to the dining room- These french round back chairs upholstered in black. I have loved this style of side chair but did not like all the neutral linen ones out there- because lets face it-my kids are messy, heck, Im messy and that linen would only last for so long. I found these at World Market and have to say they are quite comfy and nice in size. You can't beat the price either. They are sold in sets of two online, but you can purchase individually in the store.
You will also notice a new rug. Once again Rug USA has impressed me. I know some of you who have had some not so pleasant experiences with them, but so far the three times I've personally ordered from them I have been pleased. I also recommend them for my e-design clients and many of them have reported all good things. Note: keep an eye on their rugs-every 3-4 weeks they go on mongo sale. I got this one for 75% off- it was less than $250 and free shipping! and its an 8 X 11.
This rug is very similar to the Oriental Style I had in there previously, but with a more neutral palette and a touch of black. It has this nice faded patina to it that I just love. You can find it here.It ties in beautifully with my West Elm and cowhide rug in the living room:
Next up for this room is drapery (which are currently at my workroom being made now), new chandelier, new lamps for the buffet- this is a hard one! We installed new mirrors above my buffet and they literally reach the ceiling-so my current lamps are dwarfed by these mirrors. I need a lamp that is at least 40" in height. I have searched high and low and have only found a handful- most of them over $400 a lamp. I'm now hunting on ebay & etsy for something vintage. Lamps made back in the 40's and 50's were much larger so Im hoping to score something fun. If I truly had my way and had an unlimited budget I would buy a pair of these Murano lamps from Swank Lighting:
But at $4,500 a pair- that is not going to happen anytime soon.OK- now onto the Living Room- Saturday I ran into HomeGoods and spotted a pair of x-benchs for under $70 a bench- I grabbed them both ( w hen you find a pair of anything at HomeGoods-buy it- you can always return it later). even though they were covered in two different fabrics --I tossed a sample of Schumachers Zimba on one to see how I liked it.I have been wanting/needing something to go under my Restoration Hardware Paris map- it always feels like this map is floating on this wall and I thought maybe adding some x-benchs would help anchor it. But after placing them in the space they seem too big- you can actually walk between them and the coffee table, but visually it feels awkward.
So back to the drawing board on this one. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. It has to be something that has a depth of 19" or less. I had thought about buying a second map and placing them on top of one another to fill out that wall space more. But thats another $1,200. Slowly but surely these two rooms are coming together.