If you are just tuning in check out the intro to this series here.
As a refresher from yesterday here is what we needed for the Dining Room:
– a new table and chairs
– a rug
– a new hutch/china cabinet
– some way to display family pictures
– a light fixture
– floor length curtains
– wallpaper
– floor length curtains
– wallpaper
When I’m designing a space I almost always like to start with fabric. Some clients will tell me they like florals or certain colors but to really test their style I’ll send them 2-5 fabric boards with different options and ask them to tell me which ones they respond to most. These were the boards I sent my client. She had told me she wanted some red or orange used in the space.
She then responded back with which fabrics she loved, hated or kinda liked. From that information I’m able to start putting together a fabric scheme. I then sent her these options for initial ideas:
She wanted a heavy duty table because she has 5 kids! So I though this salvaged wood and concrete table from Restoration would be perfect. She wanted to seat at least 10 people at the table so we needed it to be long! This table came in a variety of lengths which made it perfect for us.
After she saw the initial boards she LOVED the table and the fabric and wallpaper combo on board number #1. But she wanted the chairs from board #2. Then after thinking about it she started to get nervous with the idea of doing any type of fabric chair so we I looked for some different chair options.
Something like these Napoleon chairs seemed nice because of the curved lines and the rush seat would be better than fabric.
The Madeleine chairs seemed like a good classic option too.
I always like the idea of a Tolix Cafe chair if you have kids because they are so durable.
I had also sent her a few options from Noir. I really love how different their chairs are. She ended up choosing one of their chairs but sadly they don’t seem to be available anymore. You’ll have to wait until the reveal to see what she picked!
After picking the table and chairs we debated a rug for the space. Because the table was SO heavy we wanted something to protect her floors and really soften the space. We needed the rug to be BIG and also outdoor. I say if you have kids outdoor rugs are a must under a dining table! Unless it’s a dining table you won’t be using very often. Here are a few of the options I sent her:
The last one ended up being her favorite.
Then we needed to decide on the size. If we went with a 9 x 12 it would look like this under the table:
Pretty much taking up the entire room or we could go with an 8 x 10.
This was the best option but it felt too small for the table especially considering the end chairs would basically be off the rug.
The other issue is that the rug we liked only came in an 8 x 10. Boo. In the end we nixed the rug all together. It just felt like it would be too weird either way.
So moving on! My client really wanted a hutch or china cabinet of some sort for all of her dishes. These were a few of the options I sent over:
She ended up picking the Barrymore Cabinet which made our dining plan look something like this:
You can see the chairs we picked on this plan as well. We had decided on the Zimba wallpaper over the Trellis wallpaper but…
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Since the schumacher zimba wallpaper has a vertical match, my client would have been wasting a ton of paper. Her wall space above the
wainscoting is 33.5 inches and the paper is 32, so we would have had to
order more paper just to match that last inch and a half, but wasting
the rest. So we then decided to go back to the Trellis paper. This option was only a 14″ repeat.
wainscoting is 33.5 inches and the paper is 32, so we would have had to
order more paper just to match that last inch and a half, but wasting
the rest. So we then decided to go back to the Trellis paper. This option was only a 14″ repeat.
So now our board looked something like this:
Next up we needed a chandelier! Her only request was something with crystals. So here were a few options:
At the time the Clarissa was the cheapest so we went with that option. So now our final board looked like…
This checked off everything on our list except for the family pictures. I had debated putting them on top of the board and batten like this:
image via Vintage Revivals
I kinda felt like that was our only option. But I hated covering up that beautiful wallpaper. So in the end we decided to make the family picture idea work out in the Living Room somehow which brings us to tomorrow’s post.
Stay tuned tomorrow for The Story of a Room: The Living Room
Love this! Thanks for sharing, I enjoy seeing the back and forth and decision-making process.
So great to see how a project evolves from the original inspirations and ideas. Details like the size of the rug or the repeat on a wallpaper are things that a professional advise and improve on. This is a helpful series Kirsten!
I am loving this series!
This is such a great series, I'm getting inspired to redecorate my apartment now!
xo,
Dana Kay
http://danakay16.blogspot.com/
I love this series — it's like a "choose your own design adventure" along the way! I personally love the combo of the cafe chair with the Restoration Hardware table — perfect for those of us with kids.
Great series! Are you still taking local clients?
Love your series & the selections being made. Maybe someday I will be able to afford a new dining room.
Until then I can live vicariously through your client.
Long time reader but this is my first comment. I LOVE this series…walking step by step through it. So great! Please continue doing this.
I like the idea that you share here and I hope there is a fresh idea that can be shared in the future
If later there was a chance I would like to exchange thoughts with you
Thank you very much for sharing interesting things here
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