My dining room makeover
Tue, 4 Oct 2016
Progress on my house has been slow, and every room had finishing touches that never seemed to get done, like stupid baseboard trim. Thanks to a photo shoot of my home a couple of weeks ago (so exciting!!!) my husband and I finally completed the majority of the rooms, and I spent last weekend shooting the dining and living rooms. More photographing required, but it is a good start, and today I would like to share my dining room in its current state (I say that because I am always changing things around and on the hunt for decor items that are more fab than what I currently have). So above is what the space looked like right after we moved in. Boring white ceiling that did not showcase the amazing curve, horrible HORRIBLE mahogany coloured stain/varnish/crap on all the window trim, doors and corner built-in. All of the hardwood on the main floor is oak and was stained this hideous yellow/orange. Whoever thought red trim and orange floors was a good idea was a complete moron. The previous owners took the chandelier with them and left us with nothing hence the lack of overhead light. The table was the rather small and narrow one from our last house with some random chairs and a bench. This room needed a COMPLETE overhaul. Note: The photo above was taken with a very wide angle lens - the room is 10'x14' and the alcove is about 1.75' deep.
A little peek into the room because I had to show you what the gorgeous curved double doors with stained glass leading into the room from the foyer look like. These doors slay me. They are so freaking fabulous. Especially now that they aren't mahogany!!! The colour is Black Blue by Farrow & Ball.
And this is the space now. All new everything!
The vintage reproduction tulip chairs and credenza I picked up in Montreal from Benjamin Curran. The paint is Calamine on the walls and baseboards and Dove Tale on the ceiling by Farrow & Ball. I have gone dark with most of this house so I decided to go with light colours in here for something a little unexpected and to make this house not seem so cave-like. And mostly so my family will stop poking fun at me.
The cushions are upholstered in brown velvet which is not my first choice but given I have many cats, velvet is really the way to go. One day I will have new cushions made (the foam is basically disintegrating) and upholster them in something crazy like red or a deep burgundy. The rug I picked up at Homesense, and its super duper low pile makes it the easiest rug to clean I have ever owned. We had the floors refinished and had about 2 colours to choose from in the grey family (annoying) so we went with Minwax's classic grey. Luckily I love how they turned out.
Rona is my all-time favourite source for plants. Their selection is ridiculous and prices are amazing. This guy was I think $16. The pot is maybe from Rona too. (I could use a newer, better one. Maybe in brass).
To the left of the plant in the corner is my version of a bar cart. I hunted for one for months and could not find anything suitable for the space so I went up to my dressing room, pulled all of my shoes out of these plexi cubes, hauled it downstairs and filled it with booze. It was formerly used at a Club Monaco I worked at years ago as a sweater display and when all the old fixtures were getting tossed, I nabbed this. Total score. I have used this in about 8 different applications over the years.
The grey velvet curtains are soooo soft and I love them. Awesome with cats because you can basically shake the fur off. I paid about $80 or $100 for the set at Homesense. Because they have a pocket at the top and they are thick they don't stay open enough so I had to go get some tie-backs. I found these at Lowe's for a few bucks. One day I would like to find some super blingy vintage ones.
On the opposite side of the room is this special little set-up. This is a vintage radio my husband of Daff Design picked up for a song. He re-attached the funky fabric, re-hydrated the wood, tore out the old radio guts and replaced it with a bangin' speaker, a subwoofer and Bluetooth! WOOT!!! PARTY IN THE DINING ROOM!!! Items on top of the radio are vintage, and the lighting bolt light is from Gaslight Electric Sign Co.
The table was made by my husband out of hemlock that was uncovered about 100 years after being sunk in the Queen's Wharf in Toronto. The variations of colour in the grain, particularly the grey, is absolutely incredible. My husband had a little help from Matt Wallace at Ottawa City Woodshop, and had the simple raw steel base made by ReVolvd.
We found this light fixture in Montreal at Phil'z. It seems to be a big hit with anyone who comes over.
I adore ceiling medallions and I placed an order a little while ago for a whack of these for just about every ceiling fixture in the house (from Decor Group). This one is gorgeous and is perfect ceiling bling.
Some fennel and hydrangeas from blumenstudio left over from the photo shoot in a vase from Green Light District.
I'll talk more about my credenza in another post. It looked nothing like this when I purchased it. On it are my collection of glass and silver and some antique class portraits.
I found the metal wall sculpture a few weeks ago when I was in Montreal getting my tattoo sleeve completed. It was from the same store I purchased the lucite pedestal below it - Cité Déco Meubles. Plant again from Rona. We replaced all of the noticeable switch plates and outlet covers around the house with antique brass art deco style ones from House of Antique Hardware. And because that damn thermostat is right there on the main dining room wall I splurged on one of those cute Nest thermostats from Home Depot.
This built-in hutch is filled with my favourite dishes EVER - South African Wonki Ware from Green Light District, some West German pots and vases to fill the voids, some treasures from Italy and the best salt & pepper bottle grinders by Menu.
I could not get a decent photo of this swinging door that leads into the kitchen but had to share anyway because swinging doors are so rare these days, and it has this really cool glass panel to push on. (We always leave it open).
I really love this room :)
Reader Comments (15)
um, wow! the vibe in here is awesome. that light, while neat, is creepy to me (it's the spider-ness) but it is seriously the it factor in here. that table your husband made, wow, again. enjoy your new space!
b
Looks great, KiM! I could never wrap my head around those Pantin slither chairs, and their replacements are pitch-perfect. Also, the new floor finish and vignettes--flawless!
What a transformation!!. To be honest when you put up pictures when you first purchased it I thought it wasn't so bad - but what you have done has turned it into the most gorgeous space. Congrats.
Greay job, well done! Cudos!!! I love everything!
Absolutely fantastic! The floor color is perfect! The dining table is stunning, and the spider light, and the doors- actually everything is just beautiful. Great job, Kim (and so talented husband)
Thanks everyone! XOXO
Looks so lovely! Such beautiful details in this house!
Hope you don't mind this comment but can I suggest that you take the plant off of your return air grille? Your furnace will have to work harder at sucking air in to cool/heat your home. My hubby is in heating and A/C business :-) Said its really hard on your furnace.
Great transformation. And yey for redish wood gone. I was for it from the very first day and hoped you will decide the same, sooner or later.
:-) thanks JT I absolutely will when we start turning on the furnace (luckily we haven't had to so far this season)
@ombia - thanks. and this place looks so much better with all of that red hidden. i no longer want to stab myself in the eyes.
beautiful, when's cocktail hour?
@beks right about....ALWAYS ;)
I think your after is beautiful and very creative. Congratulatios!
Thanks Tracey!
Love love love the Calamine!
Yaaaas! Love what you've done.