Today I don’t want to share with you my dining room alone but some basic tips about design and color. 

 

I am a firm believer that YOUR home should speak about you.

It should be a  place that you love because it is not just pleasant to look at but because it warms up your soul.

A home and a house are NOT the same thing.

A house is just a place for shelter, a home is the place where your heart belongs.

This is the place where your family plays, laughs, cries, fights, share dinners, prays, and dreams.

Truly there is no place like home!

 

The Dining Room

 

Together with the entryway our dining room is the first place you see when you enter our home.

When we bought our HOUSE years ago it had green carpet and orange walls.

Darn it I wish I had a picture!

My husband thought I was CRAZY for choosing this house but behind the mess, the walls and the carpet, I pictured this…

 

 

 

TIP NUMBER ONE

The first thing you want to choose when you are going to design a space is your color palette.

If you struggle with this concept instead of going to the paint store I  want you to go outdoors.

Pay close attention to the colors in those places that you love.

For some people can be colorful tulip gardens, mountains, the heart of a busy city…

for us without a doubt is the coast line. Here is a picture of beautiful Oregon Coast.

 

{ You can read more about how to  choose color here. }

 

So I picked those colors that I knew we love  and I applied them first to the hutch.

This piece was the beginning and inspiration of this room transformation.

 

 

 

TIP NUMBER TWO

Don’t over do it!

As much as I love the blue I didn’t want it everywhere. 

I wanted to have a little bit of it as an accent color but not so much of it that it would become overpowering.

Some of my old bottles have a soft blue undertone…

 

 

and I added the same blue also to the back of the shadow box.

Just enough to bring the space together but not so much that it would make it feel tacky.

 { You can get the names and brands of the paints I used HERE }

 

 

TIP NUMBER THREE

Choose your accessories wisely.

 

 

I believe that accessories are the frosting on a cake.

They have the power to transform a room and really bring your personality into your space.

BE CAREFUL however of how many accessories you add.

 Let me give you a few examples.

The “forgotten” corner is the only place in our dining room where you see specific island elements.

 

 

That was enough of it…

It would have been a disaster if the curtains for example had starfish on it, and a wall paper border with crabs,  beach signs and plates in the shape of a shell.

You get the point!

In my opinion stay away from a theme if the room is for anyone over the teen years.

Instead you can use fabrics and textures with curtains and rugs to create a feeling.

{ By the way I made these burlap curtains in less than 15 minutes… I love how the light comes through }

    

Use plants to bring the outdoors indoors.

{ If you are not good with plants and you need to purchase artificial ones mix them with at least one that is real. Your eyes will always go to that one first }

 

 

 

…and use  color in your design as an accessory.

 

Let me show you the room one more time.

You can feel that the place perhaps  is breezy, clean and fresh as the coast line but you don’t see a beach.

Remember this: Imagine a place and create a feeling NOT a theme.

 

 

TIP NUMBER FOUR

Pay attention to detail.

 

 

This is the fun final stage of design.

Your walls are painted, your furniture is done, the accessories are up…

In other words the cake is baked, the frosting is on it, the sprinkles are done but that cake stand will make all of the difference.

 

 

The perfect example of this is our table top.

I designed and cut my own stencil.

If you would like to get more information about it and perhaps get your own custom stencil click HERE.

 

{ …and you can see the tutorial of how to stencil your table HERE }

This table top brought so much personality to this space.

Even more important than that is the fact that what it says represents us.

 Don’t take me wrong I like the accessories…

 

 

but the detail on the table I think is what makes all the difference as the cake stand takes the cake to the next level.

 

Another detail believe it or not is CLEAN surfaces.

 Mirrors, glass and silver looks great when it shines…

 

 …but unfortunately looks HORRIBLE when it is dusty.

Make sure your design matches your own REALITY,

don’t use materials that won’t work with your current life style.

We don’t have any carpet in our home for a reason.

{ wink }

 

So there you have it from forgotten…

 

to one of my favorite corners.

 

From unwanted in a thrifty store for $15 to a focal point that displays our dishes.

 

From OK and messy to clean and fresh…

 

I hope this dining room makeover inspires you to look around your house and reinvent what you have.

Make it be-YOU-tiful, YOU-nique and let your family’s personality come through.

Anyone can do it!

 

Happy Friday My Friends!

♥

Desirée