Dining Room in Progress

I have been working on my dining room for several weeks. It has been slow going because I have a hard time making decisions when it comes to decorating my home. This is how the room started….

One of the first things I chose were this this black mirror and console table for the niche.

The console is a mirrored eglomise piece. It is pretty in real life, but hard to photograph due to its reflective qualities.

 Here is the top of the table(with reflection of the wall mirror).

Great lines on the legs and base…

... claw feet.

I had a difficult time finding a dining set I liked.  I purchased this set as a "pressure" buy... we were having a dinner party and I didn't have a table. I liked it for all of two weeks.  The only good thing is that I got it at 40 % off.

Next I chose an area rug...

I purchased thsi pair of lamps for another room but decided to place them in the dining room on the console table.

Here they are on the the console table. 

My most recent purchase, posted about here, is this pair of  leather and animal hide end chairs.

The animal hide on the backs are shaved in areas that create patterns.

The seat and chair back have croc emobossed leather, which you can see on this close-up.  

Here are the chairs at the dining table. Since the patterns on the back of the chairs aren't identical, I placed the chairs at the ends of the table, then switched them to see which one had the pattern I wanted to face out to the main floor. 

Pattern One:

.... Pattern Two.

I think I like this one the best. I placed the upholstered arm chairs in the middle position on each side.  I like the fact that the set doesn't seem matchy-matchy now.

 I still need to change the wall color, choose window treatments and get a few more accessories. I have been really stuck on the walls. I like the color a lot, just not in that space. I am thinking of going lighter and a tone closer to the trim color. I have even thought about applying a plaster texture, but am concerned about doing that for a few reasons. I also want to something special on the ceiling areas. If anyone has any ideas, I would love to hear them.

Linking to:

Kim at SSS Before and After Party

Transformation Thursdays at the Shabby Chic Cottage

Strut Your Stuff thursday at Somewhat Simple

Show and Tell Wednesday at Blue Cricket Design

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Inspiration Friday at Southern in My Heart

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

SNS at Funcky Junk Interiors

Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming

DIY Project Parade at The DIY Showoff

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

The Turquoise Dining Table

Look what I came across at a local department store this past weekend when I was shopping for charger plates….

This table was gorgeous. The turquoise finish was glazed beautifully and perfectly distressed. I not only loved the table, but also thought the dinnerware, table linens and topiaries looked great.  ALthough I liked the benches,they looked too low to provide functional seating.

                                   A close-up of the distressed finish and the crystal knobs.

Here are the placesetting with the multi-color floral design dinnerware. The charger was a bronzy amber  that had a glitter look. The second pic shows the “glitter” look a little better.

Here is a close-up of the topiaries.  They are made of real preserved boxwood leaves. They are soft and feel real to the touch.

                                                                         Another angle....

Linking to: A Stroll Thru Life's Tabletop Tuesday

                                     Between Naps On the Porch's Tablescape Thursday

Dining Room Redo: Light Fixture Question

One of my next room projects that I am addressing is the dining room.  Here is a picture of the area as it is now.

I know I need to add color, texture and accessories. I also am not sure I care for the yellow candle sheaths on the chandelier and wall sconces.  I am thinking about painting the sheaths a different color but am not sure what products to use.  I don't know if heat will be a  factor... I need to check the wattage of the bulbs.  Adhesion (of paint on surface) is a concern as the sheaths are a hard glass-like material, although I think I know a product that would probably work as a primer/basecoat (Faux Effects PrimeEtch).  Here are some closer pics of the fixtures. 

If anyone has done this, what products did you use?  Was heat a factor in product selection, what primer, basecoat and paint did you use.  Any thoughts or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Dining Table Re-do for My Son

I have been busy running around with my twenty one year old son, who is getting ready to move into an unfurnished campus apartment at the University he is attending. He has lived at home during his first three years of college, other than living in a dorm for two semesters. I am happy for him but I am also SAD, but I don’t let him see.  Anyway, other than bedroom furniture, neither my son nor his roommates have any furniture to speak of. I figured that a dining table was one of the more important items to address so I pulled out an old oak pedestal table that was my husbands when he was single. I think I have seen a gazillion of this same table on blog posts. The finish was a yellowing Oak and in pretty poor condition. I forgot to get a good "before" picture but below is one I took after I primed the top... you can see the original finish on the pedestal base.

So I cleaned, sanded and primed and then painted it black. To add a little interest I wiped on some metallic paint (Faux Effects MetalGlow in Toasted Coconut) on the pedestal base and legs.

Because the accenting seemed a little too THERE, I went over those areas with some dull black paint and wiped/blended to bury some of the metallic. (Below shows the dull black paint just applied, and then after blending).

I decided to add metallic paint along the bottom edge of the apron, see below. I was tempted to add some metallic along the top perimeter but decided to edit myself. Here is the table:

...plus chairs.

.
The table seemed too small for young men. I remembered we had a leaf to the table, which took me 40 minutes to find... good thing young ears were no where to be found.  Below is a picture of the expanded table.  I like the size and shape, so did my son.

...plus some upholstered end chairs.

Finally, I topcoated with 3 coats of polyurethane. My son is not sure if he likes the upholstered chairs… now that I take a step back I understand that they are probably not the taste of most twenty one year old boys. I seriously don't know what I was thinking. I'll need to get more simple end chairs.

Also linking to:
The Shabby Nest         My Romantic Home     Blue Cricket Designs
Chic on a Shoestring     Funky Junk Interiors
Life in the Fun Lane