With us moving into the new house in T-minus 8 days (!), I’m trying to get organized and think about the order I want renovations to take place. This house hasn’t been renovated since it was built in the ’90s, so the renovation list is LONG. We’ve already contracted to have new flooring installed on the main and upper levels as well as new balusters for the staircases replaced before we move in, so luckily those big projects will be done while the house is empty. I also plan on painting the main level right away while the contractors are doing their thing. I’ll be trying out different wall color options next week so stay tuned for that.
When we move in, we’ll have new floors and newly painted walls, so the house will be a neutral backdrop to start decorating. Even before setting eyes on this house, I knew I wanted a big dining room so that we can host family parties, dinner parties with friends, and so that the kids can have a central place to do their homework. Because our last dining room was so small compared to this one, hardly any of the furniture will be coming over to this new house because the scale of the old furniture is too small. So, this is the room I’ll start on since I basically have to start from scratch and we want to be able to use it right away.
The dining room used to be a covered porch behind the kitchen that was integrated into the house and it’s a big space- about twice as big as our last dining room. It also has a ton of light with 13 floor to ceiling windows and doors that overlook the pool. There’s also a built-in sound system that you can hook up to your own music or to XM radio which we’ll definitely use for parties. We’re a music loving family and have background music on all day so I’m really excited about the house-wide sound system.
This is the way the homeowners have the room set up currently. (The homeowner was selling all this furniture so this is a for-public consumption photo).
I put together a mood board to show where I’m headed:
Table: We chose the Cayden Campaign Rectangular Extension Dining Table in Waxed Grey Oak from Restoration Hardware and it seats 14! I ordered the longest one they had which extends to 156″. My husband’s side of the family lives near us and we frequently have family parties. I hosted a few times in our old house and it was tight with so many crammed into our small dining room. This dining room can accommodate a lot more people so I needed a big table.
Light Fixtures: I looked high and low for light fixtures that I like. I must have looked at a few thousand and even had a local light shop designer looking for me. This one is the was the ONE (or three). Because the dining room table is so long, I’m going to install three of these lights along the length of the table. I also wanted light fixtures that didn’t impede the view to the backyard too much and as these are see-through, they’re perfect!
Chairs: The chairs are also from Restoration Hardware. So far, I’ve ordered 8 chairs so that I can see what that looks like with the table not extended but I have plans to order a few more. I chose their performance fabric hoping that would hold up better to dogs and kids. I also plan on getting a head and a foot of the table chairs that are different than the side chairs and I’m still on the hunt for those.
Rug: I wanted a rug that would be big enough to fit under such a huge table and not be too pricey and this rug is it! It’s 10×13 and should fit under the table with a few feet to spare. It was also relatively inexpensive which is important since I tend to change out rugs more frequently than most because of the dogs.
Flooring: We’re using the same luxury vinyl tile that we used in our last home but it’s lighter in color and grayer in tone. With three dogs, nothing else makes more sense in terms of durability and looks. We chose the color “Port.”
Tree: We need some green in this space and I’m thinking of trying grow a fig, olive, or lemon tree. The house faces west to east so the back rooms get a ton of light which will be perfect for growing things.
Wall Color: I’m on the fence on this… With our last dining room, I went fairly moody and dark with the wall color, but I’d like for the entire house to have an overall lighter, more neutral backdrop. So this time around, I want to try White Dove by Benjamin Moore (which we used in the kids’ bathroom renovation last year) and Classic Gray by Sherwin Williams (maybe cut by 50% since I just want a hint of color) and compare them.
Curtains: I’m also on the fence on this… The backyard is very private so for now, I’m leaning toward taking down the current curtains and window treatments. I want to live with that for a while and see if we really need window treatments at all.
Although I would love to also have a sideboard for storage, we plan on renovating the kitchen which is on the other side of the wall from the dining room and we don’t know what walls will be knocked down in the process. So, for now we’re holding off on storage pieces.
Future plans: Currently the dining room is the only room with doors out to the deck and that creates a passageway through the dining room to outside that we’d like to eliminate. The living room is also off the back deck and has a bank of windows that we’d like to convert to French doors leading to the backyard. If we do that, the main way to go outside will be through the living room and not the dining room which makes a lot more sense.
So, that’s where we’re headed in the dining room. Renovations start next week, and I can’t wait!!!
