our new dining room

I’m so excited to share the first renovated room in our new home! I’m not sure how or why this room was finished first but i’m thrilled with the result.

When we first walked through our house I had so many good feelings about its “bones.” It certainly required imagination but I could picture many family moments taking place in these rooms, no matter how outdated they were. Everything just needed to be freshened up and modernized. The idea of having a formal dining room was really exciting to me. I looked ahead to entertaining around the holidays and cozy Sunday dinners. It’s been surreal to see my vision come to life in so many of these rooms already and it has really made all of the hard work feel like it’s finally paying off!

To see how far we’ve come you can enter August 2, 1965 into your time machine or just take a look at this picture.

Green carpet, textured wallpaper, those curtains.

And now, today!

After many hours of what I like to call the easy part {removing wallpaper, patching walls, removing carpet, installing hardwood floors, priming, painting, removing old lights} the real work began – decorating! The word that strikes fear into many, causes stress and confusion, and might have something to do with jojo picking jordan {i don’t have stats on that so you’ll have to trust me here}. Don’t get me wrong, I love design and decorating and I could look through blogs, pinboards and catalogs all day. However, there were so many times when I’ve had something specific in mind but just couldn’t find it. Every now and then you need to turn to someone else for help. Unfortunately, I used up all of my free design input questions with Ken on ‘which shade of white paint do you like’ inquires. {And if it can help any other relationships – we chose this white paint.}

Those who know me know that I love to text {please don’t call me} and that is why Hamlet and I became fast friends. Who couldn’t use another friend whose opinion you already trust? Hamlet helped me find the chandelier of my dreams from the comfort of my iPhone, on a Saturday no less.

“Hey Hamlet, how are you? Looking good, have you lost weight? Oh me, nothing much just looking for a chandelier. Here are some things I like, here’s a picture of the room…oh wow, I really like that. how much? Oh wait, one more question – Ken wants to know how many light bulbs it has. Perfect, done deal. Ship it to my house. Okay, gotta run, ttyl.”

And that is the real life transcript {well almost} of me locating and purchasing this beautiful chandelier. It felt great having a new friend to point me in the right direction.

If you’re looking for design help, recommendations, or just someone to chat with text Hamlet at 646-586-2260.

sources:

chandelier: hamlet, dining table, chairs and bench: art van {similar here, and here}, rug: rugsusa, paint: benjamin moore gentelmans gray, bar cart: target, floors: build direct, floral arrangements: thistle and vine floral

shop the post: