Decorating a room from top to bottom is a daunting task. Let alone, when you are trying to do it on the smell of an oily rag, so to speak. You really have to choose carefully. What will we splurge on, what will we save on and more importantly - what can we get for free? :)
This is the first room in the house to get a makeover, aside from the new bathroom (which i must remember to post before and after shots, once it's finished); so it's a little overwhelming.. and a lot of pressure!
Editing all the ideas in my head, distinguishing my wants from my needs and weeding out the items that would just be overkill in this room is also a mammoth task. For some reason I'm great at telling other people what works, but when it comes to my own house.. well.. that's another story. Perhaps it's a touch of performance anxiety?
First thing's first though. What is this room for?
It's not just a dining room, it's family room - a place to play, to chill out, to snuggle up in front of the fire, and to eat. It's connected to the kitchen, so a lot of my daughters time will be spent in there just hanging out and waiting for tea.
I'd like a couch in there or some comfy lounge chairs. You can see in the photos I posted, there's a sofa in there at the moment. I'd like that to stay, but it depends. Downsizing to a pair of chairs might be a better idea.
Walls:
I am in love with vibrant, unusual wallpaper designs! And there are some really interesting prints available now - though most of them are overseas. Luckily there are a couple of stores importing some of my favourites. Netti and Gee have a fabulous collection, as do PaperRoom, whom I've linked to before. I have a stack of sites in my favourites now - of course all the ones I like are the most expensive! But I can kind of get away with this, as the area I want to wallpaper is quite small. Just 2 walls - one with no window, and one with a huge window.
I know I would like a pattern to feature heavily, but not take over. And I love the idea of blues/aquas.
The darker greeny/blues would compliment my colour palette of warm browns (this will be achieved with furniture), greys, and greeny, mustardy yellows.
Ferm Living's collection of gorgeous wallpapers has me sold. I love this deep turquoise blue - it's so rich and warm, cosy and inviting. Quite the opposite feeling you normally associate with blue tones. I love the prints too. But is this tooooooo dark for my dining room?
Resene Optimist and Festival
Aqua (and duck-egg blue) is one of my favourite colours. In fact, one of my favourite colour combinations is this, teamed with a vibrant red and white.
Great for kids rooms. Actually I painted my daughters chest of drawers in this combo and it looks awesome :)
Resene Foam and Pursuit. I'm having a real problem deciding between this lighter blue and the darker shade. But I must say, at the moment, the Deer print is winning. It's bold, but at the same time it's shade subtle enough not to overpower a room either. My only reservation with a print like this, is will I still like it in 5 years time?
For longevity, perhaps the Ferm Living Ribbed (to the right) is the way to go?
WHAT DO YOU THINK??? I'd appreciate your opinions!!
Furniture:
I love 1950s Danish furniture - everything about it. Solid, well made, beautiful lines and lasting design. I fritter away hours online looking for a reasonably priced sideboard to call my own. Never happens, people are onto it. I need an old lady to start selling off all her unwanted 'old' furniture and for her not to know what she's sitting on..!
However, a sideboard is not needed for this room. But a great table and chairs are!!
via Makingitlovely.com
These Eames chairs are originals, but there are plenty of replicas available in the shops these days. They're still not cheap, but they aren't toooooo badly priced. There's a great store in Aussie who do fantastic replicas for a great price. Unfortunately, I don't think Matt Blatt ships here. Boo!!!
There is however, Homage in Newmarket who do a lot of the same pieces. Oh, and Republic Home also stock a chair very similar in design to these. I will be going a chair hunting very soon!!
This is the kind of table I would like. A danish one would be nice, but I think i'll save and splurge on the chairs instead. They're more statement pieces.
Lighting:
Left: via design*sponge; Right: Bubble Chandelier by Jeanpelle via Mochatini
via Diana Vinoly
It's not a huge room, so I don't need A LOT of lighting, but I'd like to make it a feature.
At the moment there's one lone halogen bulb that throws out next to no light, and to top it off it's a really harsh blue/white.. stark and horrid! I'd like some 'mood' lighting. And i'd like it to hang, please.
Don't you just love Jeanpelle's Bubble Chandelier? BUDGET TIP: You can create your own version with this tutorial via FemTalks blog.
Soooooo I hope I haven't bored you to sleep with this mega post! Until I get to grips with Photoshop though, I will have to keep painstakingly setting out my posts all higgilty-piggilty and drawn out like this.. methinks I better get onto learning, fast..!
Posts
