Very Pinteresting: Dining Rooms

Now that I'm updating my dining room, I've been searching for inspiration online. One of the easiest places to find ideas is Pinterest. If you haven't become a Pinterest junkie yet, watch out! It can be pretty addictive. Let me know if you need an invitation to join, and I'll send you one.


Below are some of my favorite dining spaces. I really must have the chandelier in this first room. I realize it's an Italian antique candle chandelier that was electrified and is most certainly out of my budget, but still...

Tracery Interiors

Come to think of it, I'll just take the entire room and be done with it. Or, how about these other yummy rooms...

Source: brookegiannetti.typepad.com 

Source: purestylehome.blogspot.com 

Source: gallery.apartmenttherapy.com 

Source: houseofturquoise.com 

Oh my word. I just realized that nearly every photo has white chairs. (Reality check: You have 4 little boys. You just got rid of white carpet. What are you thinking?) But, it's soooo crisp, clean and pretty!

I'll be back soon with "during" photos of our hardwood floor installation, and I have an incredible home to feature on the next "Friendly Places" that you will not want to miss!!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a fabulous day :)

More Room Makeovers

This is what my dining room looked like before we left for vacation.

And, this is what it looked like when we came home...

It looks like either the place was ransacked and the thief took off with only the wallcoverings and drapes, or I need some serious help editing a tablescape.

Fortunately, what you just witnessed is not a crime scene. I actually paid someone to do that. It would have been a crime for me to continue living with the toile. It was there when we bought the house 4 years ago, and it is not my style. But for some reason, I felt guilty about changing it. I knew the wallpaper and drapes were good quality and probably rather expensive. So I've been living with something I don't really care for, for all this time. Am I the only one who does that?? 


What might seem like a simple change is now snowballing into a larger project. You see, the dining room is open to the living room, which also sports its fair share of toile.

One of the things I really wanted to change about these two rooms was the white carpet. Have I mentioned that I have 4 boys and a dog? Yeah. So white carpet is not really working for us.


We decided to put in hardwood floors, and I've spent months trying to figure out what kind would work best. I could do an entire blog series on engineered vs. solid, light vs. dark, pre-finished vs. unfinished, handscraped vs. smooth, oak vs. teak vs. pine vs. walnut, etc. etc. etc. 


In the end, we opted for this...

It is a 5" plank, pre-finished solid oak. I like that it is somewhat distressed. I'm hoping any dings or scrapes we add to it will look like they belong there.

We chose to remove the existing hardwood floors in the foyer, so that we would have the same floors throughout. We are also removing the carpet from the front and back staircases, refinishing the treads, and continuing the hardwoods through the upstairs hall.

Oh I am so not sad to see that white carpet go. I'm really not sure one could accurately refer to it as white carpet any more!


The crew was here yesterday to remove the existing hardwoods and carpet. It's a serious mess right now, but I'm so excited for what's to come.


I've got lots of decisions to make about paint color and furniture placement, rugs and runners. I hope you'll come along on the design journey with me. I'd love to get your input!


Hope you're having a great weekend :)