The Dining Room...

The dining room is quite a transformation. It is actually the last room in the house that we remodeled. It was painted a hunter green color and had floor length tapestry curtains. As you can see from the photos above, the color was not horrible, just outdated. And it clashed with the olive green shade of the kitchen. At first we were not sure what we were going to do with this room. We did not have a formal dining room at our other home so we did not have any furniture. We discussed purchasing a baby grand piano and making it a music room....although neither one of us play. I even went as far as looking at used pianos but when I discovered the cost of the instrument - even used pianos - I decided it was too much to spend on something that neither Jon nor I could use!

That's when my mother and father offered their dining room set to us. I just couldn't believe it because I can remember when they purchased it over 30 years ago in an old antique store on Two Notch Road. It was covered in dirt and grime and the story goes that my grandmother even told my mother there was no way she would bring that furniture in her home! It is actually quite the antique and is supposedly over 100 years old. The twisted legs on each piece are just lovely and the glass and mirrors are aged. It has alot of style.

I decided to paint the room a darker brown and trimmed the molding in bright white. Many months ago I found a hooked rug that has rust, reds, olive, and golds in it and chose to go with long, puddling silk curtains in gold. I recovered each chair in a striped silk and was pleasantly surprised to see that the original leather seat covers were still there....cracked and used but still in tact! The room is still a work in progress as I need to add some artwork to the walls and need to figure out what I plan to do for a center piece on the table. We also plan to change the light fixture out eventually. I will keep you posted on any updates. However, I do think its been a wonderful change. Its so wonderful to come through the front door and see such a formal and beautiful room........