Need dining advice...and thanks, Ttodd!

13 years ago

I recently painted my dining room with SW Requisite Grey, and wanted to ask for some advice on the finishing touches. I also wanted to thank Tiffani for her pictures of Requisite Grey in her bedroom, which was THE reason I selected that color. Since we have natural woodwork, and most of the rooms I see here have painted, it's difficult to determine what looks good with mine. I wanted a grey but was reluctant because of the brown woodwork. Anyway, I love it!!

The help I need is for the rest of the room. The table and chairs and china cabinet (a family piece, not in pictures) stay. I can take out the silver chest and the buffet table if I need to, but I really need some kind of side table. I'm concerned because my taste runs pretty traditional, and with the somewhat contemporary rug, which direction do I go with lamps, and can I use the below mirror? I had the mirror previously on the opposite wall. Can I still use it as kind of art work, or am I better to ditch it? I also own two glass ball lamps with silver bases. Can I use these with the black chandelier and/or the gold mirror? Should I put shades on the chandelier instead of the glass globes. I own some beige shades with black eyelash trim. Too much? I also need help with artwork. I like the current calmness of the room so don't want anything too colorful. I previously had two black matted doillies from my grandmother. Not sure if I want them back in. I just need some more eyes to look at my dilemma. Thanks for any help you can provide.

Dee

Dining room:

Table wall:

Mirror:

Framed doillies:

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Comments (6)

forhgtv
13 years ago
First of all, I love your dining set and the spoked mirror, but I don't like them mixed with the console table. What does the china cabinet look like and where is it placed in the room? I agree with you that your chandelier would be more in keeping with your style if you used shades rather than glass chimneys.
graywings123
13 years ago
The various styles of furniture, lighting and accessories seem to be pulling the room in different directions. Photos can be deceiving, but the big "odd man out" looks to be the light color of the dining set. If you painted or stained the wood a darker color, it might help it blend in with the rest of the pieces.

I don't know what your budget and timing are for finishing this room, but maybe you should consider taking a step back and seeing what pieces can be changed out. It's one thing not to have a matchy-matchy suite of furniture, but the eclectic look usually needs some harmony to the pieces - whether it be in style, in color, in shape or something else, and I don't see that right now. My local craigslist regularly has dining room pieces for sale. If yours does too, maybe you could do some tradeouts.

You think that you have traditional tastes, but I'm sensing that your style tilts somewhat towards transitional, almost modern. I think your modern accent pieces - rug, table lamp and starburst mirror, could be a wonderful contrast with traditional furniture pieces. But to pull that off, the furniture pieces have to match or at least blend well together.
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homebodymom
13 years ago
The color looks wonderful, and you have some really interesting pieces. I love the chandy, the dining set and the rug. Can we see a pic of the china cabinet? I think plain shades for the chandelier would look nice, and I agree about the console just not working for me for some reason. The mirror and the lamps are great.I had the same thoughts as graywings about the chair and table color, although I love the set. I was thinking maybe painting, but I would try everything else first. I don't mind 1 piece in a room with a different wood tone. I would make all the other changes first though, because it really is a beautiful blonde set. How big are the framed doillies?
deeinohio
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks so much for the feedback. The dining table stays, and it's really not as light as it appears in the pictures; it's more a brown pecan color. We bought it years ago with the only money my DH's mother left us. And, I love it. The hutch also stays since she left that to us, and we have nowhere else for it. Also, it's fretwork mimics that of the chair backs. The other 2 pieces, the table and the silver chest can go, and I'm not crazy about them in there. They're leftovers from our previous home, where the table was used behind a sofa. Maybe I should just leave the dining table and hutch? But I really need some kind of side table.

Here's the other side:

Dee
graywings123
13 years ago
I agree that the sofa table, while functional, would be better elsewhere. It should be fairly easy to find a server that matches the hutch.
jerseygirl_1
13 years ago
Your room needs to be grounded. The rug is great and can work. Change the chandelier to the shades. I would like to see clean lines for the shades (no trim).

Love the mirror. I would place it above the table with the lamp. From the picture, it looks like the console table or buffet table has hardware. If it does, my suggestion would be to take the hardware off and paint it black. You can have a black table with a black lamp. For acessories for the buffet, I suggest looking for gold, silver, and that mixture of both you may sometimes come across to bring the differnt metals together.

Beautiful dining set and wall color. I don't like see using plain paint any where on your set. My suggestion would be to stain the table base with a very dark stain. The seat covers are plain. You can tie everthing in with new fabric. It's nice to see pattern under glass tables. Treat the rug as a neutral. That's what animal prints are, neutrals.

The doilies,other lamp, and the small chest don't work.
Drapes are too dark. Look for a color near the wall color. You really want the focal point to be your dining set not the dark drapes when you vew the room.

These are just suggestions since my eye leans more to transitional contmporary than traditional.