Room of the Day: No Gloom in This Moody Dining Room
A creative family boosts the fun factor with DIY touches, a quirky pendant and a crafty table
You’re more likely to find crayons rolling around on this tabletop than a meatball. That’s because the Fain family revamped their dining room to reflect the life they live. The changes let them have a casual dinner, entertain during the holidays and, most important to them, express themselves creatively with crayons, glitter glue and Play-Doh.
DURING: Julia and Lee did all the work in the room themselves, including painting the walls. They decided to go with a dark, moody gray. “Our house is fairly open, and the room had a lot of light, so I figured a dark color would be fine,” Julia says. “I knew I would go lighter in the other rooms.”
The chair rails proved to be the trickiest part of the room to paint because of all the edges. She also didn’t want to spend time removing the chair rails and patching the wall, so paint she did.
Dark wall paint: Peppercorn, Sherwin-Williams
The chair rails proved to be the trickiest part of the room to paint because of all the edges. She also didn’t want to spend time removing the chair rails and patching the wall, so paint she did.
Dark wall paint: Peppercorn, Sherwin-Williams
DURING: The walls now had personality, but the existing gold pendant light did not say “Fain family” to them. It would need to be replaced.
AFTER: Bright sunshine floods into the dark-walled dining room. “I 100 percent love the color,” Julia says. “It’s moody but has a fun vibe to it. It also shifts and changes with the light.”
She softened the room by adding patterned curtains around the window and a plant in the corner.
If you are looking to use a dark paint, Julia recommends using it in a space with lots of natural light to offset the dark color. “In the end, do what you are going to enjoy,” she says. “You are the one who will be looking at it 95 percent of the time.”
Curtains: Blue Lagoon cotton canvas Mosaic Medallion, West Elm; Sputnik chrome pendant: Nuevo; chairs: Eames style, Overstock; table base: Ikea; white planter: HomeGoods
She softened the room by adding patterned curtains around the window and a plant in the corner.
If you are looking to use a dark paint, Julia recommends using it in a space with lots of natural light to offset the dark color. “In the end, do what you are going to enjoy,” she says. “You are the one who will be looking at it 95 percent of the time.”
Curtains: Blue Lagoon cotton canvas Mosaic Medallion, West Elm; Sputnik chrome pendant: Nuevo; chairs: Eames style, Overstock; table base: Ikea; white planter: HomeGoods
The family had already been using this table, which was also a DIY project. Lee created it using a sheet of plywood and an Ikea table base. On the underside of the table, he mounted a kraft paper roll holder.
“The kraft paper makes it easy to clean up the space,” Julia says. They just stretch it out across the table, and then when it’s covered in too many drawings or craft spills, they roll out a fresh sheet.
When they need to use the table for more formal occasions, they drape a tablecloth over the top.
“The kraft paper makes it easy to clean up the space,” Julia says. They just stretch it out across the table, and then when it’s covered in too many drawings or craft spills, they roll out a fresh sheet.
When they need to use the table for more formal occasions, they drape a tablecloth over the top.
This pendant light gave Julia pause at first. “It didn’t fit the neighborhood, but it fit us,” she says. “We went for it.”
Lee took on the task of replacing the light fixture. It took some patience, but it was worth it, Julia says. That sentiment is something the couple have learned during their 11 years of marriage. They started home improvement and DIY projects when they moved into their first house together. Since then, they have learned a lot of skills and have involved the kids in the remodeling and decorating process.
Lee took on the task of replacing the light fixture. It took some patience, but it was worth it, Julia says. That sentiment is something the couple have learned during their 11 years of marriage. They started home improvement and DIY projects when they moved into their first house together. Since then, they have learned a lot of skills and have involved the kids in the remodeling and decorating process.
The cabinet next to the table holds craft supplies and was its own DIY project.
Julia purchased the cabinet at a local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. While it is a solid piece of furniture, its laminate top needed an update. The couple looked into using a slab of real marble on the top, but it was too heavy. Instead, they covered the top with marble contact paper to mimic the look. “It was a really easy and cheap solution,” Julia says. “It also wipes down easily.”
The couple created step-by-step instructions to help others update their furniture with contact paper.
Wood cabinet: Habitat for Humanity ReStore
Julia purchased the cabinet at a local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. While it is a solid piece of furniture, its laminate top needed an update. The couple looked into using a slab of real marble on the top, but it was too heavy. Instead, they covered the top with marble contact paper to mimic the look. “It was a really easy and cheap solution,” Julia says. “It also wipes down easily.”
The couple created step-by-step instructions to help others update their furniture with contact paper.
Wood cabinet: Habitat for Humanity ReStore
Julia wanted a vintage map for the room, and ran across this Pottery Barn piece at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore.
A bar cart holds a few of Lee’s favorite beverages and Julia’s mother’s wedding china. The bar cart is a family heirloom.
The mirror above came from an estate sale. Julia revamped it by painting the frame the same color as the walls. She left the wear and tear on the mirror to give the piece more of a vintage feel.
Mirror: estate sale; bar cart: inherited
The mirror above came from an estate sale. Julia revamped it by painting the frame the same color as the walls. She left the wear and tear on the mirror to give the piece more of a vintage feel.
Mirror: estate sale; bar cart: inherited
Julia also created the papier-mâché animal head hanging on the wall. She found the head at Hobby Lobby and painted it with the wall color. Then she made a plaque for it with the marble contact paper also used on the cabinet. She finished it off by draping a string of pompom trim around its neck.
Here, Kinsey and Bryce are spending an afternoon coloring in the Fain’s multipurpose dining room. “It was important for us that it was not just a dining room,” Julia says. “It’s mostly used for kids’ crafts, and it gets messy. And that’s just fine.”
More
Better Ways to Use Your Dining Room
See more Rooms of the Day
More
Better Ways to Use Your Dining Room
See more Rooms of the Day
Dining Room at a Glance
Who lives here: Julia and Lee Fain and their kids, Bryce, 9, and Kinsey, 7
What happens here: Some dining, family gatherings, homework and lots of arts and crafts
Location: Huntersville, North Carolina
Size: 140 square feet (13 square meters)
Designers: Homeowners Julia Fain, designer and editor of Tag & Tibby, and Lee Fain
BEFORE: The family moved into their new home in North Carolina about three years ago. They loved the newness, Julia says, but the home lacked personality. “It just didn’t feel like us at all,” she says.