Artful TudorContemporary Dining Room, Minneapolis

Retro RugHere’s a test: If you feel bored by your dining room, or something seems a little too perfect and put-together, throw a flat-woven tie-dye rug in an eye-popping color under your table and see how you feel then. It’s an instant refresher.

26. Mix styles. Does your home look a bit blah? A simple way to inject it with drama and fresh appeal is to work contrasting design styles into your scheme. This eclectic dining area — which blends vintage, contemporary, traditional and bohemian design elements — shows how it’s done. (The blue-and-white tie-dyed rug is, undoubtedly, the hero of this head-turning space.)

1. Statement rug. Indigo tie-dye works like a graphic pattern on a large rug like the one shown here. Try one in the dining or living room to inject color and pattern into a neutral space.Rug: Aubry Angelo, Minneapolis

2. Minnesota MixDesigner: Andrew Flesher of Andrew Flesher InteriorsLocation: MinneapolisSize: 13 feet, 9 inches (4.2 meters) wide and 17 feet, 6 inches (30.7 meters) long to the bay windowHomeowners’ request: “The challenge with this particular space was that there were three arched openings into the room, and the room was not overly large. The client also enjoys entertaining, and wanted the ability to host large gatherings in the space. We decided to do an elliptical oval-shape dining table to allow for easier movement around the table, and also used armless chairs to seat as many people as possible. The tall cabinet, hidden out of site in the photo, was custom sized so as to be not too deep, and a bit shorter, so it stopped short of the curved cove at the ceiling.” Plan of attack: “The wall finish, which is a waxed Venetian plaster, was existing, as was the wood floor, so those surfaces became kind of a starting point in determining colors for this project and for this room specifically. Also, the chandelier was existing to the house, as were sconces in the living room and other light fixtures. The homeowner and I wanted to keep those, making them part of the design scheme. “We started by measuring the rooms so that we could do floor plans and furniture layouts, and photographing the interiors from every angle. From that point on, the design was developed to flow through the house with things like the draperies in the dining room matching the window treatments in the adjoining living room. All of the furniture, rugs and fabrics were selected as part of that vision for the house.” Why it works: “What was unique about this particular room was the rounded plaster cove that brings the ceiling down into the walls as one surface. Also unique were the decorative metal “gates” at the opening from the foyer into the room, and the beautiful vintage light fixture. Those items are so ornamental that they became like jewelry to the mix of contemporary with more traditional pieces. Our goal was to bring a more modern and even glamorous look to the interior of a very traditional Tudor-style house.”Who uses it: “This is a formal dining room, so on a daily basis it is enjoyed as a beautiful space. It is also the first room you see when you come in the front door. The homeowners are a professional couple in their 40s with two teenage sons. They love to travel, ski, collect art and entertain.”Designer secret: “I would say that choosing an elliptical shape for the tabletop was important for the size of the space and the use for larger groups. It makes a large table feel more intimate.”“Uh-oh” moment: “We realized towards the end of this phase of the project that the chandelier was not going to be exactly centered over the table. So we convinced the clients to move it slightly so it still appeared centered in the room and more centered on the table. This meant patching the ceiling and bringing the faux finisher back to blend in the Venetian plaster — you would never know it had been moved.”The nitty-gritty: Cipresso dining table with elliptical oval top: Michael Taylor Designs; vintage Kangaroo chairs, Historic Studio; vintage Milo Baughman credenza: 1stdibs; tie-dyed rug: Aubry Angelo; drapes: custom, Van Gilder Drapery; fabric: 174581 shantung Silhouette print in Smoke, Schumacher; chandelier, statue, pedestal: homeowner’sTeam involved: Painter and faux finisher: David St. Clair of St. Clair Designs; drapery workroom: Van Gilder Drapery