What's next?

What’s next?

This is the question hovering over our shoulders. The trees are bursting red and orange, we’ve had the most incredible fall weather I can remember, and the only productive thing we want to do is walk around the lake. Or snuggle on the couch and catch up on TV shows or books. It’s also a lot easier to do these things and avoid making a decision on what to do next, because almost every room is in need of our attention.

So, I'll put my thoughts in order room by room. Today ... the dining room. Remember how we inherited it?

Dining room during a walk thru

Aka our project space

This poor room is perpetually in flux. It’s been the random storage space of stuff, workspace for Mike building his first cabinet, a four-year-old’s personal theater, and a weekend bedroom for Petra, the big furry puppy. Two walls still need wallpaper adhesive removed and its in dire need of some paint. And, you know, furniture. Part of this limbo is due to its usefulness as a flex space and also the fact we’re not sure if we want to take the formal dining room route or turn it into a work area/dining room when necessary space.

The dining room as of this morning

I tried to look for inspiration on Pinterest, in regards to a flex dining/work concept. Usually what I found involved small apartments (think almost Ikea-like) or going truly office/studio and not at all dining. We don’t need another office space. But if we go with a more rustic dining table, I wonder if we could use it also as a work table. When it’s entertaining time, we have it centered, and with chairs around, and then we push it against a wall for “everyday” living. We can store stuff in the red cabinet and elsewhere, so I don’t think it’d be a big deal. This concept does make me wonder about bench or booth seating, but since it’s awkward to make people get up when you need to get in or out, I’m not sure how that’d work in a dining space.

But, minus the bookshelves and huge lights, maybe something with this vibe?

The Cottage Market

For decor, I’d love to add wainscoting to the chair rail, but this would likely require us to paint the trim, and we’re not sure if we want to do that on the main floor yet. So, then we have to consider our paint colors with the wood trim. We can always start out just painting a two-tone scheme, and then do the trim and wainscoting later, if we decide to suck it up and paint trim downstairs.

Inspiration

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/185632815866176127/

Two tone/blue-gray

Ignore the furnishings, they're not what we would put in the dining room, but I do like the casual feel to the room. But in looking at two-tone/chair rail rooms, it's clear pretty much everyone is using white trim.

The ones I've seen with stained trim are usually before shots and in a "dated" perspective. Or they're really glamorous, ornate dining rooms in huge houses (or true Victorians or colonials), and I'm not sure if we can pull it off (or want to pull it off).

The Ugly Duckling House

One of my favorite bloggers, The Ugly Duckling, recently redid her parents' dining room, and although the furniture isn't our style, I love what she did. The wainscotting and fresh gray/green color is both bright and cozy, and I love how well it works with the wood floor and traditional furniture. I think this tone would work fine with our wood trim and also fit with our update palette.

Houzz

I really dig this blue (and room) and the painted tray ceilings. It's like an updated version of the original blue in our dining room. It's formal but cozy, with just a bit of funky going on with the chairs and curtains. It's not too stiff or serious and I think it'll dress up and down for the occasion. Though going this dark probably isn't suitable for flex space, if that's the route we want to go.

Alas, I think Mike will veto blue for awhile. We'll see.

TrollTrollTrollD

How cool would something like this be for a dining/work table? I do envision something like a farmhouse table, but not too cottage.

Ana White

Not a fan of the legs, but the wood plank top is a win. And I dig the chevron rug, even if chevron has been played out. It keeps the table from being too country. There are a ton of examples of the stained top/white legs concept, so I'm sure many people will think it's overdone. But I dig it. And isn't that the point? Choose things for your home you'll enjoy, don't decorate to please other people.

Of course, if you love purple wallpaper sprinkled in gold ... you might want to take care of that before you go on the market. ;-)

Not So NewlyWeds McGees

So here's a before and after that seems fairly representative of our dining room and where it could go. They just had the chair rail and added raised wainscotting, which instantly classes up the room. Personally, I think more color is in order for us, but even going with this serene gray palette, our red cabinet will add some fun.

For flex space, something like this fold out console table from Joss&Main might be a good route to go, as long as height and widths work for our needs. I wonder if we could do a farmhouse table with folding leaves?

So, clearly, we're a bit all over the place but have a vague idea in our heads. I think for now, we'll focus on getting the last vestiges of wallpaper off and prime where needed. I think if we throw something on the walls, just to freshen the space, we'll get a better idea of where we want to go (and feel better about the current eye sore). Anyone got any ideas?