Welcome to my dining room.
Last week I finally finished hand painting a sideboard for this room.
I needed a piece to store my overflow of table linens and seasonal tchotchkies.
This functional element does that job well,
while also adding a touch of whimsy to this overly formal room.
We live in an older home.
It was built in 1916
and has a rather interesting history
with stories to tell.
I have already written about our living room and sunroom.
So after completing this sideboard and posting my painting progress along the way,
it just made sense that this would be the next room I would feature in my Life In An Old House series.
If you came over for a visit today, this is what you would see.
The kitchen is just beyond that door you see over to the right with the WC on it.
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Funny thing is, this wasn't even the dining room until about five years ago.
The dining room was on the other side of the kitchen.
I was able to talk to the daughter of the builder and original owner of this house a few years ago.
She told me her parents were "quite the partiers". Back in the 1910's.
I like to think of all those flapper girls and men in linen suits.
She remembers them having a number of large social events in this space.
Once they had a party and had an entire roasted pig with the apple in its mouth in this room.
Another one of the previous owners told me that when the house was originally built this area was a porch.
Sometime during the early 1950's two more garage stalls were added.
A new sun porch was added above those garage stalls and behind this room.
This older porch was enclosed and used as a den.
When she lived here, during the 60's, this wall where the buffet is was a wall of windows.
They looked out onto the new screened in porch.
.
She told me that because the kitchen was small they ate some of their meals here on TV trays where they could still see into the back yard.
This is a horrible picture but you get the idea and you can still see the windows here.
Sometime during the late 60's the windows were removed.
Then they made the room REALLY pretty by adding dark wood paneling.
Design gone bad.
circa 1980.
'
As if that wasn't bad enough,
they did one wall in skinny white brick.
Design gone DOA.
I know. It was bad.
Apparently the next owner thought so too.
They went to work removing all of that paneling and brick.
I will be forever grateful that they tackled this mess so that we didn't have to.
When we bought the house almost seventeen years later
there was a billiards table right where the dining table is now.
This was the room that really didn't have a purpose.
When I interviewed previous owners some called this space the game room,
others referred to as the den or family room.
Nobody knew what to do with it.
When we moved in, we painted it red
and for lack of a better name we just called it the red room.
Wow. This is the equivalent of showing you pictures of me in my acid washed long denim skirt and work boots.
Fashion gone wrong and plaid overload.
It wasn't long before we lost the plaid furniture that was a nod to my country phase.
We quickly replaced it with leather pieces.
The problem was we had a living room,
a media room,
and what amounted to two family rooms.
This was redundant and a poor use of space.
So when we finally remodeled the kitchen five years ago
we decided to enlarge the kitchen footprint into the old dining room.
Then we recreated this space.
It was reborn as a dining room.
It was easy really.
Because this area is just steps away from the kitchen
it made perfect sense.
Having it so close to the family room makes it flow better when we are entertaining.
Really all we had to do was move in the furniture and the chandelier.
Voila! We had a new dining room.
Looking forward I still like the red
but I'm beginning to visualize something new.
I know neutrals are all the rage but I like a dining room with drama.
I always consider what it will look like over the holidays since that is when we use this room the most.
I've thought of gold or maybe a lighter brighter version of red.
Perhaps something in a coral or copper family.
( I saved this image a while back and now can't figure out where I found it... sorry)
or maybe a raspberry like this from Savvy Southern Style.
I wish I had seen this when we were picking out lighting. I love the double chandeliers.
( again, I can't remember where I first saw this... note to self, document images for future reference) It wasn't that long ago that I found this. Does anyone recognize it? Please let me know if it is yours.
I am really thinking I would like to see a leopard print rug in this room.
I'm just ready for some excitement here.
Nothing terribly drastic.
Still,
I think an animal print element like that would give this room that added dash of moxie.
To my mind a home is never "finished"
it is always evolving.
This room will be no exception.
Change can be good.
If not for change this room might still be covered in dark wood and faux brick.
hugs,
P
LInking this post up with Blue Cricket Designs
The Power of Paint @ Domestically Speaking
Transformation Thursdays @ Shabby Chic Cottage
Remodelaholic
Metamorphosis Mondays @ Between Naps on the Front Porch
