Q: Looking for ideas and inspiration! Our SF Victorian rental on Dolores St. is a great place, but after 2 years I still don't feel like we've made it our own. My first project: Paint the dining room...
Our formal dining room gets just a tiny bit of natural light (first-floor flat) and has no view. There is wainscotting all around the room and wood floors and it's a basic square shape with 2 closets. Would love to have tips on what colors would work. White walls and a color on the wainscotting? or the reverse?
Currently, walls are creamy, wainscotting is a blah beige. I veer b'n'forth between wanting a very simple Shaker style look (we have a great wood farm table and six of those bowback wood chairs) and an old hutch. Or I think about cheerful, cluttered country. We have a toddler, so I'm thinking simple might be best, since we have so much stuff in the house. Right now, this room is underused as a dining room and houses her toy kitchen, an art easel, her toys and bookcase.
Sorry for long email, but I have looked for ideas and feel stuck. Help me turn my dining room into a place I'd love to entertain (or even just have a family meal in!)
Sent by: Amy
Editor: Please share your ideas and inspiration with Amy in the comments below on which design direction you would go with a formal dining room for a family...thanks!
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Comments (7)
Simpler is better!
What I have seen work best with wainscotting is to paint the wainscotting white and then paint a color above that and keep the other trim white. Though you could always do the reverse if most of the wall space is wainscotting. If you don't get much natural light, and assuming the room isn't huge, I'd go with a light color. A soft, light yellow would be cheerful and give a warmer look. A light green would look nice and a bit more Shaker-ish. You don't have to have a lot of clutter to achieve a country look. Check out countryliving.com... they have lots of great images of country houses, and you'll see that they come in many different styles within that. You might find that all you need to acheive a subtly countrified look is a coat of a buttery yellow paint and a big bowl of fresh fruit on the table. That could strike a balance between the two looks you are going for. Also, what kind of lighting do you have in the room? Choosing a nice fixture - be it a chandelier or something more modern - can make a huge difference.
Since it gets little natural light, I'd paint the walls a sunshine yellow to bring in light and reflect warmth throughout the room. If I could afford it, I'd do a high gloss effect golden yellow color with matte trim/molding.
Then I'd hang art work from the molding---maybe take the best of my daughter's finger paint abstracts and blow them up by giclee printing stretched canvases to fill up the walls with more color and fun! Good luck.
Katy
http://fengshuibyfishgirl.com
'Tis a gift to be simple... Even a country look shouldn't be cluttered. If you want to display objects with character go for bigger/fewer items.
I'd love to see this space with soft white wainscoting and trim (SW Alabaster is gorgeous) and a barely blue shade (maybe SW Misty) above. Rustic wood stands out and looks great against that color scheme. Invest in good lighting—something that shines upward over the table, and maybe some small tracks that match the ceiling to softly illuminate the corners.
http://inspiredroomdesign.com
Simple shaker-inspired sounds like a great idea if you have a small child. Choose a color that makes you happy and hungry (unless of course, you are trying to loose weight). Red is classic, but if you are feeling the lack of natural light a sunny yellow might be a good choice. I think that a tonal color scheme often works well with wainscotting, paint the lower portion of the wall a darker color, and the upper portion a lighter tone of the same color. Then if you have a high ceiling, you might consider painting it a very pale tone of the same shade. You could add more color with a painted floorcloth (which would be especially helpful if your floor is dark). Also consider finding an old beveled mirror to hang on the wall opposite your window (maximize that light).
Good Luck!
Thanks for all the suggestions. These all sound good to me--maybe sunny yellow might be a good color to try. I'm curious as to what a painted floorcloth is. I'll have to look that up.
Thanks for your input, Thorndale. I have thought about just embracing the warm dark walls, too, and have done that in the past with other dark apartments. In my quest for the perfect color combo, I might end up trying that, too. But, our dining room isn't quite big enough to make into a living room, but i love the idea--also, we have a nice big formal living room in the front which gets much better light. Also, there is only one outlet in dining room and I'm at a loss as to how to improve the lighting. It's a very old place and the wiring isn't up to code. I asked a handyman if I could have some wall sconces hardwired, but he didn't seem to think it was an option. So, lighting is a problem. I am hoping to replace the awful old brass light fixture at least.