apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I don't really see where the colour is here..it's so dark and dreary.

One look at the windows and I knew it was the city!

I like the paint color, but smoothsailing is right...it's a bit dark.

I don't understand the lamp on the dining table.

Maybe a chandelier or pendant instead?

I love the colors! Very sophisticated.

WOW!! It's stunning. I LOVE IT and am jealous....officially!

Sorry, colours might work ok together but the room divider cutting across the mirror distracts me from being able to appreciate the colour properly. Leaves it too dull.

To be honest in their shoes I might have shifted the drawers away and captured the mirror with the dining set. After all we're supposed to be looking at a specific aspect and the other irrelevant material crowds it. No thumbs up from me I'm afraid.

Very dark and gloomy, particularly with that heavy room divider. No wonder there's a lamp on the dining room table.

I love the colours in your dining room, very warm and dramatic, but I agree with Mel265 that you should have moved the nasty cheap drawers away before photographing the dining room as they just do not go and detract from the lovely unified feel of your dining room. Sorry.

We totally agree with the criticism about the darkness (sorry, no art photography when using a run-of-the-mill Canon). Our brownstone is cramped by many tall buildings, which most New Yorkers know allow for LITTLE light.

And those crappy drawers serve as a space divider for another room! Oy, we know. . . they've seen better days, and have traveled with us across country from our college days.

Basically, we worked with whatever we had on hand and found it really rewarding to "make the best" of what was available.

You can be SURE that we will have so much more light in our rooms when we score our first house! Until then, imagine us dining in that dreary room and have a good laugh.

If you have any advice on what to do on a dime that might help here, do share!! Thanks!

I do really like the colour you have chosen, so kudos on taking a risk with that.

I'm guessing that maybe you live in a bachelor apartment and that the screen is your bedroom "wall"? If so, I suggest you move the mirror to the dining room side of that wall (even if it's not centered). Actually, regardless of what is on the other side of that screen, it's really strange for the mirror to be disected by it.

Also, a dining room table is no place for a lamp. Move it out of the way... above the built in china storage perhaps? And get a larger vase or other centrepiece for the centre of the table. The yellow does look fab so maybe a big bowl filled with lemons. Also, get rid of the pillows on the chairs - pillows belong on a couch or on a bed.

One last thing... your little vases on the table and dressers look piddly sitting alone, if you grouped them together they would probably have a larger impact. And you can display them empty or with fresh flowers. I think the dried flowers may be making the space feel a bit sad.

And PS. I like how you've placed your dishes in the china cabinet!

I love it! It takes a lot of talent to take what you already have and put it together in a beautiful way. I love the screen!

Your colors and very unique and pretty and I love how the window grate actually adds architectural interest. Very nice separation of the dining area as well. Good luck!

I planned on painting my dining room a green-gray that is close to this color, also in a dark room of the house. First off, that pop of yellow in the lamp on the table is an excellent idea, but I would try a centerpiece of lemons. I also have a dark cherry colored dining table, but I paired it with white chairs to lighten up the space and break up the dark table from the dark walls/floors.

I know, and you know, it's a dark room (which is hard to pair with a subdued color like your walls!) but I would add as much light colors as possible to brighten it up. Try painting the background panel of your china cabinet, or even wallpapering it, a lighter color. Add more white accessories to the dark table, such as a white ceramic bowl to hold lemons. We use a cake stand! Also, add some light paintings or black and white photos on the walls, but make the photos much smaller than the matting around the photo. I use that trick all over the house to brighten up my mostly dark walls. As for paintings, buy a $3 canvas, a few $1 acrylic paints, a $2 paint brush, and paint a simple solid color shape on a solid background (flower? fruit? animal? something to symbolize your relationship?). Paintings don't have to be expensive!

You asked for some tricks on a dime, I can bet you can do all of that in under $50. Although mirrors are supposed to help lighten up and open a space, I think it's working against you here. I would do less mirror and more white on the walls. See how those baseboards just pop so perfectly against your walls? Keep it going! :)

I really love the elements you used for the room, it just needs a few white or bright accessories to take it from drab to fab :) And those fish in the bottom of your china cabinet are awesome! I so want some!

Most fantastic tips! We knew we could rely on the eyes of design mavens like you. Thanks for loving the color scheme, which is the main reason (along with tips) that we submitted our gem. We did take risks on the color palette and elements (like the carpet and a bit smallish-vases and dried flowers, that do look better in person).

On the other side, we've been swapping out the pillows, using a cakes stand for fruits (yeah, we have one thanks to our lovely wedding guests), using the white of the baseboards to put more punch in our pad.

Love to swap the mirror, but the landlord says its old (was her mother's) and that it weighs 50 plus lbs! If we move it, we risk a lot. Also, our walls are tiled (think it was once the kitchen), so no hammering of art work on that:-(

Wish to invite you all over for a cocktail party, so we can toast a reinvention of a NYC apartment. We have the original house parlor in the next room, which has a working fireplace flanked by Ionic columns! Could hang there and chat, only be advised that this room has a neutral color palette;-)

And, oh, those pitchers are called Gurgling Cods (they make a noise when you pour) and they are from Shreeve, Crump and Low:
http://www.shrevecrumpandlow.com/

Have fun with them!

Great color combo.
Michele

When we moved into our home, it had a mirror that had been hanging there since the house was built in 1951! I totally understand not moving that. The room it's in, we painted the walls a stone color that works with the silvery shade of the reflection so it looks more seamless, but the mirror relects the window across from it. So don't even worry about moving the mirror, just work around it ;)

Thank you for the link to those darling cods. It's going to be hard to keep myself from purchasing one right now! I have a major obsession with white ceramics. They just work with every single color, so it's hard not to decorate with them!

As a side note, I never use screws unless it's completely necessary, like with shelving or heavy items. For all my pictures, I use thumbtacks! They leave the tinyest, shallow hole, but they're so thick on the thumb part that they hold well. I'm not sure if you could find a way to beat that in there, but a drop of touch up paint will fill it up when you move back out!

This room is anything but "dark and dreary"!!! The wall color is serene and the bright color accents on the curtains and accessories bring a sense of cheeriness and playfulness to the space. Considering your space limitations, this was a great use of color and accessories to create your very chic dining area.

I think the 'lighten up' comments are right. This room feels heavy and cluttered. There are a lot of beautiful pieces in the room but not any of them are getting the space they deserve. Likewise, there are some beautiful accessories but they don't stand out because the darkness of the furniture. Maybe it's time for the Fall Cure? Good luck.