They Color-Drenched a Narrow Dining Room in Deep Blue — Now It’s a Moody Vintage Lounge
For an interior designer, there’s nothing like having a blank slate to design and a client who puts their full faith in your process. Sandy Baisley and Natasia Smith, co-owners and principal designers of Re-Find, had found that exact dream scenario with Julie.
“Our client was moving into this home with no previous items for a fresh start,” Sandy shares. The space was perfect for Julie because of the layout and size — plus “the historic architectural features and the neighborhood really won her over,” she says.
She Wanted a Fresh Start, so the Designers Began with a Blank Canvas
Because Sandy and Natasia started with an empty house, they also began with the white, modern look the previous owners left behind. But for Julie, who loves texture, colors, and vintage details, that home style just wouldn’t work.
The Moody Blue Paint Took the Room from Cold to Cozy
The dining room was “cold and somewhat sterile” and had previously been decorated with a dining table set that was too large for the room’s proportions. One of the biggest challenges Sandy and Natasia faced was the narrow footprint and making the space feel cozy instead of constrained.
“Our goal was to create a dining space with moody warmth that would serve as a memorable transition from the front of the home to the more private living areas,” Sandy says. They created the “moody warmth” feeling by color-drenching the entire room (including the doors!) in Benjamin Moore’s “Van Courtland Blue.”
Sandy and Natasia had also designed the rest of Julie’s home with a vintage cottage feel, and they carried that same aesthetic into the dining room with vintage and secondhand furniture and decor. They found a tole fruit chandelier, a dining table, chairs (that matched the table perfectly), a bar cabinet, and various decor secondhand.
“We have great vintage vendors and love to hunt for unique pieces that we can breathe new life into,” Sandy shares. “Overall, the space was 75-80% re-use, which makes it that much more special.”
The One Must-Have Was to Fit 6 Guests at the Table
While Julie trusted Sandy and Natasia with the design, she had one must-have for the dining room — the ability to host up to six people. This meant Sandy and Natasia needed a drop-leaf dining table that could adapt when necessary and an extra pair of chairs by the bar cabinet for the extra guests.
However, Sandy and Natasia did opt for a few brand-new purchases, like the floral, light-filtering curtains, a green ceramic leaf table lamp, and a custom square rug. The design duo determined that instead of introducing another long rectangular shape to the room, a square rug “helped the space feel more balanced and intentional,” they note.
Adding artwork was the final touch to the dining room transformation — but it was also a difficult task because of the textured plaster walls. Sandy and Natasia had to be very intentional about where they hung the fish painting, previously owned by Julie, and the elevated vintage still lifes with new mats and frames to avoid crumbling the plaster.
Her Favorite Part Is the Mix of Textures and Patterns
Before, the dining room felt cold because of the stark white walls, but now it’s an intimate and moody room where Julie can host dinners or casual evenings.
“By rethinking the scale, layout, and layering of furnishings, lighting, and vintage pieces, we transformed the room into a space that feels both inviting and full of character,” Sandy explains.
But Julie’s favorite part is how Sandy and Natasia mixed patterns and textures to make the room’s vision come to life.
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