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Get the Look: The Elegant and Rustic Dining Rooms of Phantom Thread

updated May 3, 2019
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(Image credit: Focus Features)

We’ve all been in a relationship where our muse turns around and stabs us in the back, right? No? Me neither. What I actually relate to in Phantom Thread is the gorgeous interiors. Yes it’s a film about fashion, but the production design is no slouch either.

(Image credit: Focus Features)

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One minute we’re in a chic London townhouse with high ceilings, gold chandeliers, and sofas with fringe, then we’re whisked off to the country for simple, rustic decor against delicate floral wallpaper. The juxtaposition between the public spaces with luxurious furnishings and the private spaces with chic, utilitarian workhorse pieces leaves me breathless. You get the best of both worlds!

Because so much of the bond Reynolds and Alma share is based around food, I want to focus on dining areas. For your table choose a rectangle with rounded corners or an oval. You want long, curved lines throughout the space. Chippendale chairs pair perfectly here. Both should be dark stained woods. Now I have never owned a china cabinet, but this look is where I’d want to use it. You can display your mother’s crystal goblets and your family’s plates engraved with your crest (as you do). Finish it off with a big traditional crystal chandelier. If you have an opportunity for sconces, continue with the arched silhouette from the chandelier. If you have room for multi-armed sconces, add them!

(Image credit: Focus Features)

Moving on to the kitchen, don’t think that because this is a prep space it deserves less beautiful fixtures. Everyone ends up in the kitchen anyway, so they might as well have beautiful things to look at. Keep the seating simple — wooden stools work perfectly around an unfussy similarly toned, farmhouse-style table. Add color in the lighting – a crisp metal cone shade pendant will add a pop without being ostentatious. A hook rack could be used for either hanging coats and umbrellas as you enter, or pots and pans that need drying. Keep the hooks in the darker metal family and the shape classic, again keeping an eye out for clean, elegant curves.

What connects these two spaces is the wallpaper. Floral wallpaper fits in both places. In the formal dining room, it reads as a mural. In the kitchen, as a delicate accent above wainscoting. Try it in similar color ways – light blue in the kitchen and a royal or navy blue in the dining area. Or a larger scale in the dining room versus a smaller print in the kitchen.

Embrace the British sensibilities and glamour, because who knows when your lover is going to try and kill you?

Get the look

(Image credit: Anita Shriver)