Help with small dining room decor/picture updates
Hello all,
I live in what I consider a ugly rental. It is a two bed one bath apartment built in the 70s. I like the area, but it’s so incredibly expensive that we can’t afford to buy a house there yet (no houses under a million). My partner insisted we live here as it is a really good neighbourhood with great schools (we are new parents), and he has great memories growing up here.
To get to my decor problems... I’ll tackle one room at a time. Right now we’ll focus on the dining room.
I have all the basic furniture (dining table, chairs, a little buffet that’s not shown in the picture), but it feels like the room is lacking.
I have bought an area rug which should be delivered this week, as I do not like the hardwood parquet flooring.
I also do not like the lighting, so might change that.
I was thinking of replacing the light brown leather chairs with something lighter in colour, possibly tufted.
Ideas anyone?
Comments (13)
Olychick
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoRelated Discussions
dining room updating/decorating help needed!
Comments (22)I love your dining room and your dining room set! I like having a place for the family to have a quiet dinner. I share your fondness for the blue and white look. I think with the soft blue above and the white below, you could go with a chair fabric in a navy range, maybe in a lattice. This is a fabric I chose recently, but our dining room is part of the kitchen and that door opens to the garage. The general colors are similar though: Think how different it would be if you choose a lattice pattern or a stripe than if you went with a floral/botanical in essentially the same color range. I hadn't intended that entry mat to be part of the color scheme in the photo, but now that I look at it, a dark rug under your table is a possibility. Not black, but dark, and probably not a solid - it would show every speck. I'm not getting how the drapes fit into the room. The green stripe just seems not to go at all, but it must (even if not perfect) or you wouldn't have gotten as far as trying it out. Could you post a picture that shows how the drape wall fits into the rest of the room?...See Moredining room furniture is IN, help decorate the room, please!
Comments (92)trish-I hope you see this, you posted almost a week ago, I have not been on these boards for a few days! Can you PLEASE take a picture of the furniture and post it? I am dying to see it in another setting. Do you think the DR set was in the house originally? What year was your house built? What color are the seats...and are they the same at your neighbor's house across the street? Where do you live? Ok, so my DH actually had possession of *HIS* dining room set, that was exactly like MINE...up until the mid nineties. His mom had saved it (parents are divorced). He tried to sell it at one point, and refinshed the top and spruced it up nicely. I think he was asking 1k for the whole set...hutch, table, chairs...and he had NO ONE buy it. They would come, look, offer him 200 bucks, he just couldn't (wouldn't, I suppose, LOL) sell it at that price. Then again, this was BEFORE the internet. He didn't reach too many potential buyers with his ad in the paper. I was kind of happy, cuz I said, "Good, let's keep it for the extra chairs and leaf and just store the rest of it!" His office has a warehouse/storage area, so that's why I considered it...I am not a believer in paying good money to store more "things." But since it is available, we do it sometimes. Well, at this time, his dad did not have a DR table so DH just put it there to keep it, and so his dad would have a table. A few months later, one of his sisters moved in, brought her own stuff...and GAVE AWAY the hutch and two end chairs...and PUT THE TABLE OUT BY THE CURB FOR BULK PICKUP! *fanning self* I was LIVID! I still talk about it to this day, but my DH keeps saying, "Let it go, honey!!" I think he is mad too, but also embarrassed. SO...remember...just a few years ago, I saw this table for sale on a grocery store bulletin board, and the whole set with hutch was in the $200 range...maybe $250? It really is heavy duty, solid wood. BUT...apparently very common and mass produced! I would just like to know a little more about it. I cannot find any name on it as to who made it, where it is from originally, etc. BTW...his sister moved out a few months later, and once again, DH''s dad was left with no table. *sigh*...See MoreUpdated: "Help me decorate my living room - Desperate help needed!"
Comments (1)I see a few things that aren’t horrible, by any means, but could be changed. Mirror and sideboard, for instance, as mirror is too large for the sideboard and it overwhelms the room, reflecting the t v. Try the art over the sideboard and add a floor lamp where the plant is, as it will do double duty for the sofa and the art. Have you ever thought about adding a floor to ceiling strip of trim to separate the dining area from the living area and painting that wall a color? Something like this with a couple of white shelves on that wall?...See MoreClueless in decorating small dining room
Comments (31)Yes two prints on each side. I think your current rug looks nice so keep it if you like it. Now I really think the curtains will make a huge difference. Make sure you’ve seen the comments on how high and wide they should hang and make sure they skim the floor...See More
nskhan1206
4 years agotatilove
4 years agotatilove
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agothis brown and yellow buffet fits in that corner perfectly.
The plant on it was bought for my baby when he was born. We leave it in the dining room to get some sunshine before moving it to his room.
I’m planning on adding in its place a silver tray with flowers
On those pictures, a larger portiom of the room is shown, including the floor and the pendant on the ceiling. Once uploaded, it only shows the centre of the pictures... I hope these will give you all an idea of what the room is like. If not I can take more pictures from even further away.
I would like to chance the pendant for something nicer. Was thinking glass bubble or sputnik style pendants.
What so you think I should add above the furniture on the corner? A solid mirror or artwork ?
Thank you all for your help!tatilove
4 years agotatilove
4 years agotatilove
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoThe new rug has been laid
Now let’s get decorating. I’m so excited to buy new stuff for this room.
Before placing the dining table ^
View with ceiling light to be replaced by pendant/chandelier^
Side view ^
Front view^Olychick
4 years agotatilove
4 years ago@nskhan1206 I love the idea of putting the mirror above the buffet, but the reason I had decided to put it on the longer wall in the first place was the give the illusion of space. The dining room is tiiiiiny. We’re looking at about 8x10 here. Seems like I have some thinking to do.
I don find drum pendants boring. My mom has a beautiful one that she bought, bur decided not to use. She offered it to me but I chose not to take it. Not because it was a drum shape, it was just too "glam" for me. It has crystal all over. Although it is done tastefully and isn’t tacky at all, I like simplicity in my decor. Some things can be visually interesting and somewhat simple like the bubble fixtures below:
Ok, the las two are a bit extravagant, but a little drama can be good ;ptatilove
4 years ago
nskhan1206