Please HELP to modernize 2000's dining room furniture!!
Tara Dee
3 years ago
HELP!!! Looking for some advice. We have this early 2000's solid wood dining room set (same as first pic below only table is more oval) that was a wedding gift from my inlaws (one of whom has since passed) so has some sentimental value. I don't love love it, but it's so functional and in beautiful shape, we do not want to refinish or replace it at this time. Instead, I'd love some advice re: area rug, decor, wall decor/artwork, table runner, etc. to make it work.
Other info: we are currently in the middle of a pretty major main floor reno.
- Our main floor is a very open concept with several levels (2-3 steps apart).... so lots of white railing.
- New kitchen cabinets will be warm white, counters white/grey granite, walls light grey/mushroom
- Flooring will be light wood tone (second pic below)
- I love indoor plants, so vibrant greenery seems to be my accent color of choice :)
- Adjoining living room (just a white railing away) has fireplace with chunky dark walnut mantle and slate grey tiles.
- Adjoining living room also has three antique side tables in very similar wood tone to the dining set (these could be refinished). Other furniture and area rug will be replaced with something new so possibility exists to coordinate there too.
Thanks so much for any assistance you can offer me! Really want to make things look right with our dining table and our gorgeous new kitchen. <3
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olychick
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoIt's too bad you won't consider refinishing or painting it. It's going
to be difficult to have it look more modern or any different than what it is now, regardless of accessories.
I know these are different styles, just showing some color options that might update it nicely. Sorry I'm not any help otherwise; maybe others will have suggestions for leaving it as it is.Tara Dee thanked olychickRelated Discussions
dining 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 MoreHelp Blending Antique and Modern Dining Room Furniture
Comments (34)I get where you are coming from, you want something that looks good right now! And don't want to spend a lot of money on something you don't love or won't want for long. Two ideas. #1. Clear off all the junk on top of your current buffet. Go to Michaels or Bed Bath and Beyond or some home goods store around you and get some low storage baskets, not too tall, like maybe 6". You can put some of the junk in there to hide it if you want, like board games, linens or desk items that you might use on the dining table some of the time. While you are there, get a light colored tablecloth that goes with your desired color scheme. I'm not sure why everyone avoids tablecloths, I can't live without them, and I can't think of an easier way to "lighten up" a dark brown wood table and lessen its dark presence in a room. Later on you can take it off. Also while you are there, get some fun blingy shades for your current chandelier in a light color you like. Maybe even some crystal bling to hang off of it or shades with crystal edging. And while you are at it, get some cheap square frames the size that would suit a calendar art page or old record sleeve. You can then make a quick and dirty inexpensive art montage to go atop your current black buffet. Pick something colorful and bold that you can see from up there. Done for now, and you can wait to find the perfect hutch. Idea #2. Go to IKEA and find a plain jane white hutch set. The one Nosoccermom posted would be perfect. Doll it up with some shelf paper on the back and a fancy set of knobs, or not. Done for now. Once you get your nice things in it, it will look great. That's what I did in my last house. I still have the IKEA stuff in a different iteration in my current home, as bookshelves in the library, so not money wasted. Now I have inherited "Big Bertha" my mom's Rococo revival china cabinet. Suggestion #2 will give you a chance to figure out if you want or need a hutch as opposed to a buffet and also give you time again to find the perfect antique or more expensive piece. Or not, you may find that IKEA is fine for your needs. Since I see you are in NJ, there may be some unpainted furniture stores around you. The one near me was just over the river in Allentown where I used to live. That would be another option, as I mentioned, if you don't want to try and refinish an already finished piece. Edited to add after I saw Beverly's mock up, that is another way to go. Looks perfectly fab that way to me. I'm no Photoshopper, but there are any number of ways to doll up what you currently have and make it work wonderfully....See MoreDining / Living Room Furniture layout help please!
Comments (3)Thanks for the suggestions, Nancy! Putting the dining table on the side like that helps with the "choke point" that we currently get between the table and wall in the centre of the room. Any suggestions for what you would do with the extra space towards the kitchen, since the dining table is no longer in that space? I agree about the bench: We were thinking about getting this table: https://ca.transformertable.com/pages/the-dining-set which has a matching extending bench to go along the window. I don't want any built in units on the ends because I want to be able to extend the table across the majority of the room when a lot of company is over....See MoreHelp with Furniture Layout - Open Concept (Kitchen/Dining/Living Room)
Comments (3)If you want a TV in that room the only place it can really go is to the right of the fireplace (maybe to the left if you find that works better for you). It is never recommended to put it over the fireplace unless there is nowhere else for it to go. You have more than enough space on the right for a nice console. Maybe in the future you can do something more dramatic with the fireplace as it looks small in that large wall (or maybe you are already and it's not finished yet). Put a tall piece of art over it (something that is less wide than the fireplace). Face your sofa toward the fireplace and TV. The dining table should have the long side parallel to the slider. I can't imagine it fitting the other direction. I don't think it's a bad thing to have your old furniture in there for a while. It will help you get an idea of the right size for new pieces. You may also get better advice if you post a graph paper drawing of the space so the commenters know exactly how much space you're working with. The perspective in pictures is sometimes misleading....See More
Arlene Warda
3 years ago
jck910
3 years ago
Jilly
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoI played around with some looks. Yellow and gray tones can work well together — it’ll mainly be a matter of having complimentary decor nearby. In other words, not just this oak set in a house sea of ultra mod grays and such, but incorporating cool and warm tones throughout.
PROCelery. Visualization, Rendering images
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoolychick
3 years agoTara Dee
3 years agoTara Dee
3 years agoolychick
3 years agoTara Dee
3 years agoTara Dee
3 years ago
kayozzy
3 years agoTara Dee
3 years agoTara Dee
3 years agoJilly
3 years agoyvonnecmartin
3 years agoTara Dee
3 years agoThoughts on adding a big wall clock similar to this to the room? Think it would help or hinder my goal?
SJ Allison
last yearTara Dee
last yearlast modified: last yearYes! Of all my photos, I think this one captures it's real tone the most accurately. I adore my floors, get a TON of compliments, and I'm seeing it surface in a lot of the home reno shows/decorators that I follow. To be clear, this is Natural Hickory - the Bone Hickory looks like this in photos but not in real life. So make sure you see samples first.
SJ Allison
last year
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