Dining Room design

One of my must haves when we were house hunting was a formal dining room. I knew we'd only use it a few times a year, but I love the idea of hosting dinners and holidays. After the nursery, the dining room was the first project we tackled...and it's taken 10 months to complete, mostly because were looking for a buffet and a mirror.

This is what it looked like before. The house was new construction, so it's not like we had to remodel. We just started with a clean slate.

This was the inspiration (from Pinterest). I immediately LOVED the dark blue walls and was lucky that the pin had the exact color. I also liked the dark furniture and white accents, but knew I wanted a little more color. 

A few pictures from along the way...

I have to say a huge huge huge thank you to Darrell and my friend Jamee. They painted the dining room one Saturday while I was working. It really was for the best that I was out of the house. Not only was I about five months pregnant, I totally freaked when they started. I was so scared that the color would be way too dark. Both of them rushed me out of the house and updated me throughout the day about how great it was turning out. I let out such a huge sigh of relief when I got home.

Darrell and his dad hung the moulding. I'm so thankful they were willing to take on the project, because neither of them had done it before. I'm also thankful they made it through without killing each other :)

 

This was the dining room table decor in spring, before we had all of the chairs.

 

And here is the (almost) finished project! I'm still on the hunt for the perfect mirror for above the buffet. It needs to be big and round. I have exactly what I want in my head, I just can't seem to find it. We bought one that was close but ended up returning it because it just wasn't the right one.

view from the foyer.

  

 view from the kitchen.

  

view from above?/standing on a chair.

  

the buffet!!! We searched for this beauty for.ev.eerrrr.

 

this is the wall that needs the mirror. The wall is just so huge and dark, it's got to have something. {{I also just realized I need a much bigger center piece on that buffet..eek}}

Bar globe. Darrell and I found this at an estate sale a few years ago when we were living in Fayetteville  

 

This hutch is also an estate sale find from Fayetteville. I love it so much but I'm not 100% sure that it really belongs in this room. There's not really anywhere else in the house I want to put it so here it stays. I'm not ready to part with it.

 

close up view of the crown moulding.

  the chandelier and medalion!! 

Paint: Benjamin Moore Champion Cobalt

Table: World Market Arcadia Table

Chairs: Pier One Mason Chair, Ivory

Rug: usarugs.com

Buffet: Mango Furniture

China cabinet: estate sale find

Chandelier: AF Lighting, Naples Chandelier- clear
Medallion: Home Depot

Moulding: Lowes, painted by Darrell & yours truly

I'm slowly working on the guest room as I find things I like. We're tackling the yard piece by piece but aren't doing too much until the fence is put in.  The next big project will be the master bedroom. The foyer and downstairs bathroom are also on the list for a makeover!