One of my favorite spaces to style is a dining room that needs a little love. It's not terrible, it's just lost its luster. The dining room is an important place in the home. Gone are the days where dining rooms were a place you visited only on special holidays. Families are using them daily for meals and homework, and game night on the weekends.
I'm going to show you three of my favorite dining room space makeovers.

1. Beth
Beth's dining room looked like this the first day I visited.

The table was beautiful and staying. The chairs were in good shape, so I suggested we reupholster the captain's chairs and paint the side chairs. The plan became...
1. Paint the walls and trim
2. Replace the ceiling fan with a light fixture.
3. New rug
4. Paint the existing side board.
5. New lamps
6. Turn the table the other way to open up the space between the living and dining areas. (Note: in the above photo we turned the table around so I could show her what it would look like)
7. Add drapes
8. Use textiles she already owned (like the suzani) and make them into art. 
Here is how the room transformed.

2. Sheri
Here is what the dining area looked like before...
(Note: it was housecleaning day so that's why the chairs and curtains are out of place)

The design plan
1. New table and chairs
2. New light
3. Add a rug
4. New drapes
5. Add plantation shutters
Basically this makeover was all cosmetic. Sheri and her husband have two young kids and they use this space all the time, so it had to be functional and durable. 
Here's how it turned out.

3. Valerie
When I visited her house for the first time, she told me two things had to stay in the room--the art and the chandelier. So I designed the space around them. Here is what the room looked like before.

The design plan was this...
1. New colorful rug
2. New table
3. New chairs
4. Add accessories
​5. Add drapes and art

Product links below:
1. Beth's house
Rug
​Chandelier
​Otomi fabric on end chairs

2. Sheri's house
Chandelier
Dining table
End chairs
Side chairs

3. Valerie's house
Dining table
Rug
​End chairs
Side chairs

Have a room ready for a makeover? Contact us for rates and appointments. We also do E-design! 

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links
​If you've yet to venture to turn the page on the calendar, let me be the first to tell you that Thanksgiving is less than 6 weeks away. And if you are the lucky one who has "volunteered" to host the big dinner this year, congratulations! Maybe the bonus part of that position is that you can justify a new dining table that can accommodate the growing fam. We are big fans of the contemporary style of Arhaus; modern but classic enough that your dining room won't look dated in 10 years. Right now during their Dining Event, you can get up to 50% off of dining chairs with the purchase of a dining table. We are especially in love with the Recycled Metal Table with Lyon Base. I mean, this copper table top is AH-MAZE-ING! The recycled copper top that is hand hammered over 3500 times and held over an open flame to get just the right texture and patina. So good! Add the classic Gage Dining Chair or Jagger Dining Arm Chair (or both! We love to mix and match!) and your dining room just got legit.

Need a swanky bar cabinet to complete the look? Go with the Raja with its fish scale bone inlay and storage for 10 wine bottles and 12 glasses.

They have some great tabletop collections too in case your dinnerware, glasses, flatware, etc needs some sprucing up, and it’s all 20% off. Check out our favorites below, and don’t forget candleholders, vases, greenery and the like to make your Thanksgiving table complete. Sale ends on 10/31. ​

 I was compensated for this post and this post contains affiliate links. I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

We've been setting a LOT of fall tables lately and thought we should share with you some of the details on where you can find some of these great pieces. We love to layer in festive pieces with china, stemware or other pieces our clients already own. Just add a fun new salad plate or colorful table runner and some accessories and you have a brand new look! 
This first table is more on the traditional side and all came from Pottery Barn.

Resources: All from Pottery Barn
Charlotte Dinner Plate
Watercolor Leaves Salad Plate
Monique Lhuillier Glass Charger
Bamboo Flatware
Kenaf Table Runner
Anton Paisley Table Runner
Schott Zweisel Taste Wine Glass
​Monique Lhuillier Avril Coupe Glass
​Chester Brushed Candleholders
​Turkey Place Card Holders
​
This client has an amazing Mackenzie-Childs collection that she wanted to incorporate so we found the perfect napkin and other pieces to coordinate. So cute! 

Resources:
Hammered Copper Charger--Pottery Barn
Waterbury Leaves Dinner Plate--Pier 1
Pumpkin Bowl--Pottery Barn
Teal Velvet Placemat--Pier 1
Buffalo Check Napkin--Pier 1
​Gold Rimmed Wine Glasses--similar here
Checkerboard Pumpkins--Mackenzie-Childs


Our last table is more on the eclectic side, after all, that is what we do best! Don't you just love that pop of teal?! Oh and those amethyst glasses. So in love with this table. 

Resources:
​Rustic Fatima Dinner Plates--World Market
Pumpkin Bowls--World Market
Jute Table Runner--World Market
Ikat Table Runner--similar here
Hurricanes--similar here
Amethyst Glasses--similar here
Glazed Salad Plates--similar here
Velvet Pumpkins--similar here

Want more tips and tricks on creating these amazing tables? Join us at our next event at West Elm Fort Worth for a Table Setting Demo, sips and snacks. More info and RSVP here! 

We were shopping for counter stools for a couple clients last week and well, Shauna hit the mother load. In many cases, we keep files of our favorite pieces and they hang out in the folder waiting for the perfect project. But since there were multiple clients we were looking for, she started the shopping from scratch. And well, after an hour or so she had found so many great bar and counter stool options we just had to share them with you. Most of these are available in both bar and counter height so can work in any kitchen, and a few of them are a super deal in a set of 2. Happy shopping!

Our latest big project has been a lakehouse out in Athens, TX. While it's not 100% complete yet, we are so excited with how it turned out, we had to share. The homeowners gave us free reign to unleash our creativity and style, which of course makes us happier than a pig in mud. The original storyboard for the dining room had only a minor change when we found the amazing zebra artwork. Considering the location of the property has for real ZEBRAS roaming around, it just seemed appropriate. Then we happened upon these adorable zebra plates and well, that sealed the deal. 

Since it is a vacation home, we didn't really need to have a ton of kitchen storage, so we chose to install the floating shelves on the long wall. The rustic wood shelves give a nice contrast to the concrete tile backsplash and sleek quartz counter tops. Kitchen cabinets are painted Bunglehouse Blue from Sherwin Williams, which when you look at the color online proves once again that you can't judge a color on the screen. We echoed the color in the rug under the dining room table to provide a bit of continuity.

The homeowner had two embroidered placemats that she bought on a recent vacation to Mexico and we framed those to go over the sink and on the floating shelves. It's such a fun, cheerful room. How can you not be happy here?

Resources: 
Dining room table: Joss & Main
Dining bench: Wisteria
End chairs: Serena & Lily
Side chairs: Wayfair
Rug: Rugs USA

As you by now surely now, we are a huge fan of color. Lots of color, mix and match color. Textured color. Unexpected color. One of the reasons for that is the energy that color conveys. While we appreciate calm and serene neutrals, there is just something about the vibrancy and "happy pops" that a colorful room conveys. In the latest issue of 817 Home Magazine, Shauna talks about her design influences and how color plays such a huge part of her aesthetic. Shauna also believes that your house should be a reflection of your life, so she encourages clients to bring out treasures they have acquired from family or travel and incorporate them in to the decor of a room. When you surround yourself with favorite pieces, it just brings even more joy to a space. "I think everyone needs color. There's just something about a neutral backdrop and happy pops, especially if it's carried throughout a room." Read more here.