One of the best rooms in our new home is definitely the dining room. It’s huge and really in the center of the home. It’s not an open concept but has a large opening into the living room and has a sunroom off of it, so in many ways, it feels like the heart of the home. Choosing our dining decor has been a bit of a challenge because the room is so visible but it also gets lots of use, so I want it to be both well-appointed and kid-friendly. So I’ve been on the hunt for dining room inspiration recently.
As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t want any room or furniture item to be so precious that we don’t want our kids to touch it. I am already an anxious person, and my kids (and Dakota!) seem to gravitate toward anything they’re not supposed to touch. I don’t want to spend all our time at home worrying they’ll get the couch dirty or go in a room they’re not supposed to. I love interior design and beautiful spaces, but I don’t really want to live in a home where some rooms are just for show and not for living in. It’s just not the vibe I want at this point in my life, especially when my kids are little (and my husband isn’t fully house trained, joking but not). Plus, we don’t have the luxury of just using our dining room for special occasions. Our kitchen is on the smaller side and we don’t have a table in there, so our dining table is where we eat most of our meals, color, work, make crafts, and make lots of messes. But since it’s its own space and a really good size, I also want it to be a bit more formal than we’d probably go if we had a completely open floor plan. Bottom line: I want a dining room that is kid-friendly but that also looks really nice.
We already have a few pieces for it that have also influenced the decor. In fact, right now, it’s our most furnished room in the house. We found an amazing vintage dining table and a beautiful credenza at estate sales that have really set the tone for the room. If you’ve been following along, you know I really wanted a more traditional feel for our decor to match the bones of our home, and I fell for these antique pieces and forced my husband to figure out how we could get them here. They’re both super traditional and a bit more formal but I love them. The table actually came with four chairs, that I like but don’t really fit the table (they’re big with arms that don’t fit underneath) and they’re ivory, so not exactly kid-friendly. But we’re keeping two in the dining room to flank the credenza and use when we have lots of guests and extend the table. We also have a gold chandelier/light fixture that I chose awhile ago when the room was still under construction. The floors are dark wood, and we currently have the walls painted a really neutral hue, but I’m debating wallpaper or a darker paint. We still need curtains, a rug, a mirror and/or artwork, and potentially new chairs. We bought some, but honestly, I’m not in love (don’t tell Andrew, because he’s ready to kill me).
To help me narrow down our ideas and start getting this room pulled together, I pulled the dining room decor inspiration that I’m currently loving. Let me know what you think and any recommendations for dining decor. I’ll be sharing more progress and before/afters on my Instagram and soon on the blog too.
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