Create an Inviting Dining Room: Mixing Vintage and New

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I’m so excited to finally be sharing the whole dining room with you! It’s officially the first room we’ve refinished and I couldn’t be happier about it. It’s one of my favorite rooms in our home. From a design perspective, it’s my favorite because of all the natural light from the windows and doors. From a mom’s perspective, it’s my favorite because we spend so much time sharing meals as a family, doing “homework”, painting, and so much more. Life happens in our dining room. I love that our dining room makeover turned this room into a functional and beautiful room for everyone to enjoy.

Dining Room Makeover Inspiration

Normally, when I’m looking for inspiration I jump on Pinterest. It’s full of all kinds of ideas. Our dining room makeover was no different. I’ve learned about 2 different ways to pin from Pinterest. One way to pin is to pin with a purpose. You are very specific about what you’re looking for and what you’re trying to accomplish. The other is to aimlessly pin (all within the general topic of the project your working on). Once you’ve pinned quite a few ideas stop and start analyzing the pins. Look for similarities and differences. By using Pinterest this way I’ve been able to better nail down what I do and do not like. It’s been eye-opening for me. Honestly, this is how I realized I wanted to paint the walls a nice warm/creamy white. Everything I pined had white walls!

The other thing I use for inspiration is what I already have. In this case, the item I already had was a pie safe. I worked with it over and over. I’d style it one way and then compare it to my Pinterest pins. It took a few times, but after sleeping on it a couple nights (and building a dutch-tulip tray) I finally had it looking the way I wanted. Remember my Vintage Desk Post?? I picked up this pie safe from the same place I got my vintage desk from. Woodgate Home Store!! Thanks again Vicki for ALWAYS having beautiful vintage finds!

Dining Room Walls and Trim

Wall Color – Swiss Coffee

After I knew what direction I wanted to go in this space, I painted the walls and trim. I had it narrowed down to 3 colors and then let my husband pick his favorite. The white we landed on was Swiss Coffee by Behr. It was the warmest white of the options I had picked. In the morning, with the sunrise shining on the walls, it almost appears to be glowing. (I call it dancing, but Justin reminds me “Walls can’t dance.” Oh my dear logical husband…haha!)

Trim Color – Cotton Knit

When we were selecting the trim color I thought we’d simply buy Swiss Coffee with a glossier finish. But after doing a little more research we decided to make the trim a different color. It’s technically still within the white family, but beside the wall, the trim is ever so slightly grey. It gives off that old world charm that I love so much from the European Farmhouse style. (I wrote a post about what I love about this specific style. If you’ve never heard of it, go check it out!

At first, I was afraid to do this. I wanted to do it, but I was nervous about the outcome. A lot of people do the same color with a glossier sheen. It’s definitely a safe design decision to do this. I wanted to stay safe and not take the risk. But my wonderful husband pushed me to choose what I wanted instead of worrying about what everyone else thought. Thank goodness for great husbands who push us beyond our limits! I couldn’t be happier with the way the walls and trim turned out.

Dining Room Storage

Wall Storage Rack

After the walls and trim were painted I started working on our wall racks. They are so simple and yet when we added our pots and pans the wall became the focal point of the entire space. It wasn’t intentional, but I love how beautiful it turned out. I learned a lot about decorating when I did this project. I learned that I personally love the simple decor touches. It doesn’t have to be this big extravagant piece to make a big extravagant statement. I also love the way it looks, having vintage hooks holding our new pots and pans. To me, there is simply something stunning about mixing old with new.

I’ve been asked if we are actually using our new copper pots and pans or if they are just decor. To answer that question, we absolutely cook with these pots and pans! I love them! If you’re looking for a new set I got these off Amazon and highly recommend them!

Pie Safe

Our pie safe is styled in a way I love. Like I mentioned, it took me a few tries to get to this, but I finally got it. Again, I’ve used vintage and new items to turn this pie safe styling into my favorite. That being said, the main thing I love about this styling is its function. Inside the baskets, I store items we use regularly.

One basket is where I store the girls’ “homework” papers and books. They know where these are and they can easily grab them. Very often the girls decide they want to do something from within this basket and I’m busy. But, because I put their basket low they can grab what they want and start working on it without waiting on me. By giving the girls a special basket for the dining room, I’ve silently told them this space is for them as much as it is for me. It’s been a discussion my husband and I have had on multiple occasions. I want to make sure that every common area invites the girls to stay, instead of encouraging them to go to a separate area, away from where life is happening.

The second basket holds all our paper and plastic ware. You’ve probably noticed, we love to have picnics outside. Some are more exciting and beautiful than others. But for those spur of the moment decisions to eat outside around the fire, I want to be able to grab what we need without running to the back storage room in the basement or reaching for a chair to get to the top of the pantry for these items. We simply use these items too often to put them in hard to reach places. Bonus – the girls can go grab these items and be little helpers because the basket is within their reach!

Herb/Flower Drying Rack

I’ve had this vintage pulley for a long time. I actually have two! But I’ve struggled with how I wanted to use it in the home. One day while I was scrolling aimlessly looking for inspiration, I stumbled upon someone using a pulley for a herb and flower drying rack. It felt like the perfect solution! I love all our herbs and flowers from the garden and I’ve been drying them in random locations. Now I have a specific place to do this!

I might make some more modifications to this cute little area. I’m thinking in terms of the way a pulley is actually used. If I find a vintage cleat sometime I’ll add it to this space. Hopefully, with flea markets opening back up I can find one soon!

Dining Room Lighting

The final step to transforming this space was the light fixture. I love chandeliers, and I love when they steal the show for a space. But in this instance, I really wanted to keep the wall racks as the main focal point and have the chandelier simply compliment them.

To do this, I decided to go with a chandelier that was simple. I avoided crystals and stark colors. This chandelier is subtle, yet it’s not overlooked. I think that’s what I like best about it. It’s not the first thing you see when you walk in the room, but once you notice it, you realize its beauty. As much as I love vintage, this chandelier is not vintage. It’s from Wayfair and is simply made to look old. A reproduction. But even so, I love this fixture.

Like I said before, the dining room has quickly become one of my favorite rooms in our home. I struggled with it for a long time. There were so many things about it that I just didn’t like. I didn’t feel drawn to this room. But now that I’ve taken the time to discover what I like and what draws me in, I’ve been able to create a space that I love. But, while all the decor is beautiful, my favorite part of this room is the people I share it with.

Don’t forget to Pin this for later!

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Open Your Doors,
Aliya