Summer Inspired Dining Room

I would be remiss if I didn’t start today’s post with a heavy heart. As a sixth generation Floridian, the horrific events that took place in Orlando over the weekend are completely incomprehensible.   While the face of this great state has changed drastically over the years hate, intolerance, senseless acts of violence and murder are always wrong. To my fellow Floridians, the hardworking law enforcement officers, first responders and medical staff working this crime, the friends and family of the many loved ones that were lost and wounded early Sunday morning, our hearts, thoughts and prayers are with you.

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A couple of weeks ago, my mom came over to help me refresh a few rooms around the house. So far, we’ve worked on one of the bedrooms, the entry and the dining room. There haven’t been any major changes rather budget friendly, decorative changes that make a big impact in each space.

This summer season, I wanted to highlight the simple sophistication of the magnolia tree and the sweet smelling flowers found on their flowing branches. Instead of setting the table, we decided to let the magnolias in this antique dough bowl steal the show.

I loved the layered look of ironstone and creamware on the shelves in my office so we decided to repeat the look in the dining room too. Adding the warm wood of the breadboard, the bits of tarnished silver and the bright green from the apples helped to break up all of the layers of white.

All of these pieces have been picked up at antique malls, estate sales, thrift stores and charity shops.

After several years of having black and white photographs flanking the china cabinet, we used command strips to hang these silver platters. They have several different sizes of command strips depending on the weight of your piece which really helped. These were pretty heavy so they required multiple strips.

I’m still on the hunt for the extra seating options for this space. We moved the bench normally used in the breakfast area into the dining room and I loved it so much I painted it thinking we’d be able to use the bench in the entry in the breakfast area. Here’s a peek at how the bench would have looked in the dining room…

Imagine my surprise when we snuggled the entry bench up to the breakfast table only to realize it was too tall and covered up much of the view. I spent the next day painting the bench white again trying to figure out what chairs I want for the dining room. What can I say, you gotta try…right?

For the past few years, I’ve been keeping all of the brown and white transferware in the display cabinet so I thought it would be a good change to bring it out to the buffet area. These boards were all part of the old fencing at my childhood home Loblolly Manor. You can find out how we created this buffet and industrial style shelving unit here. Putting collected items together en masse is a great way to make a big decorating impact.

The house is all open concept so as soon as you walk through the front door and entry area you can see the dining room.

Summer is a fun time to try the DIY projects you’ve been pinning, layer textures, patterns, rearrange furniture placement or add a new piece of painted furniture to the spaces in your home. Invite a trusted friend, family member or hire a decorator and spend the afternoon creating a look you love!

Many blessings,

CoCo