The Living Room + Dining Room | Moodboard + Project Breakdown
When we moved into our home (nearly) two years ago, we didn’t own enough furniture to fill all the new spaces. One room that was neglected and still sits nearly empty is our dining room, as we’ve never had an immediate need to use it. However, in thinking about our home project goals over the next couple of years, the time has finally come to give this space some life and some use. We currently have a long and narrow eat-in kitchen with very little counter and storage space. We would love to one day fully renovate and reconfigure it, but for the interim, I think we could get by with adding some additional storage cupboards and making some small updates. However, that means we would need the space that our eat-in table currently occupies, and so I’d love to get our dining room space set up so we can shift our family mealtimes there.
When I say dining room, I suppose I should paint the picture a little more. The dining space in our home is connected with our living room space, making a giant L shape in the main area of our home. The rooms are open and connected with each other, so when thinking about how to set it up, I need to focus on the living room and dining room space as a whole. I do want the spaces to feel distinct and their own, but it is really important that my design decisions in either space leave ample opportunity to establish flow and connection. As always, what better way to ensure every little choice feels intentional than with a visual moodboard.
I never know how to properly distinguish my design style, but my primary aims are always peace, intentionality, texture, and coziness. I like a collected (yet uncluttered) look. Neutral with pops of colour or dimension to create “a moment”. Bright, but always warm and inviting. And above all: practicality. I always hope our home makes anyone (ourselves included) feel welcome, safe, and secure, but it ultimately has to be practical for our life as a young family. We need closed storage, we need soft materials, and nothing can be so precious that we can’t get along actually living with and around it.
Building our built-in fireplace was a huge part of achieving some of these design aims in this space. It brings so much warmth and invitation to the living room area. When I finished it, I also gave all the walls, baseboards, trim, and crown moulding in the living room and dining room a fresh coat of paint in Falling Snow by Behr. This white is fresh and bright, but has some beautiful warm green undertones. With both of those big tasks done, I pretty well have all the projects wrapped up in the living room half of the space, other than slowly replacing or adding in some of the items on my moodboard over time, such as an updated rug, new accent chairs, and a dreamy coffee table.
I’m excited to shift my focus to the dining room side of the room and I already have some great projects lined up. Here’s what’s to come:
Built-In Seating
The biggest and most exciting project for this space is a cozy built-in bench I have planned along the back wall. This wall has a window and a strange bulk-head/column configuration surrounding it. It feels like a really obvious place to transform into more of a “moment” rather than desperately trying to hide it. Since I want to eventually make this dining space our primary dining space (there’s no such thing as formal dining rooms in our family), I want it to feel inviting and warm - a spot where good conversations can happen over melty candles or puzzles can be sprawled out on winter weekends.
My plan is to add some trim and beadboard to the back wall, build a beautiful bench with storage inside (for all those random kitchen appliances you use a few times a year or entertaining must-haves that don’t need to be regularly accessed), and then paint it all in Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore. We used this colour on the mantle of the fireplace unit, so I think bringing it in to this adjoining space will be a great way to build a visual connection between the spaces. And for even more texture, I would love to create a custom cushion and/or cover the bench with fluffy throw pillows. I’m honestly so excited for this project.
Refinished Dining Table
About a year ago, I purchased a beautiful oval-shaped wood dining table from our local Buy-and-Sell. It is currently finished in a glossy, mid-tone finish with yellow undertones. It isn’t the worst, but I have always wanted to try stripping a piece of furniture and refinishing it so the time has come. I already have all the supplies ready to go, but have been waiting for the warmer weather so I can work on it in our garage. In an ideal world, I plan to strip the current finish, refinish it in another mid-tone brown (with no yellow undertone), and seal it with either a matte or satin top coat. In the worst-case scenario, I paint it black. Once I have it finished, I would love to add four simple black chairs so that when combined with the built-in bench, we have lots of seating.
Inspiration from Shoppe Amber Interiors
Inspiration from McGee & Co.
DIY Glass Cabinet
Another furniture project. I have been scouring the Buy-and-Sell over the past six months for a china cabinet, hutch, or cupboard with glass doors. My thought was to use the top portion of a hutch and add legs so it could act as its own stand-alone display cabinet. Finally. Finally! I found one a couple of weeks ago and it is now living in my garage. I think this project will be fairly easy, but I’ll need to remove it from the bottom cabinet, add legs, paint it out (I’m leaning towards either a deep olive green or black), and update the hardware. I’d love to organize our bar and my collection of glassware in it so it can also live in this dining space.
New Flooring
This isn’t a planned project for right now, but one of our home project goals over the next couple of years is to replace the flooring on our main level. Currently, there are a lot of strange flooring configurations on the main level, combining hardwood, vinyl sheet, and carpet. Our overall goal is to replace the entryway (plus closet) and powder room flooring with a beautiful tile, and then to do the rest of the main floor (living room, dining room, kitchen, and bonus family space) in the same beautiful laminate flooring we used on the second floor. Although this is a future project, it’s worth mentioning because I did take the specific product we plan to use into consideration when putting this moodboard together and selecting colours and finishes for furniture and other decor elements (comparing choices to future plans is another huge benefit of compiling ideas in a moodboard).
With the completion of those main projects, the space will pretty well be ready. We will have to add in some additional decor elements, like purchasing an area rug, adding in the chairs, and replacing the light fixture in order to pull it all together. But we will likely work away at those over time. It’s always fun and useful to have a plan, but I know that ideas organically evolve as you actually dive in. I’m really excited about the potential of this space and can’t wait to see the final iteration it takes. The living and dining room truly is the heart of our home and I know that this will set us up to continue making many great memories here.
Note: I will link what I can from my moodboard up above. However, please know that I have not purchased all of these items and some are just inspiration that I am basing my choices off of. Therefore, please do not necessarily take these linked sources as a specific recommendation. I will link items that I actually use in future blog posts when I reveal the finished projects.
Living Room: Artwork // Accent Chairs // Rug // Coffee Table // Curtain Rod (I did purchase this and it’s great!) // Wall Sconces (also great!) // Fireplace inspiration image // Wall Colour // Accent Colour // Olive Chalk Paint // Flooring
Dining Room: Display Cabinet inspiration image // Light Fixture // Table inspiration image // Dining Table // Rug // Chairs
