I’m so excited to be included in my tenth season of One Room Challenge! If you are new to ORC, this “competition” is merely against yourself to transform a room in your home at top speed. Everyone ends up a winner, and if you’re participating this season, I wish you the best of luck in working towards your reveal!
As a refresher, this season I’m designing our dining room for my ORC, you can catch up on all the reasons why in last week’s post. This week I’ll be sharing my inspiration for the space, and next week I’ll focus on how I’m “shopping” my house for pieces to bring the room to life.
These months of social distancing have me thinking about how easy it was to take friendships and togetherness for granted. And as we set our sights on a brighter future, what better way to reconnect than the Classic Dinner Party? By this I have in mind the sort of gatherings that are both relaxed and elegant; and where lingering, multiple conversations, and laughter are really the “main course.” To bring this about, every detail needs to be considered and layered; and it must all look effortless at the same time.
I want to romance our guests with lingering nights of food and friendship.
As it is now, our dining room is heavy and not well integrated into our open floor plan. It’s the sort of space where we tend to eat and move on to other areas like the kitchen and living room. But with motivation from ORC, inspiration from great designers like Eddie Ross, and my renewed appreciation for togetherness, I want to romance our guests with lingering nights of food and friendship.
Photography by Trevor Dixon
When “pinning” inspiration, it wasn’t lost on me that many of my favorite finds were of Eddie Ross’s design. His vast portfolio (and fabulous Instagram feed), are filled with magical dining rooms and decor. This garden room he designed for House Beautiful is exactly the vibe I’m hoping to capture, and his dreamy tablescapes have my wheels turning too.
So, in a nutshell, my goal is to create a design that includes nods to nature, romance, and light, neutral pieces to break-up the heavy wood dining set. An abundance of florals and fauna will instantly add warmth and energy to the room.
Sometimes the right pieces are already in your home.
When redecorating a room in my house, I typically start by “shopping” from my own house first. I find that pulling decor from other rooms in my house (or second home), is a great way to integrate the space in with the rest of the my home, while giving me a chance to enjoy some of my beloved pieces in a new light. That’s why I’m very excited to layer some pieces from old Brooklyn apartment into the space.
An Oversized Mirror
This room gets terrible light, so our oversized mirror (60” in diameter – it’s 1” shorter than me!) will replace the art where the buffet table was, and reflect the light from the windows beautifully.
A Mirrored Screen
Then, speaking of amping up the light, and romance, our stunning mirrored screen will sit in the darkest corner, and reflect the light of the oversized mirror.
A colorful print
One of the few pieces I’m keeping in the space is the Paule Marrot birds print. I recommend in splurging on art that you’ll enjoy forever, and the rich emerald and blush tones, and lush tropical branches, make it a perfect fit for an enchanting room.
Our Family China
I’ll also be using our Wedgewood Wild Strawberry china, a wedding gift passed down from my mom. I love how it will “talk” to the tropical artwork and greenery I layer into the room.
