Our new large dining room is completely boarded up and dark, so I don’t have a lot of photos of the actual space right now, but the insulation is scheduled to be sprayed this Friday, which means the electrical WILL be done by then. (I love a good hard deadline). The electrical has been turned off in the living room, music room, up the stairs, down the hall and in our bedroom for a little while so we are all very eager to have that done–you know how much emphasis I put on lighting.
(Photo from before the room was completely demo’d followed by an early rendering of the finished space)
In terms of natural light, we’re getting close to getting that back, too. The five doors in the dining room are all framed in and will be arriving next week (yes, our big arched window in the living room will be coming in at the same time! eeee!) so we are going to move to a hotel for 2 weeks starting next Monday so we can stay warm and out of the way a bit while the living room, breakfast nook, new dining room, our bedroom and closet all get new windows/doors. That’s going to change everything and we can’t believe the time is almost here to see that all in place.
The other reason we’ll be moving out for a couple weeks is we scheduled our floors to be replaced at the same time. With a lot of encouragement from pretty much everyone that there would be no easier time, we’re taking the plunge and while we’re out, we scheduled new carpet to be installed in the girls’ rooms and wood flooring in the rest of the house. I’ll share more about that in a future post, but back to the dining room! Because we made some big decisions this weekend!
The plan was always to have Chris build a big 22 person table for the dining room, but with that not happening until the spring at least, we started poking around to see if there were any other good options out there. We taped off a proportional table in the space and landed on 240 inches. That’s how long the table needed to be. Now–no one sells a 240 inch table (weird) but we were open to putting two together if they were the right one. We were looking for something at least 120 inches long. Even 120 inches was slim pickings, but all the best were from Restoration Hardware. They have all the most beautiful long tables that extend even on top of that length but they were always way out of our budget. But! They are were having a huge sale right now. And! Last year at this time, Chris had bought their $100/year membership when we were going to buy something for the cabin which grants you an additional 25% off, which suddenly put several dream tables in our price range. We ordered two 96″ tables (that extend up to 132″!!) ) for the price of one from Restoration Hardware this weekend.
Specifically their VINTAGE ITALIAN TANNERY OAK DINING TABLE. We really wanted something with a lot of warmth and character to offset the black and white tiled floors we’re laying (more on that in a minute) and fell in love with this one for all of its vintage, more rustic charm.
We calculated dimensions for hours trying to figure out which length would be best (since a few extended to at least 120″). We determined the 96″ would allow the chairs to be around 6″ apart with no weird spacing for the table legs or where the table comes together. Was it scary ordering a lot of money worth of table on the internet?! YES! Very scary. But we stayed in an Airbnb a couple months ago with a very similar Restoration Hardware table (although not the same one) and loved the character so our hopes are high! I think the worn, warm wood will bring so much to the space. (Update since it may not have been clear: There are no plans for Chris to build a table to replace these.)
Once we nailed down the table(s), we were ready to focus on chairs. This took DAYS and I wish I was exaggerating. We needed 20 chairs, gulp, and the dollar signs were already adding up in my head. We started with a list of what we wanted: Something under 20″ wide. Something with no arm rests so we could easily get in and out of them when we’re at full capacity in here. Something wipeable. We were open to leather or wood, but were leaning toward leather so that we wouldn’t have to worry about woods clashing with the table.
Finding a leather chair around the $200 mark that didn’t look bright orange was a task. But I’m really happy with the one that we landed on. It’s the Laredo Brown Leather Dining Chair from Crate & Barrel. I really LOVE that the color is more burgundy and the shape is simple. The reviews say the chair is VERY comfortable but Chris was still worried, although he loved the look (so we ordered them with the caveat that if they aren’t comfortable, they’ll get returned. Fingers crossed the reviews aren’t lying!)
They normally retail for $269 each, but Crate & Barrel is having a sale that you can save up to 20% off with code SAVEMORE, so we got an additional $1076 off, bringing each chair down to $215 before taxes and shipping (those are always a bear). We went for it!
We have two of these dining armchairs from World Market already that we’ll put on the ends of the table. They are marked down 40% off to $137 right now (!!!!) and they roll and are so comfortable! We love them!
With the chairs and table decided, we moved onto lighting and went in a direction we didn’t expect in the initial planning months ago but couldn’t be happier about now thanks to some inspiration. I thought I wanted some sort of round chandelier with glass globes hanging three across down the whole room. But, last month, we were down in Utah for Chris’s birthday and sitting at restaurant for dinner one night and we kept commenting on how it felt so cozy. We figured out the feeling was coming from these oversized linen shade pendants hanging over the tables. It added so much softness, both in texture and light, to the whole space. With so many hard edges and surfaces in the dining room, and no window coverings in the plans, since the room has only doors, we knew that some softness was exactly what we needed.
These Conical pendants from Rejuvenation come in a whopping 30″ diameter (as well as two smaller sizes) and after mocking them up to scale with the table and chairs, we knew that they were the ones! (this oversized drum pendant is a good option on a tighter budget) I think they are going to be such a key piece to making this large space feel more intimate and home-y.
There will be 3 pendants hanging over the entire table (the tables and pendant lights are to scale above) and 4 sconces on the wall, in between each door, and that we haven’t nailed down. We’re still asking ourselves is a shaded pendant with a shaded sconce too much? Do we go brass on the sconces? Nickel? Candle? From left to right, sources are 1, 2, 3, 4.
That’s the last big decision we have to make, until I try to figure out a buffet and lamps for the other side of the room, but I’ll probably wait until everything is in place to see what the space could use. You see the floors mocked up above. The tile arrived and the darker nero is STUNNING, but we accidentally received the wrong lighter tile. So they are sending a slightly darker, creamier Carrara Oro and I can barely wait. Sorry to keep you hanging, trust–we feel the same.
So now, without ever even seeing the dining room, you’re all caught up! Hopefully more actual photos in the near future!
Hey! Can you give us links to the floor tile? Deciding on Mudroom/Laundry Room tile now and I love what you’ve chosen. Please TY :)
I love, love, love the size of this table! As someone who also has a big family – this is perfect. Question: Are you having a buffet counter or place to put food in the dining room?
Yes! We’d love to put a buffet of sorts on the right wall but I’m not sure what that will look like just yet
Have you thought about a glass ‘internal window’ to match door, on other side of fireplace in dining room? This could have glass shelves and it would open the dining room up more to the kitchen/ living space.
Also for you bedroom have you considered a false wall 3 ft away from and parallel to bathroom wall so you can face your bed out to the windows and still get access to bathroom both sides of bed ?- doesn’t even need to be full height. Keep up your lovely work!
Can’t wait to see this all come together. Love the pieces you’ve chosen thus far and I think sconce choice 1 would be perfect! I’m sure they all would but I love the idea of the candle juxtaposed with the large textured hanging table lights. And you still have the buffet if you want to add in more shades. It’s all coming together :)
A large comfortable dining space is very important with a large family. I vote for sconces 1 or 2. I love your choices for this space. Good luck!!