My Neutral Transitional Dining Room

Hi friends!  I hope your week is off to a great start!  I spent the morning putting the finishing touches on the succulent DIY project for my dining room and making a grocery store flower arrangement so that the dining room would be ready for her close up!

I’m so excited to share the final result, it’s so light and bright and airy and I’m thrilled with how it turned out!

Major thanks to my talented friend and designer, Aryn at Oyster Creek Design Studios.  She was the one who put the design board together for me, when I could not get it together myself.

Maybe it was looking at a half-finished space for too long, but sometimes you just need an expert and fresh set of eyes!  Aryn has amazing style and she understood right away what I was going for, but unable to do myself!

She said the look is called “neutral transitional” which is traditional with a modern touch.  I never would have guessed that!

If you’re curious what the room looked like before, go here to see the before and the initial design plans.

Chandelier • Dining Table • Similar Dining Chairs • Rug • Cabinet • Similar Mirror • Lamps • Fig Tree • Basket

Since the dining room is the first room you see upon entering our home, I wanted it to set the tone for the rest of the house.  Truthfully, we don’t eat in here very often, but the view is visible from nearly every other room, so it’s lovely to look at now.

Top • Jeans ($39) • Heels

One of the first things we did was add this gorgeous chandelier and it immediately changed the entire look of the room.  At 49″ x 18″, it’s a big daddy, but the structured frame is wide open, allowing for an unobstructed view.

I’m crazy for the antiqued gold finish and the 6-lights that add such a pretty glow to the room.  Jordan is always saying, “Mommy, turn on the candles!”

The chair you see in the corner I’ve had forever, as well as the leopard pillows. Those pillows literally make every room look a little more luxe!

Leopard Pillow (Similar on Amazon) • Similar Armchair

TABLESCAPE

We recently hosted my mom’s birthday dinner here and it was great to have everyone sit at the table and linger. The room gets a lot of bright natural light during the day, so it’s easy to have breakfast, lunch or dinner here.

The dining table is from Restoration Hardware, and looked more ‘greige’ in the online photos, but in person is definitely more grey.  I do like the grey, but it wasn’t what I was expecting.  I ordered the table during Covid, so I didn’t see it before purchasing.

That having been said, the table is exactly the type of shape and style I was looking for.  It’s sleek and modern, without any embellishment or wide legs to bump legs against.

It also has a removeable leaf so it extends to fit more people.   I’m happy we were able to keep my existing dining room chairs.  I’ve had those for over 11 years!  I use this stuff to get out stains and it’s literally a miracle worker!

I ordered nearly all of the tablescape pieces from Amazon and I couldn’t be happier with the look and quality! The white plates are just what I was looking for- something classic, but sturdy and that will go with every kind of decor throughout the seasons.  I’m already looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas!

It will be wonderful to have friends and family gathered here again!

The other awesome thing about the white plates is that they’re only $20 for a set of 6!  You can’t beat that!

Placemat • Chargers • Dinner Plates • Napkin Rings • Napkins • Gold Flatware

I saw these woodgrain chargers at Sur La Tab, but they were pretty pricey, so I thought, “hmm, I wonder if I could find them on Amazon?” and sure enough, there they were!!  I love how well they coordinate with the table.

Then, I wanted to bring in some texture, so I added woven placemats in a pretty bleached jute color and the cloth napkins with lace trim.  I love the contrast they bring to the table.

And of course I had to add a little glam with the gold flatware and gold napkin rings.

Can you believe the flower arrangement is just an assortment of grocery store flowers?!  I’m no florist, but I think it came out so pretty!  Real flowers always bring a table to life!

The vase was found at Anthropologie years ago.

Let’s move onto the buffet cabinet that took two tries to get right.

Oh man is she pretty and the acrylic pulls go so well with the acrylic drapery rods.

Unfortunately, the first buffet arrived damaged and had to be returned.  Long story short, the company told me to just keep it, so I just moved it into Jordan’s playroom and it works just fine as a large toy storage.

Then, they sent a second one and that one was worth waiting for!  It’s huge, perfect for the large space at 80 inches long, 35 inches wide and 20 inches deep!  I don’t have anything in there now, but I could move all my china and place settings into there with room to spare.

Plus, the large surface makes a great serving area!

Buffet Cabinet • Similar Gold Mirror • Similar Large Round Vase • Faux Succulents • Floral Foam • Spanish Moss

I had fun putting together the faux succulent arrangement – it literally took just a few minutes with only a few items! You’d think I could keep real succulents alive since they require so little maintenance, but apparently not.  The large bowl was originally a gift with the most gorgeous succulents, but I managed to kill them. 🙁

Similar Gold Mirror • Similar Large Round Vase • Faux Succulents • Floral Foam • Spanish Moss

I was originally going to order white lamps for this room, but my original order got cancelled. Then, I went down the Amazon rabbit trail and ordered about 6 lamps that all went back.  And let’s just say, repackaging a lamp isn’t easy!

But, during the process, I found these snakeskin lamps that I originally ordered in cream (but they looked like they had a green tint on them in person).  I loved the style and the texture and they were the perfect height, so I went hunting and finally found this grey pair with a gold base. #jackpot!

I’m also crazy for the mirror- it’s from Wisteria which is sadly no longer in business.   I was able to find a similar mirror at Amazon.

 

CUSTOM DRAPES

I’ve never had such gorgeous drapery in my home, but these are special!  They were custom made by a local, female owned small business and she was a gem to work with.  Since I’ve never done any custom drapery in my home, I didn’t know what to expect, but Tonya came over and made the whole process so easy.

She was happy to work with me to find just the right fabric and options that were equally as pretty, but less expensive.

We went with a solid white, fully lined drape with a pinch pleat at the top.  They are meant to stay apart and not fully close since we don’t need that option.

Another good thing about custom drapes is that you get exactly the right length without having to deal with trimming or hemming on your own.  They also look so luxurious in the room.

Tonya really knows her stuff and can also do things like custom bench seats, roman shades, pillows and more!  I’m already wanting her to make a bench seat for Jordan’s room.

Lucite Drapery Rod

I was also able to use Tonya’s expert installation to install the gorgeous lucite drapery rods.  I have these rods in my office and lucite pulls in Jordan’s room and they are fabulous!  I knew right away I’d love to have them here in my dining room too.

If you are considering lucite drapery rods, pulls, or handles, I highly recommend ordering from Lux Holdups.  I’ve ordered from them several times in the past and their product is always so beautiful and perfectly crafted.

I have the 1.37 inch diameter rod, with 22 rings, plus two end caps in polished brass.  They are stunning in the room and add just that extra bit of bling!

LETTER ART

One of the last pieces of this dining room puzzle was what type of art to put on the blank wall.  I had been looking and looking at Minted, but wasn’t sure on anything, so I hadn’t place an order.

Out of the blue one day, my girlfriend Jamie came over and said she had a gift for me as a ‘thank you.’  It was completely a surprise and yet, the perfect, special finish to our dining room.

Wall Tile Letters

I could not believe when she showed me what she brought me!  It’s such a lovely and fun way to honor our family and the greatest addition to our dining room! Apparently, you can order any letter combination in any size, stain and text color.  Isn’t that an awesome gift?!

THANK YOU JAMIE!

Wall Tile Letters • Fig Tree • Basket

I will say, I wasn’t quite sure how I was gonna get these hung on the wall since they didn’t come with mounting hardware.  But, it wasn’t that hard.  Brian helped me and we used double sticky squares to affix them to the wall.

We spread the letters out on the table and decided to space them one inch apart.  We found the center- the “R” in Jordan, and placed the rest of the letters from there, using a leveler.

I absolutely LOVE how it turned out! I am considering making a frame to put around the whole puzzle, but I’m not in a hurry to do that.

Wall Tile Letters • Top • Jeans ($39) • Heels

YOU CAN SHOP BY CLICKING THE PHOTOS BELOW

We started this dining room project at the beginning of this year, just before COVID hit.  It’s been a long time putting all the pieces together, but the finished outcome was so worth it.

It feels so good to walk into your home and truly feel at peace and love the space you’re in.  I really can’t wait to host more friends here, even just casual get togethers since that’s what we’re best at anyway!  I’ll also be decorating for Thanksgiving soon and I don’t think it will take much to get her ready for turkey day!

Thank you again to Aryn, I couldn’t be happier with our new space!  You’ll definitely want to take a look at Aryn’s Instagram, where she shares peeks of the homes she’s working on.  We’re talking athletes and people way cooler than me!  #droolworthy

If you’d like to see more of my home, go here!

Have a fantastic day friends!