Sarah's House

I think I figured it out...I'm obsessed with Sarah's House.  I love watching.  At first, I was like, man this crazy Canadian lady is so high maintenance, can never stay on budget, she's totally OCD, and oh. my. gosh....her rooms are beautiful.  Behold...her orange dining room, which, you may notice, inspired my choices for my own dining room. This lady's got a way with fabrics.  I wish, I wish I could post more photos of the room in all its glory for you, but I can't pull them off the site. Promise you'll go check it out here.

Orange Color Pallete

I'm hatching plans to do some quick and easy work in our dining room, and I've come across a fabric dilemma!  I'm absolutely married to the orange chevron in the top left corner, and am planning to make six chair cushions out of it. 

Here's the question...I have a bench in the dining room that sits under a window, and I'd like to make a cushion for it as well.  Do I go with (clockwise from top) the aqua-orange fabric to complement/contrast with the chevron? Or the more tone on tone complement of the orange/brown/yellow floral? Or do I stick with the same color and just switch up the print, with the orange and cream floral. 

Heeelp!  I'm leaning toward the aqua-orange print that sits right next to the chevron (top right).  Thoughts??

Dream Dining Room

Luckily, I have a bit of a start on this one. Mr. J and I received 6 beautiful chairs and a buffet as a wedding gift. Unfortunately, this means we have been using a cast off table from his parents for the past 2+ years. While I secretly squirrel away money for the dining table of my dreams, I pulled together some photos for inspiration until that day!

Loving this image from the latest issue of Lonny.  The chairs and buffet we already have are all dark wood. I’d love to get the matching table, someday, someday, someday! I love the way these light slip-covered chairs break up all the dark in the space. Ditto for the curtains and the rug. Pretty much perfect. I think the dining room is one of those places where you can go really bold with color and get away with it. Most of us don’t eat in our dining rooms every evening (um, usually the coffee table is our dining table…guilty!), so when you do actually eat in there, bold colors really make the space dramatic…and perfect for holidays, parties and special occasions where you actually sit down, set the table and DINE!  Personally, I’d go for a deep blue like this or a rich red (the color we currently have in our space).

Now for the table. I’m all about chunky, solid, sturdy wood pieces like these:

And no, the chairs totally don’t have to match. It sure is a lot more fun, and more visually interesting if they don’t! You gotta get a bit of fabric and color in there to break up all that wood!  Once I get my table, I plan to add colorful cushions to the chairs, and add two slip-covered chairs. 

Now, when it really comes down to it, the pieces I currently have can transition easily and become my kitchen table and chairs down the road. You know, when I have such a large and fabulous house that I have both a formal dining room, and a casual, eat in kitchen. Yes?

Man, I am loving the improvised banquette seating in the first shot. Don’t you want to curl up with the paper (or, um, your laptop?) a cup of coffee and eat all your breakfast?? I do. The second banquette shot is no slouch, either. Elegant and cozy...at the same time.  And finally, loving the casual vibe in the last shot. Can totally picture a bunch of kiddos coloring at the table and a couple of dogs running around underneath.  Just perfect.

Images via Lonny, Desire to Inspire, House Beautiful, Domino