Our Home: The Dining + Entry

Happy Monday, friends. Coming at you this morning with the full before and after reveal of both our dining room and entry way! In case you missed it, be sure to click back here to read about the backstory of this house and the renovation overall.

Like I mentioned in that post, opening up our home was the biggest item on our to-do list. We were coming from a house where every room was closed off, and when you have three little boys running around, maintaining a line of sight felt crucial.

If you look closely, you can see YET ANOTHER ceiling height to manage as we opened the space up. The entry originally had a sort of trayed ceiling with an inset light (oh, and allll of the popcorn texture). The original door was also a single with sidelights, which we chose to forego for double doors. Fun fact: double doors are often less expensive than a single with sidelights (y’all may already know that, but I was shocked and thrilled – so rare is it that the thing you want is actually more economical!).

It was raining the day the doors were delivered. I remember that because I’d originally planned on painting the interior and exterior black, but when I saw the color of the wood come through when wet, I knew we needed to just seal it up and let it’s natural warmth shine. The interior we painted Tricorn Black by Sherwin Williams.

In the dining room we removed the moulding, smoothed the wall and ceiling texture, and replaced the window with this aluminum clad one from Pella. The interior grates are painted Tricorn Black to match the front doors, but the outside is a beautiful bronze (it’s a softer, elevated pairing with the white of our exterior brick).

True confession: I don’t love our dining chairs. I did when we purchased them over ten years ago, but they definitely no longer feel like “me”. We’re saving up for some new ones (haven’t committed, but I’m thinking these would look awesome). I realize that this is not great blogging – if I really wanted to sell you guys on things, I’d have all the latest and most beautiful pieces for you to then click and buy. BUT, this is life, my friends. You make the best of the dining chairs you don’t love, and the dining table you purchased off the floor of Crate & Barrel using wedding registry return credit (true story).

That big piece of art at the end of the table is one of my favorite parts of this room. That wall is large, and big pieces of art do not come cheap. BUT, Juniper Print Shop to the rescue. I purchased one of their 40×55 prints that comes on the most perfect matte vinyl (I swear, everyone thinks it is canvas until they actually touch it). I simply paired it with an IKEA Bjorksta frame (the prints are made especially for these frames), and it truly could not have been easier.

Another semi-DIY moment in this room is this campaign chest. Take a $35 IKEA drawer unit, add paint and campaign hardware, and BAM – statement piece. We followed the directions from Almost Makes Perfect, and there were literally no hiccups (rarely the case, I’ve found, in DIY projects).

You can see from the angle above how this room opens up into the dining. I love being able to cook and serve so easily with this layout.

Well, there she is folks – our entry and dining room. Stay tuned, because I’ll be sharing our family room next! Just a couple final sources for you:

Builder: Axiom Builders

Wall Color: Chantilly Lace by Benjamin Moore

Front Door (interior) Color: Tricorn Black by Sherwin Williams

“After” Photography: Matti Gresham

Did I miss anything? Let me know!

xo,

sarah