chandelier

Dining Room “BEFORE”

If you have not already seen Volume 1 of my remodel, you may want to back up and take a look.  It’s a really fun remodel that we did that was heavily influenced by the trip to Paris earlier in the year. Versaille, and all the other old world glam really spoke to me so we decided to have fun and use Paris as inspiration!

Any of the “before” photos you see…were simply the ones from the real estate listing before we purchased it.  We completed the remodel before moving in.  While the house was fine on the inside, it was beige.  It didn’t speak to my soul.

The light fixtures and chandeliers really add to the mood that I was trying to create. The chandelier is named the Omni and came from ZGallerie.  The gold framed mirror was one that belonged to my mom over 35 years ago and used to hang in the dining room of my childhood home.  Looking back, mom took tons of photos of home scenes, yard scenes etc and we always made fun of her and did not understand why she did it.  She was actually blogging for herself  suppose before blogging was a thing. I should compose a “Home Style 1980 Edition” and it would be the world’s first home decor blog post.  Add that to my list of things to do.

In the reflection of my wall mirror, you can see that we used the artwork that we had done in Paris. It is more so due to the memory of being in Montmarte with all of the artists set up in the town square, and Mr. Sjoberg leaving me sitting there for my portrait for 2 and a half hours while he got to go piddle around – than it is for the actual item in itself. All I really had wanted was to get a cheap piece of art to bring home, but Mr Sjoberg decided I would get drawn. So here you have it. Cheap Paris art.

Mom’s house from 1980

We wanted an ornate, old world styled table but good Lawd… I did NOT want matching chairs and the typical “set” look.  I found the chairs one day and decided to mix up the colors, using the two black for each end as a statement.

Why on earth did I decide to paint the ceiling in Ralph Lauren Metallic Gold?  Basically, I knew I had a lot of art that I inherited that all had been framed in gold.  I wanted to mix crystal, gold and silvers.  The skylight in the entry hall, the art niches and the dining room ceiling were the only areas gold paint was used, but I feel it was just enough to add crazy glam, and to forgive the presence of my gold framed art. Just think of it as a two toned Rolex.

The white trim around the lighting helps to promote my idea of backdating the look.  A friend claimed the house has a 1920’s look when he came over. Oh joy! Somebody gets it! Another person said, “Oh.  Well is that the original flooring or the new?”  She doesn’t get me. The super large porcelain tiles are really my dream flooring.   I have to admit that the choice of flooring was also inspired by the famous Kris Jenner entry hall and primarily the same large black and white checkerboard styled flooring.

My entry hall, while not nearly as impressive, still has it’s high point in that the sky light above adds a fun zap of architecture. The metallic effects of the Ralph Lauren paint,  really show up well during different times of day as the lighting changes. I feel that the floor mirror in the entry adds some dimension. With all of the weird angles, it adds even more to the mix. Mirrors are a huge element throughout the house so I had wanted to carry the theme beginning with the entry.

I carried the checkerboard flooring through the entire house, except the bedrooms which have a wood laminate.  One of my main issues with the house initially, was that there was quite a variety of flooring throughout. It’s not a large house, so I felt two flooring changes were enough. Let me also add, most contractors hate to lay flooring in the diamond style, but it is imperative if you want to create the correct effect.  Laying it in the typical squared direction is going to give your floor a common, cheap effect. Actually it will also give your flooring more of a 50’s look. There is an area of Versaille that has the flooring in a diamond shape, so even they had sense back in the day.

As far as Versaille goes…it felt wrong. The sinful opulence was disturbing to us both.  I didn’t really feel that the greed of the “royals” was something to celebrate.  It made me thin of the poor, common people of France and how wrong they were done. Well…and so it continues but that’s another story. My appreciation of the architecture and art was overshadowed by the sadness of how families were treated back then. Hence, the French Revolution. Actually they could use another one right about now.

Omni Chandelier from Z’Gallerie

As for me and my house…there is a mindfulness about budget.  The chandelier was $900. The table, which also comes with a second leaf to extend it…was literally from Rooms to Go.  I never thought I would shop there, but it happened.  The table was only $900 because  I did not want the chairs that came with it.  Ick.  Instead I found chairs at the AtHome store which I’d never heard of before.  They cost $1200 but I thought they were worth it.

I believe in give and take with budgeting because I know of too many people who drive Mercedes but are constantly having to borrow money because they can’t budget themselves. I tried hard to use what I have, mixed with some new items in order to create a place we like to call home minus the stress over funding!

It is not easy taking great interior shots.  I need to get new camera lenses, and take a class! Add this to my list of things to do.

I hope you like my little retro French inspired dining room revamp!

The next interior post will be the kitchen and breakfast room revamp!  Beware, there are more chandeliers but then you can never have too much fabulousness. Stay posted!

-SDS

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