Tess came into the store to browse and fell in love with a white ceramic marble table for her dining room. Understandable – it is a stunning table. The problem was… she was not re-doing the dining room right now. But, a perfect piece changes everything. Tess’s priorities included.
Tess’s dining room before
Tess’s dining room before
As we discussed her West Des Moines home, it occurred to us that the dining room is the first room you see when you enter. It absolutely sets the tone for the rest of their home. In that case, it made sense to move the dining room to the top priority.
Project Plan
I met with her in her home and the ideas just started flowing. She knew she wanted a dramatic change that added more of modern touch to her home. The only things she wanted to work around were an orange vase and a metal wall piece that her dad had made. Other than that it was a clean slate — and she was even willing to get rid of the chair railing.
Once the table was decided on, we built the room to highlight it. We added four beautiful black leather side chairs. But, we really wanted the host & hostess chairs to be unique. Tess thought it would be neat to have two different fabrics on them. Challenging! The task was to find 2 complimentary fabrics that didn’t take away from the table. We found fabrics we love. But even better: we then found a rug that was a larger scale version of her chair fabric!
I wanted to make sure the back wall was special since you see that first and it had so much dramatic potential. I suggested an oversized round mirror over a charcoal stained credenza. (The top of the piece is a black matte glass that will be practical and beautiful to serve from).
We coordinated an upright matching bar in the opposite corner of the room. With that being a dark piece, the wall behind it should be light to show it off. Next I selected an architectural light fixture in black & satin brass. It will be airy and clean up the look. Once I saw these pieces of art I knew they would be perfect to blend with the lighting. They would’ve been lost on a light wall, so I chose to paint black on those two walls.
Wow, what a statement that made. I love how the orange vase shines in this room and am happy that the mirror reflects her treasured piece that her dad made too. I feel so lucky to have a client willing to trust me and to think a little outside of the box. They payoff for both of us is this fabulous dining room makeover!
