apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

spin it with color or with style:

you could bring in bold, bright colors in modern patterns or go unexpected style with like an eastern touches. with wood colors i'm thinking turquoise

you have an awesome starting point! it's easy to recommend a single item (paint color, rug, accessories) to someone whose room is almost done. this is such a blank slate though, it seems wrong to recommend those things without knowing anything about your preferences. a few quick love/hates would be helpful!

if this room were for me, i would probably choose a rug and draw colors from there. i'd go for warm, dark colors, sconces and non-fussy window treatments, whether that means simple but luxe panels or crisp shades in a funky print - non-fussy lines. i'd let the light fixture be the finishing touch and focal point.

on the other hand . . . with a preschooler and two infants, maybe i'd just skip the rug for now (and get a dog, for clean-up duty).

I agree. Pick out a bold modern rug (I'm thinking Thomas Paul, maybe) and build from that.

With young children, I'd skip a rug for now.
All you need to do otherwise is start shopping for curtains, light fixture, artwork, and paint.

I would start with one other thing that you love and definitely want in that room, and then start building your palette and approach from that. In our living room, I started with a fabric for the drapes -- a bark-cloth-like tropical print that is reminiscent of the Hawaii-craze that was big when our house was built. From the fabric, I chose one of the greens and used that for my wall color, and just putting a non-white color on the walls had a huge impact in giving the room character. I think you could do the same for your dining room -- a warm, deep tone would go well with the dining set and make the white trim much more dramatic and noticeable. Or, for a more funky look, you might want to go with a middle tone for the walls and a much darker tone of the same color for the millwork.

The first thing I see in that room is the green outside the house in the neighbors yards. You must have a light of light with all those windows - I would use the green and the light against the dark wood of the set and the gold of the floor. And there are so many ways you can go with that. And, I would try contemporary and retro buffet, china cabinet, etc. to play off the traditional dining set.

I wouldn't go out and buy a lot "funky and unique" accessories all at once. Those are the sort of things you accumulate over time, and if they're not highly personal, your house will just like Pier One.

Any chance you already have things in storage that would make the room look more personal? Vintage textiles? Artwork or collections? A piece of furniture that wasn't intended for a dining room but would actually be useful there?

Go through your stuff and ask yourself: could this be used for curtains? For a centerpiece? For a sideboard? (The funkiest window treatment I ever saw was made from vintage 50s crinolines. They were held up by garters attached to the top of the windows. So you never know what might work.)

Remove the bathmat from under the table...

...then paint the walls Black and the trim White, and reupholster the chair seats (I assume they're padded seats?) in white Faux-Crocodile Vinyl.

Find a vintage Colonial-Style Chandelier and install above the table with little white shades over the bulbs.

Accessorize with plain white ceramics, tableware, etc.

A cristal chandelier, silk drapes, a few modern art piece, a couple of sidechairs, candles, flowers, cocktails and guests.

kelly green matte walls, light coloured plain linen shades or curtains, big colourful artwork. you also need a large chandelier, either a modern drum style or a tongue-in-cheek liberace one. and for god's sake don't get a rug and then "pull colours from it" because it'll end up being matchy-matchy and plain uninteresting.

You might try spiltting the walls. Get a funky wall paper and paper the bottom half of the chair rail. Paint the top a matching color. Or vice versa.

Sage green walls, some nice cream sheers (to allow the light to continue), and a nice large rug for the table (I'd go dark to cover any stains that will occur). Maybe some seat cushions since from what I can see those are just basic wood dining room chairs. A buffet would be wonderful with a nice large piece of art above - maybe you could flank it with two of the dining chairs since you aren't going to need six for awhile.

paaaaaaint! Make those moldings really pop with some exciting colors of your choice.

I would paint the walls a gorgeous bright color like turquoise or hot pink, with bright white moldings. I also liked "YAY!'s" idea of papering the top part of the wall and painting under the chair rail. If you go with wallpaper, paint some vintage mirror frames white and hang them between the windows. This would be great to help reflect all of that wonderful light.

Had you considered painting and distressing the furniture? Maybe white or off-white or even another color? (or are people tired of that look?) Personally, I find a huge amount of dark wood to be depressing-looking. Definitely have some covered cushions placed on the chairs.

I don't know why people say the combination of young children and a rug is a bad idea? A patterned rug would easily hide any spills...and you just clean up spills as soon as possible, don't let them "sit" for a long time...no problem there.

Good luck to you! It's a nice room with tons of potential!

Use the colors you see outside those windows as a guide to the colors you choose. Green, of course, but also look at that red house, and is the other one blue?

Don't use the exact matching colors, choose from the huge range of reds (even pink).

Sage, celery, or pear would be a lovely green.

The room will seem enormous when you draw those outside colors inside.

Just to play devil's advocate...

You have a lovely view of traditional saltbox houses. And you have traditional antiques. If your style were truly funky, you'd probably already have some funky things, no?

Maybe -- and I know this is anathema to ATers -- you might want to go with a more traditional style?

In the context of interior design, there are few words more terrifying than "funky" and "unique".

I like the spare, formal elegance of this room. I'd like to see a piece of really good art glass on the table and mirrored candle sconces on the walls. I think that shades of white, wood and a minimal amount of gilt could make this room a calm adult refuge from the chaos that three toddlers will bring to the rest of the house.

If you do go for a rug, get an indoor/outdoor one for easy kiddie clean up. Or even Flor tiles.

Since you don't have time, and it's a blank slate, hire a designer.

You'll save time, money, get it done and still get the raves.