dining room - before
Another installment of Little Shop of… this time we’re ripping off wallpaper. Everywhere you look, there is wallpaper in this house. Everywhere. Plaids, florals, pattern leading to pattern leading to pattern. Amist all the pattern there are some good points about this home. Like the big windows with views of forests and fields, gorgeous hardwood floors reclaimed from an old warehouse and crown molding. But all you can see all are miles of wallpaper, yards of plaid, and heavy drapery. It’s all too much for me and after a number of years, became too overwhelming for my client, otherwise known as my parents. The above photo is a before shot of the house I grew up in. Now you understand my need for simplicity.
When I decided to go out on my own, my parents enlisted me to help with their home renovations. Aren’t parents great like that? My mom decided she couldn’t make a decision (ironic, I realize) and my dad didn’t care what we did, he just didn’t want us to wallpaper. He spent days ripping off wallpaper. I think it would have been his form of torture to see wallpaper going back up on the walls. With these two things in mind, I started pulling together a neutral palette. Lighter, brighter, more up to date but still keeping with the traditional vein that make my parents, my parents. The goal was to reuse a lot of the pieces (my parents have an incredible antique collection) and restyle them, buy a few new pieces, add some lighting and, at this point, paint would make the biggest impact.
Last fall, I put together an inspiration board for the project. You can see it here. You’ll also notice I tried to play it cool and pretend I’m not working for my parents. Laugh all you want. My last trip home, we finished up the living room. A rug and sofa were purchased. We styled the bookcases and mantle and hung a few things on the walls. I even took a few photos and thought I would share.
View from the entry into the dining room. The ladder on the right was built by a family member back in the 50′s. It’s really a piece of craftsmanship. All the rungs on the ladder are notched out for a perfect fit. Now it shows off a quilt collection. Notice no wallpaper in sight?
This is the new dining room (see above if you missed the red, blue and yellow floral extravaganza). The table, end chairs and buffet are existing antiques. We recovered the end chairs in a charcoal ticking stripe and found white leather dining chairs from West Elm. Inexpensive, modern and a nice contrast with all the wood and traditional pieces.
The entire house received a new coat of paint. This light gray is the main color throughout the house with a white trim. All the other paints and materials were pulled from the gray. The grandfather clock is still in working order and chimes every half hour.
The gallery wall is full of cross stitched samplers my mom did when my brother and I were toddlers.
The family room isn’t quite finished. We are waiting for a new sofa to arrive in April. My parents had the book shelves custom built years ago. They are cherry and not only very functional, they house a flat screen and all the stereo equipment, they look incredible styled with the hardback book collection and family mementos. In front is a chair reupholstered in a houndstooth fabric found on sale.
The breakfast area is a major hub of the house. Adjacent to the kitchen, bar, and back entry, most of the meals are had here as well as drinks with friends and games. The rug and light fixture are new. The rug was inspired by the dairy farm my mom grew up on and the light fixture adds an industrial mix to an otherwise warm room. Sadly, all my kitchen photos are too blurry to show you. I hope you enjoyed this project update. Have a wonderful weekend!
Photos: all photos by the K.I.D Collective
