If you have clicked over here from the One Room Challenge website, thank you and welcome to my blog, Italian Girl in Georgia™ I am glad you are here and delighted to share my "One Room Challenge Reveal" and transformation of a dark and dreary dining room to a fresh, eclectic, and alluring dining room.
This One Room Challenge project, the first that I have participated in as a guest designer, was such an enjoyable experience. The momentum was exhilarating and the inspiration from all the participating designers was motivating, to say the least. It was so much fun to create our spaces and share the progress "together." The people behind the scenes running the show are awesome. I wish I could meet each one of them to thank them personally, for their support in sharing my work on Instagram over these last six plus weeks. The recognition means a lot to me.
For a little recap...I was hired by a young Southern gentleman to renovate and design his newly purchased first home, which was built in a historic district of our town in 1937. My client works for his family business, which is based in the Cayman Islands and has travelled there many times as a child and young adult. With that in mind I wanted to design this room with a subtle nod to British Colonial and West Indies style - using textures, authentic materials, vintage furniture, and a cool color palette of delicate blue hues and natural tones, with a youthful bohemian vibe thrown in for fun too.
Below is what was hanging in the room when the house was purchased.
Not so good.
Some minor carpentry changes in the niches, a thorough paint job, and natural grasscloth wallcovering was the base I began to work with. The best part of the room, and throughout most of the house, are the dark hardwood floors. The deep rich tone of the floor compliments my new color scheme beautifully and design I had planned.
From the moment I created my first design boards for the color scheme and design, we were hooked.
The dining room used to have three windows looking out onto the garden. When an additional bedroom and bathroom were added on to the house, two windows had been eliminated, and in turn, a great deal of natural light. To compensate, I added two large cane and rattan framed mirrors in the niches that were created when the original windows were removed, in order to reflect the existing light coming in from the single window remaining and light from the adjacent rooms. The pair of lamps on the buffet chest also adds a pleasant glow when illuminated.
And before...
Bright white plantation shutters were installed on the single window and framed with custom made English linen panels which hang from rings on an antique gold French style drapery rod. I carefully placed these panels on each side of the window to not obstruct any light, but rather to enhance the beautiful fluted woodwork and corner medallions framing the window, which is another distinguishing feature that adds architectural character to the interior. I did not want to conceal these lovely, original-to-the-house details.
Below is the window treatment the previous homeowners used.
Looks a bit like a shower curtain.
Enough with the details. You can catch up with all of them on the previous posts. On to the reveal.
Ready. Set. Show!
This handsome dining room table and set of chairs are family pieces that had been put away in storage. They had a bit of sentimental meaning to my client and he wanted to incorporate them (and some other pieces throughout the house) with the new furnishings I selected.
I had them repaired and refinished in this rich walnut stain.
The table is so beautifully finished that it does not need more than a simple, organic arrangement of garden hydrangeas and sprigs of boxwood in a basket for the centerpiece.
As a reminder, below is what the room looked like prior to my client purchasing it.
Photo from Zillow.
And when this gentleman is ready to entertain his family and friends, an eclectic table setting would be the most enchanting way to serve a Southern meal.
Photo from Zillow.
And another view of the scene, above, before I took over.
To read more about the progression of this transformation and see some stunning detail photographs, hit these links -
The Big Announcement - My Client's Dining Room
Week One - International Wallpaper Week
Week Two - Details Make the Design
Week Three - The Art of Accessories
Week Four - Walls, Windows & Doors
Week Five - Installation Day & Hang Ups
💙💙💙
Many thanks to all those involved in making this project a success.
Photography
Suzanne MacCrone Rogers
Sources
Ballard Designs
Benjamin Moore
Elk Home
Lucas + McKearn
Regina Andrew Detroit
RM COCO
Safavieh Rugs
Schumacher
Sherwin Williams
Specialty Trades
Design Link
Southern Shutters and Blinds
The Wallcovering Specialist
Tomberlin Antiques and Restoration
Special Thanks
Linda Weinstein, One Room Challenge
Better Homes and Gardens, Official Media Partner
💙💙💙
Please continue to follow along weekly here on my blog, Italian Girl in Georgia™ for more interior design posts, my art, design tips, and special offers. One Room Challenge behind-the-scenes work-in-progress photos and videos are featured on my Instagram stories, and updates during the week in between my blog posts on my SMR Interiors Instagram feed, @suzannemaccronerogers. Leave a comment on my Instagram and let me know you were here! I would love to hear from you.
Click my logo above ⬆️ to see all my ORC posts.
Pop your email in the box below 📩 so you get my updates directly via email in your inbox. You are not going to want to miss anything.
Click the ORC logo below ⬇️ to see the featured designers and participating guest designers and their projects -
And that's a wrap.
