the room formally known as
the dining room
One of the things I loved about the old Tudor house when we bought it was that it had a formal dining room. Not only that, but the dining room also had original hardwood floors in relatively good shape. One of my pet peeves when watching home makeover shows is when they replace the old hardwoods with brand new flooring. They just rip them up and throw all the character right out the window and into a dumpster. That was not on my to do list here.
This room was just in need of a refresh. Other than painting, the main project in this room involved the double-swinging French door. I loved the character of this door. It had clearly been here forever and divided the formal dining room from the breakfast room and kitchen. But someone had added frosted look decals to the glass at some point. So once again, that came off the day we moved in. Some things just can’t wait.
When we eventually had the tile installed in the kitchen, we had to cut down the door a bit so it would work with the added depth. Luckily, my dad is handy with a saw. Before re-installing it, we wrote our names on the block the door sits on. I love knowing that one day someone will find it.
We had it painted Benjamin Moore Cheating Heart 1617 and replaced the glass push plate with the antique brass. The door became such a statement piece between the rooms.
We once again removed that tiny sliver of crown we had throughout the house and painted the walls, ceiling, and trim OC-17 White Dove by Benjamin Moore. We installed a new, modern light fixture. I am one of those designers who loves to mix it up, combining modern with more traditional and vintage pieces.
The table is one my dad and I made years and years ago when I was living the single life. If I ever find pics of it being built, I’ll add it to this post. We bought the pipe and had the lengths cut to the sizes we needed in the store, then we just assembled it and painted it. My dad created the top for it and helped me stain it. I’m still using this table today.
In its current state it’s covered in marker and paint stains because my kids love to craft and/or make messes. But I don’t want to replace the table until the kids are out of the “ruining nice things” phase. If that is a phase that ever ends.
I loved the way the space turned out, an admittedly casual “formal dining room”.