New House Progress Report – The Dining Room

If you’ve been watching my Snapchat ( @houseofhipsters ) or paying attention to my Instagram, you’ve seen quite a few sneak peeks of the new house…especially the dining room. What on Earth ever possessed me to begin designing that particular room is beyond me. Maybe it’s because it was different? Something new? I mean, I’ve never had a formal dining room before. Maybe it’s because I saw some blush and brass chairs and had to find a way to make them mine? Hee-hee. I don’t know. But whatever the reason, there’s one thing I know for sure. This dining room is the tits. There. I said it. Pardon my language, but it’s been like watching Caitlin Jenner’s transformation. Clutch the pearls! Shut the door and mouth on the floor! This dining room is the bees’ knees.

Okay, so maybe it’s not totally rad here, but trust me…keep reading. You won’t be disappointed when you see what happens.

Y’all know I have a thing for mixing vintage with new, and I have a spot in my heart for all things Mid Century Modern. But this house, well, I don’t know. There’s something about it that tells me to go easy on the MCM. Something that says more glam, think Hollywood Regency. Mix it up. So, I started a secret Pinterest board for inspo (which if you follow along on Snapchat, you’ve seen that too).

The dining room design was inspired by a painting I bought from Marianne, the owner of The Savoy Flea. I call her (the portrait lady, not Marianne) The Blue Lady, but apparently, its proper name is Girl in a Chemise and of course, it is not a real Picasso. The day we closed on the house, I snatched the keys from my relator’s hand, marched thru the front door, and hung her in the dining room. It’s been her home ever since.

Between my secret pinboard and a text sesh with Beth from South Loop Loft Vintage the space came together quite quickly. I told her I was looking for an old farm table. A white-washed beauty but not overly shabby chic…that ain’t my thang. Beth and Marianne are really awesome about keeping an eye out for vintage pieces and let me tell you, it’s nice to have an extra set of eyes. Someone who understands your style and what you are trying to accomplish.

Anyhoo, I sent Beth some inspo on the table and her first reaction was to pair that puppy with brass swivel chairs…I believe I followed up with velvet blush swivel chairs. We both decided that popping the top off the farm table and replacing it was a piece of marble would be bonkers cool and completely necessary. She also exclaimed I have the most perfect rug for you when she laid eyes on The Blue Lady. It was one of her first vintage purchases, and I was pretty honored to purchase the blue and pink beauty.

(Oh and FYI, that brass lamp beauty is from The Beau Ideal…great vintage finds. I bought this through his Instagram.)

The search was on for seating. It was Beth who texted me one morning with sheer excitement, “BRASS CHAIRS!” She found a set of 6 black and brass beauties on Craigslist. Beth negotiated the deal for me, and I hauled them back to the suburbs in Layla. Except I wasn’t totally sold on the shape, so before spending any more money on upholstery, I kept searching…BTDubs, I’ll be posting the black and brass beauties for sale soon, so if you’re interested, holla at me.

I found 6 pink Pierre Cardin chairs on Etsy a month prior and much to The Boy’s dismay, 6 more chairs were suddenly on their way to the house…BTDubs, that made for a total of 58 chairs…under one roof. And before you judge, count all your chairs first..and know that 22 were dining room chairs. (6 original chairs that I’ll be selling with my old kitchen table, 6 black and brass that will also be sold, 6 blush and brass, and 4 vintage chairs for eating at the tulip table in the kitchen.) Hello my name is Kyla and I’m a chairaholic. I love chairs and I’m not ashamed to say it.

So now that we all know I’m a total chair hoarder, and I’m feeling like I have vomit of the mouth, I’m going to wrap this post up. The dining room as you can see is far from done, but after finding new pieces and working on them every Saturday and Sunday, I love it more and more. But before I go, here is where the space sits now….far from dunzo, but I’m thrilled. BTDubs, remember when I was searching for a brass lamp…I finally caved.

If you want to see more behind-the-scenes sneak peeks, check me out on Snapchat by searching HouseOfHipsters. But Kyla, what will I see? Is it worth it? Well, I think so, but you be the judge. Last week I showed you my latest estate sale finds, The Boy installing the dining room chandie plus the inaugural lighting ceremony complete with music by Hall & Oats, shelfie progression on the built-ins, an incredibly cool new piece that I found on deep discount, and how the delivery guy was hating life and that 80 lbs package of awesome (oh my, what was it? so not telling right now), and a whole lot more. Holy FOMO. Don’t fret. I’ve got you covered on Instagram and Snapchat. See you there…and as always, here too.