Planning a Moody Traditional Dining Room
It’s time for our FIRST room makeover in our new home. I’m planning the moody traditional dining room of my dreams and I’m taking you on every step of the journey!
It’s been a while since we had a good ol’ fashioned room makeover series around here. Probably because the last time I really dug into making over a room from start to finish, it was Grant’s room at our last house – four years ago! I’ve done lots of little projects and updates since then, but I haven’t really sank my teeth into one room from start to finish. Until now.
We’ve been in our new home for almost 6 months now, and in that time we’ve been slowly making it our own. I’ve got lists upon lists of plans for this space, but the one room I keep mentally returning to is the dining room. I’ve had a vision for it from the beginning and I’m just itching to make it happen.
What We’ve Done So Far
Let’s take it all the way back to the beginning – before we even moved in. This is what our dining room looked like when we first saw the house.
It’s a full formal dining room (which was a must-have for me) that gets great natural light. It’s a little smaller than I would like, and it has 8-foot ceilings (not my favorite), but overall it’s a great space.
So far, we’ve:
- Added a new dining room table
- Painted the walls white
- Replaced the ugly chandelier with this gorgeous $50 one
Between those three things and a little accessorizing, here’s what the dining room looks like today:
It’s pretty much a blank slate!
Moody Traditional Dining Room Inspiration
My entire vibe for this house is what I’m calling “moody traditional”. This is the oldest home we’ve owned and absolutely nothing about it feels “modern”. So, I’m leaning in hard to more traditional vibes than I’ve ever used before. But, it’s not my home if it doesn’t feature some really dark and moody paint colors, bold wallpaper, and all the cozy vibes.
I put together a little mood board that represents the general direction I want to go for this space. Here’s what we’ve got so far:
Mood Board Sources
- Wallpaper
- Framed Art
- Art Light
- Ceiling Medallion
- Chandelier
- Delamere Dinner Plate
- Curtains
- Dining Table
- Faux Stems
- Dining Chair
- Rug
- Cabinet
What I Have Planned
Let’s break it down a little bit further with the details of what I currently have planned in this space.
Wallpaper + Trim
I based pretty much the entire design for this room on the walls. I really miss the bold floral wallpaper in the dining room at our second house, and have wanted to do something like that again for years. But, of course, I want an updated version that fits with my current style a bit better. I browsed through literally thousands of wallpapers and narrowed it down to a few I really loved.
In the end, I had these four options to choose between for the dining room:
- Top left (Paint Color: Dirty Chai by Clare Paint)
- Top right (Paint Color: Coffee Date by Clare Paint)
- Bottom left (Paint Color: Coffee Date by Clare Paint)
- Bottom right (Paint Color: Dirty Chai by Clare Paint)
Corey and I agreed that the top two were our favorites. I slightly preferred the wallpaper on the left and he slightly preferred the wallpaper on the right. In the end, it came down to the paint color! We decided that Coffee Date looked better in the dining room and Dirty Chai looked incredible in our bedroom. So, that decided it for us!
I plan to dive into this part of the project first, but we have highly textured walls, so it’ll be a big undertaking. Stay tuned for how all that goes.
Rug + Curtains
I’ve never put a rug under my dining table before (it feels like a lot of work to keep clean). But, the floors in this house are not my style at all, and it’s gonna be a few years before we can replace them. So, the next best thing is to cover ’em up!
I’ll be adding a cozy rug under the table to hide the busy floors, plus some curtains around the window to soften things up and bring in more cozy vibes.
Other Details
A few other details I have planned as of now include:
- A ceiling medallion, because if the ceilings are gonna be low, they might as well be pretty
- A big ol’ art piece on the back wall, complete with a picture light above it. I haven’t decided what exactly yet, still browsing.
- Accessories to make it feel elevated, but still casual!
The bar cabinet is honestly a tiny bit too big for the space, but we love it and use it constantly, so it’s staying.
And that’s where we’re at right now! I plan to dive into the project SOON, so stay tuned for all the fun on my Instagram stories and here on the blog. I’m taking you along from start to finish, and I can’t wait!