Dining Room Inspiration

Jun 14

Written By Tessa

Ina Garten's Dining Room

We've officially started the 3rd week of summer vacation. So far, I've only heard a few "I bored" mumbles from Andrew. A good sign, considering the weather has been blazing hot and the only way to be outside is poolside. I have some fun "boredom buster ideas" that I'll post about later this week.

As for me, with the more leisurely pace of summer, I have a long list of house to dos. Not mechanical, not gardening (though we do still need to plant annuals and mulch), but interior sorts of things. My favorite kind. As I've mentioned before, we are creating a downstairs playroom for the boys. Still working on that one, but it's painted the shelf is in and a new rug is on the floor. (Not ready for "after" pics yet, though). The other is to freshen up the dining room. Slipcovered wingbacks were first on the list. But after that I was kinda drawing a blank. So, I enlisted the help of a favorite blogger & designer of mine, Holly Mathis.

For starters I've never worked with a designer before. I've always been a little intimidated and I'm really picky. But after reading Holly's blog for the last two years, I felt, if there was a designer for me to work with it would be her. The funny thing about blogs, is that after a while you really feel like you know the person writing, even if you've never so much as exchanged an email. I think Holly has beautiful ideas and incredible taste, and she seems like someone I'd love to have as a friend. We've just started working together, I can't wait to see her ideas.

It's a challenge working with what you've already got, and that's the case for me. My furniture is in good condition, but the dining room has always been the one room in our home I haven't been crazy about and we spend A LOT of time in there, so a dining room spruce-up is definitely in order.

Here are some inspiration pics from my files.

Hands down, one of my all time favorite

dining rooms is this one.