dining room

Going to School with The Decorologist

January 30, 2012 By Kristie Barnett 25 Comments

In the part of the country where I live, there are many families who decide that homeschooling is the best option for their children. I have had multiple clients over the last few years who homeschool and have particularly challenging decorating dilemmas.

This particular family has been successfully educating their 5 children in their home for many years, but their surroundings had been less than inspiring. This is the front room of their home as it was before The Decorologist stepped in:

Before – Homeschool Room

It was lined with bookcases full of books and curricula, a few tables and chairs (most of which were too small for their growing children), and various toys and other items.

Before – Homeschool Room

Does Your Dining Room Need a Make-Under?

January 16, 2012 By Kristie Barnett 13 Comments

Although it’s a simple and small space, this dining room is a fresh and inviting place to share an intimate meal.

Simple and Elegant Dining Room

This was not always the case! This homeowner was looking for an interior decorator to give her a new perspective on this dining space, without breaking the bank. Rather than a makeover, this room really needed a make-under. This room was like a woman who wears make-up in such a way that all you notice is the make-up. Below, a make-under highlighted and enhanced this woman’s natural beauty:

Before and After “Make-Under”

The overdone make-up in this room includes the high-contrast colors, the brassy light fixture, and the showy window treatment.

Dining Room Before Design Intervention

By choosing a fresh, light color for the wall (vs. the dated pinky-beige) and painting out the area below the chair rail in trim color (white), the room appears less choppy and more elegant. By choosing simple panels that hang above and outside the windows, we revealed (rather than concealed) the beautiful view and natural light. Both of these changes put the focus on the inherent beauty of the architecture of the room (moulding and windows).

Dining Room After The Decorologist

The brassy light fixture got a make-under, as well. We didn’t replace it – it’s the same light fixture, only better. Here is the rather dated brass light fixture before:

Brassy Light Fixture

I had my clients take down the brass fixture, remove the glass hurricanes, and simply spray paint it before rehanging it. Just a can of metal primer and a can of metal finish spray paint in iron or oil-rubbed bronze – less than $10 for a whole new light fixture!

Updated Light Fixture

The showy window treatments, high-contrast color scheme, and brassy light fixture were distracting – now you notice the architecture of the room, the lovely view, and the special collection of dishes my client has collected. Next time you think your room needs a make-over, perhaps you should consider a make-under instead!

Filed Under: Design Intervention Tagged With: blue walls, brass fixture, chair rail, decorator, dining room, interior, makeover, painting brass, room, updating, window treatment

For the Love of Gilt and Downton Abbey

January 11, 2012 By Kristie Barnett 15 Comments

I bought this interesting coffee table for my living room at an estate sale a few months back for $85. I’ve been debating over what color to paint the base of it. I’ve been dying to try out the new Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, but couldn’t decide on a color. Off-white would be too predictable, black might be to much contrast for this room.

DSC 3446 For the Love of Gilt and Downton Abbey

So, I was watching the season premiere of Downton Abbey on PBS – did I mention I am OBSESSED with this show??? The sets and costumes are absolutely luscious. And the colors – oh, the colors! [Read more...]

Filed Under: Color Consultation, Decor Addiction Tagged With: annie sloan chalk paint, color, decorologist, dining chairs, dining room, downton abbey, furniture, gilt, gold, interiors, mismatched, paint, rooms

Ceiling Light Dilemmas: How’s It Hanging?

January 9, 2012 By Kristie Barnett 25 Comments

Don’t you wish builders would use a little forethought when they install ceiling light fixtures? Aargh. Most builders hang ceiling light fixtures in the dead center of each room. Is that where they should be hung? Not always.

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Just because someone installed the light in the middle of the room doesn’t mean that’s where it SHOULD be. Yesterday, a reader sent me a FaceBook message: “When one installs a banquette in the dining room along one wall, pushes the table up to it, and aligns chairs at either end and the other side of the table, where does one hang the light fixture? Centered over the table or centered in the room?”

Breakfast Room in Southern Living Showhouse – photo by Kristie Barnett

Ceiling light fixtures should always hang dead-center on the most important architecture of the room. Like dead-center to the fireplace, where ideally your conversation area should be situated. Whenever possible, ceiling lighting should also be centered on windows and doors that are architecturally-significant.

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If there is a bump-out in part of the room or if the room is L-shaped, that can change everything and needs to be considered in your interior lighting design. Particularly in a large or L-shaped room, you may need multiple ceiling lights hung over different areas of the room where seating or dining occur. If you don’t have this, you can easily hang your own ceiling light fixtures with long cords that can plug into the wall. There are lots of plug-in options in drum shade fixtures.

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To answer my reader’s question: the ceiling fixture needs to hang over the dining or breakfast table rather than in the center of the room, unless you have a secondary ceiling light hanging over the table. If you can’t rehang or rewire the ceiling fixture, simply screw in a ceiling hook above your table and swag the fixture (you may need to add more chain). That’s how we solved the banquette dilemma in my own kitchen. See how the chain is swagged here?

The Decorologist’s Breakfast Nook for Gatherings Magazine

Your lighting should always be centered over your conversation or dining area. If not, your room will always look “off” no matter what you do. As much as I love the image of the room below, it doesn’t feel quite right because the table and light fixture aren’t centered on the fireplace. However, the fireplace is in an odd place in the room – which makes it impossible to center the table on the fireplace. In this case, the center of the table wins out over centering it on the fireplace.

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So ultimately, the placement of conversational seating and your dining table should dictate where ceiling lights should hang. As part of good interior decorating, it may be worth having those fixtures moved so that your space feels “right.” Or you can try the ceiling hook method and swag the fixture where it needs to be. Either way, you’d be surprised what a difference it can make!

Filed Under: My Decorology Tagged With: breakfast nook, ceiling lights, dining room, drum shades, gatherings, hanging lights, interior decorating, kristie barnett, light fixtures, lighting, living room, southern living showhouse, the decorologist, where to hang lights

Serial Furniture Rearranging & Other Disorders

November 18, 2011 By Kristie Barnett 17 Comments

As many of you know, I switched out my living room and dining room a few months ago and enjoyed a change of scenery in my home. As the holidays approach, I decided I wanted enjoy the fireplace (sans books – see here what I’m talking about) so I switched them back.

That doesn’t mean my living room looks like it used to, since I traded sofas in the living and enclosed sleeping porch. This is where the red sofa used to sit:

photo by Heather Spriggs

Trading Spaces – The “New” Living Room

September 9, 2011 By Kristie Barnett 18 Comments

I’ve had several requests from you guys to see the “after” of the living room that now resides in my old dining room. Here it is:

“New” Living Room

This was the room when it was set up as the dining room – as it had been for the last 10 years. [Read more...]

Filed Under: My Decorology Tagged With: decor, decorating, dining room, living room, vintage

Prescription from The Decorologist: Change Your Rooms, Change Your Mindset

August 11, 2011 By Kristie Barnett 20 Comments

Do you ever re-envision your rooms? Maybe your dining room should be your office instead. Maybe your living room and dining rooms might like to trade places for a season, just to see what it’s like. I decided it was time to give my dining room the chance to take center stage in my home for a season, and moved it right into my living room.

My New Dining Room

[Read more...]

Filed Under: My Decorology Tagged With: changing rooms, dining room, living room, switching rooms, the decorologist

Afraid Your Decorator Will Make Your House Look Like Everyone Else’s?

July 11, 2011 By Kristie Barnett 16 Comments

You may remember my colorful post: Throwing Your Caution (and Your Floorplan) to the Wind. Today I’m going to show you the rest of what was accomplished in a home whose artsy homeowners were ready to shake things up a bit. This family had no desire to make their home look like everyone else’s – they wanted something more colorful, a bit more quirky.

Living A Colorful Life

Upon entering the home, a living room/dining room combination runs to the right of a long open hallway. Here was the dilemma: the front “living” room had little purpose, except as a holding place for furniture that didn’t fit anywhere else. Because my clients love bold color, they had painted these front rooms dark orange. Problem was, the black furniture gave it a Halloween-all-year-round kind of feeling. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Color Consultation, Design Intervention, Popular Posts Tagged With: 364, benjamin moore, benjamin moore citrus burst, citrus burst, colorful rooms, dining room, living room makeover, nashville decorator, office makeover, room makeover, the decorologist

Updating Furniture with Paint

June 11, 2010 By Kristie Barnett 10 Comments

My client had dated wood dining room furniture and a limited budget. This pine set screamed, “country!!!” The brass chandelier didn’t help, either. I had to come up with a cost-effective remedy. No problem.