Goodbye Dining Room, Hello Music Room!

“We need a music room.”

This is what one of my lovely clients told me when we began a redesign of her home. Her family lives in a lovely period home, full of historic charm. Unfortunately, space on the main level is limited, and we could hardly get her baby grand piano up the stairs!

goodbye dining room hello music room

 

An important part of my job as a Nashville interior decorator is finding solutions, and sometimes those solutions may be a bit outside the box. It was obvious that the dining room was currently being used as a holding area for things to go to their storage unit or Goodwill. When I asked my client how often they use this room for actual eating, she said maybe – maybe – once a year. This is an underutilized room that could potentially be the music room she was wanting.

 

7O3A2855

before – dining room/storage area

There is already seating for seven in the kitchen for this family of four, which is where they typically eat their meals. And when they entertain? It’s usually a finger food event, where people serve themselves from the kitchen island and sit on the more comfortable upholstered seating in neighboring rooms. No dining table required, really.

So it was decided. Out with the dining room, in with the music room! We already had the instruments, which included a gorgeous baby grand piano and a guitar. I came up with a plan for a new paint color palette, window treatments, and just the right seating for the musician’s audience.

Are y’all ready for this? Here’s the lovely new music room:

white dove and kendall charcoal music room

after – music room by The Decorologist

My client was SO OVER the previous golden yellow wall color that in this room for years. The walls and trim were painted the same white, while the ceiling got an extra special treatment of Benjamin Moore Kendall Charcoal HC-166 in a satin finish. Don’t you just love how the light bounces off of it?

Below is a shot of the room facing into the adjoining living room in its before state. You’ll notice that the piano was previously taking up a large portion of space in the living room.

7O3A2856before

 

In this after photo, you get to see a bit of the transformation in the adjoining living room, as well. I’ll show you more of that another day. Notice that we did new draperies in both rooms, which face the front of the house.

benjamin moore white dove OC-17

The Decorologist

 

I decided against curtains on the smaller windows on the side of the house. There isn’t a privacy issue there, and the room would have looked much smaller had we put curtains on that end wall.

kendall charcoal HC166 ceiling paint color

The Decorologist

 

The blue lamp is really pretty – although it looks peacock blue when the light streams in, it’s nearly navy when the sun isn’t shining on it.

benjamin moore white dove walls

The Decorologist

 

I only have a photo of it when the room was sunny, but it is beautiful both ways!

peacock blue lamp home goods

lamp – Home Goods

Would you ever give up your dining room to make it into a music room, a library, an office, or something else more functional for your family?

photo credits: SqFt Photography
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Elizabeth
Elizabeth
6 years ago

Wow! I love that room! Probably one of my favorite transformations you’ve shown on the blog.

JL
JL
6 years ago

SO pretty. Because of the ages of my boys and the way our home is constructed, our “formal” living room is currently the playroom. In a few years, it will be our music room! I can’t justify filling a room with furniture and then telling everyone not to go in there (like was the case when I grew up – sorry, Mama!). So ,we’ll keep the piano in there and move my husband’s guitars downstairs and add to the collection of instruments.

Robin
Robin
6 years ago

Gorgeous! The charcoal ceiling is absolutely stunning!

Angela
Angela
6 years ago

We also turned our dining room into a music room, but without a baby grand ours is no where near as impressive 😉 What an amazing transformation!

LaPriel
LaPriel
6 years ago

Kristie,
It is beautiful. The rooms look so much bigger and brighter.

Bec
Bec
6 years ago

BEAUTIFUL job Kristie!!

Arell
Arell
6 years ago

So beautiful! I love how it turned out!

Mary CC from CA
Mary CC from CA
6 years ago

It’s perfect ! I do love the dark paint on the ceiling. Wow what a transformation ! You did a great job Kristie !

Linda
Linda
6 years ago

What an elegant transformation! Love the lighter neutral tones in this home; it all ties together so well.

Tanya Roscorla
Tanya Roscorla
6 years ago

How gorgeous! The turquoise lamp is stunning, and the chairs and piano look like they’re just waiting for me to visit 🙂

Beth L
Beth L
6 years ago

That is my plan for our retirement home when we can move there. The dining room has a bay window & a baby grand would look…well, grand! I hadn’t decided on the seating yet, though, so I love what you did there. Gorgeous job, Kristie!

Claudia
Claudia
6 years ago

I see the ceiling color- but what white ate the walls and trim?

Claudia
Claudia
6 years ago
Reply to  Claudia

Are

Cindy Brooks
Cindy Brooks
6 years ago

I made a dining room into an art studio in a previous home. When we built a home I left out a dining room and included a full-fledged art room.

Donna Frasca
6 years ago

I turned my dining room into a bar – best move ever! Love your music room ?

Maria Killam
Maria Killam
6 years ago

What an inspired idea to paint the ceiling charcoal! Love this room, it’s fabulous! x Maria

Marilyn
Marilyn
6 years ago

This is beautiful! What great ideas here! Thank you!

Joanne
Joanne
6 years ago

Stunning, Kristie!
We recently turned our living room into our dining room. The former dining room is now our sitting/music room with the piano, some side chairs and our dry bar.

Jane
Jane
6 years ago

Beautiful, simple, and elegant. What absolutely stunning work you did to create this very special room.

Sylvia
Sylvia
6 years ago

Simply stunning!!!!!! No other words need to be said!!!! Thank you Kristie!!!!

Patricia
Patricia
6 years ago

This is gorgeous! My favorite of your many great transformations!

Jenny B.
6 years ago

Beautiful! Our dining room is definitely a multi-purpose room. It’s a school room / music room on a daily basis, and serves as a dining room for special occasions. Before my children were school-aged, it was a playroom. 🙂

Heather
Heather
6 years ago

This is beautiful! This is my favourite transformation you have done as well. I am moving into a new home in June and am looking for ideas, this one is a keeper! Can you tell me if the colour of the walls is the same as the trim? Also, do you have any information about the gorgeous mirror? Is it wood or gold? Thank-you for sharing!

Cindy L
Cindy L
6 years ago

I love the transformation! But then again, I love everything you do. You have inspired me to consider painting my bedroom double tray ceiling in this lovely color and finish. I get stuck on the double tray and what color it should be.

Cindy

Jeannie
Jeannie
6 years ago

Love the transformation!! Much easier on the eyes than the yellow tones of before. As for using Kendall Charcoal for the ceiling, would it still be as lovely using a flat finish instead of satin? I would like to have this look in our living room but we have a pitched ceiling with two skylights and maybe not such a perfectly smooth surface.

Jil Sonia Interiors
6 years ago

How absolutely stunning – clients must be over the moon happy.
I especially love your trademark painted ceilings – and the lamp is to die for!!!!

Jeannie
Jeannie
6 years ago

Love!

Pam C
Pam C
6 years ago

This is absolutely gorgeous! I love everything about it.

In our house, we turned our dining room into our home office. For us, a dining room is wasted space for 99.9 percent of the year, so it was a no brainer to do this.

Kelly
6 years ago

What a great transformation! Really looks so spacious and beautiful. I loved how you choose the lmap to go with the dress in the picture. Details! Great job!

Laura Bolen
6 years ago

This is definitely my favorite make over to date!

Michelle
Michelle
6 years ago

Beautiful!! One question if you don’t mind: will the client manually close the curtains for privacy? I just put up beautiful curtains and I’m worried that over time my hands are going to stain the fabric if I am yanking them open and closed every day?

Debra Martin
Debra Martin
6 years ago

This is my favorite transformation of yours, as well! I’ve been aching to do a dark ceiling and this is such a stunning example. I’m thinking it would be nice in the master bedroom.

As for turning an underutilized dining room into something else, my last dining room was also a library, with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves (and you helped me with the perfect paint color, Stratton Blue). I’m planning to do the same thing in my current house, but it will be even better because we have a full wall of original (1918) casement windows facing the future bookshelves. It’s the brightest room in the house and shouldn’t just sit there empty, waiting for someone to have dinner. I’m thinking of doing something dramatic like Narragansett Green – lots of light and very little wall space seems like a perfect opportunity to use a deep color like this.

Heather
Heather
6 years ago

Hi Kristie, Do you recommend a minimum ceiling height when painting a ceiling a dark colour? Also, are these curtains to the trade only?

Gayle
Gayle
6 years ago

So very lovely! But one question, when the piano is being played wouldn’t it make sense to have the sofa on the window wall as it was previously? The sofa makes the music room private, maybe that was the reason… But I do love this room. I the lamp to the trade? I didn’t see any info on the lamp.

Melissa
6 years ago

I think this is my favorites of the rooms you have done! So classy, so elegant, so gorgeous!!! I LOVE it!

Melissa Clark
6 years ago

This room is simply gorgeous and fantastic. My favorite of your work so far! Thank you for sharing!

Lori
6 years ago

We had a large formal living room and a small dining room. The living room was never used, the dining room at holidays but with our growing family (grandkids) we were running out of room. We switched the 2; the larger room is now the dining room and can accommodate the table with 2 leafs. And instead of a formal living room the smaller room is now my office complete with a sofa . . . where I work all the time.

MarySue
MarySue
6 years ago

Wonderful room! And that ceiling with the satin finish paint looks amazing! I think the charcoal color works especially well with the piano being a large dark object in the room. Without that element, would you choose a different color?

Jessica
Jessica
6 years ago

Stunning transformation. So very classy. Just like you. 🙂

Tona Blizzard
Tona Blizzard
3 years ago

This is just beautiful! We are wanting to convert our dining room to our music room, with a very similar piano as your client. Our only hesitation is that the dining room, which has a beautiful bay windows overlooking the lake, which is an inspiring view for a music room, is also located off of the kitchen area, separated by a bar height counter and tall barstools. It is not located off the main living room as your client’s was. However the wood flooring in the main living room does extend into this dining space, which is different flooring than that of the kitchen area. Also the main living room is visible and close in proximity. It just isn’t directly connected. Do you think this would be strange to convert the dining room to a music room in this location? We have plenty of seating at the table in the breakfast room area of the kitchen plus the barstools…..We just never use our dining room!! Thank you for the inspiration and any thoughts you might be able to share!

Sylvia
Sylvia
28 days ago

Absolutely Stunning🎶 Im transforming my dining into a music room, i dont eat there anyway. Love the idea❤️

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