Old-house Inspired Dining Room Reveal

This is a sponsored post by Lowe’s Home Improvement. All opinions are 100% my own.

Since I fell for designing homes, I’ve been dreaming up a dining room. It felt old and filled with character. It had a fireplace, board and batten, and floral wallpaper. It had built-ins. It had special touches that regardless of its’ age made it feel at home in a hundred-year-old house.

When we started designing our Burrow, even though it was a brand new house, I had hope that we could make my dining room dreams a reality here. At first, I think Chris was a little skeptical about my vision of bringing in an old mantel, bricking up the front, and making it look built-in. But now, he sees the light.

Before we get on with the reveal, you can check out all previous dining room progress posts below:

DINING ROOM INSPIRATION | DINING ROOM DESIGN PLAN | INSTALLING THE VINTAGE MANTEL | TIPS FOR BOARD AND BATTEN | DIY BUILT-IN CHINA CABINETS | PAINT IN THE DINING ROOM | INSTALLING THE FLORAL WALLPAPER

And now…I feel like I need a drumroll here… here’s a look at how we took a blank box in our new build and turned it into an old-house inspired, character-filled space.

So many details I love, so much to talk about! Before we go too far, I have to give a big thanks to Emily Bolt Photography for taking these gorgeous photos of our finished space and a huge thanks to Lowe’s Home Improvement for catching our vision and helping to make it a reality.

Y’all know my biggest goal when it comes to designing a space is creating focal points. And I couldn’t be happier with how the main focal point in this room turned out. I envisioned an old mantel that looked like it had been bricked up over time (as all of our previous old houses had) flanked by built-ins.

I absolutely can’t wait to dress that mantel up for all the seasons! When I dreamed about having a fireplace in our dining room, I always pictured one of these double mantels salvaged from an old house. Finding one was a different issue. But wouldn’t you know it, the first day of looking, I stumbled upon this one at our favorite local vintage spot! You can read about how we installed it here.

For the built-ins, I knew I wanted closed storage on the bottom, a counter top to function as a buffet when needed, and then shelves above for display and storage. I absolutely love how these turned out and how they look built-in like they’ve been there for decades! We saved a lot by building these ourselves. We took stock upper cabinets from Lowe’s (base cabinets were too deep) and build them in with shelving. You can read about how we DIY’ed these here.

I was certain that I wanted floral wallpaper in here, but I also wanted it to flow with the rest of the house. This monochromatic floral from York Wallcoverings is perfect. I love that it ties to the blue in our kitchen and throughout the rest of the house, but it doesn’t add additional colors to the space.

I didn’t want the board and batten to be white. We have so much white in this house and I wanted the dining room to feel set apart. But I also didn’t want it to be dark and moody. I wanted it light and neutral. This color, HGTV Home by Sherwin Williams Agreeable Gray, is perfect. It pulls the tans out of the wallpaper flowers, feels set apart from the rest of our white, but is still light and bright.

Overall, this room is really light and bright. When it came to details and finishes, I knew it needed some darker anchors. Nothing anchors a space like a little black. I love the classic, shaker lines of this chandelier from Westmore Lighting.

We added round bulbs instead of the traditional candle shape for a little hint of modern.

Now, we have to talk about this rug.

I knew I wanted a little pattern and some richness in the rug, but I didn’t want it to be so bright that it stole the show. This Kaleen Boho Patio Rug is exactly what I’d hoped for. It’s neutral, while still bringing in some vibrant color. I love how the coppery base adds some much-needed warmth to the otherwise cool space. I love that it has a lot of blue in the pattern that ties in so beautifully with the wallpaper. It’s also indoor outdoor, which is perfect for a dining space or really anywhere in a house with little people.

We had planned to build a table for this room. However, once we got the rest of the space finished, I knew I wanted a darker table than I’d originally pictured and ideally, one with some patina and aging. This vintage table from our last house was perfect! I love how it adds warmth to the space. These white Windsor chairs with their clean, modern lines are the perfect mix to me.

I can’t wait to use and enjoy this space for years to come. As I was designing it, I was picturing all of the holidays and special family moments that will take place here. But I was also picturing our day-to-day.

I know a separate dining room is traditionally called a formal dining room, but my vision for this was anything but. I didn’t want a separate space that we used a few times a year for a special meal. I envisioned it functioning as our daily eating space, a spot where the kids and I gather for school throughout the day, a surface for long lingering dinners as well as afternoons of crafting. I wanted it to be an everyday space that got tons of wear…that just happened to also be beautiful and extra special.

So far, it has more than exceeded our expectations!

I’m going to talk more about how this room functions in our next post. This room is designed as a dining room, but also as a spot we’ll use for parts of our homeschool days. Stay tuned for the next post on how we use the space!

COMPLETE SOURCE LIST:

Mantel – Vintage

Paint – HGTV Home by Sherwin Williams Agreeable Gray from Lowe’s

Floral Wallpaper – York Wallcoverings from Lowe’s

Chandelier – Westmore Lighting Traditional Chandelier from Lowe’s

Dining Table – Vintage

Dining Chairs – Lowe’s

Rug – Kaleen Boho Patio Rug from Lowe’s

Materials for Board & Batten, Cabinets, and all Carpentry – Lowe’s

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

2 Comments

I think you have created such a lovely home. Your style is absolutely impeccable and I look forward to seeing the rest of the house!!!!
Thanks for sharing;)