It's been a long old time between posts on doing up the house I bought last year and to be honest, I don't know why!
The dining room has been finished for quite some time and has become a space where both Chris and I really enjoy entertaining people over a glass or two.
As you can see the space was a rather neutral magnolia room before which to Chris and I translated as bland. We were desperate to inject some colour as well as some character and we fell in love with the colour navy blue- something that worried close family. We got remarks such as "you do know that's a very dark colour" and "that colour will make the room look smaller you know", but despite this we still wanted to go for it.
Yes a dark colour can make a room look smaller but as you can see from these photos, light spills into this room (which is rather annoying for photographing!) and we feel it makes for a cosy room, especially on old winter nights.
To us it's our little den for drinks and conversation, served with hearty warm meals and memories and we are over the moon with it.
Dining Table - Next
Dining chairs- Next
Black shelves- The range
Table lamp- Next
Ceiling light- Next
Rustic lantern- Antique family heirloom
Copper lantern- The Range
Candelabra- Next
Cycling statue- independent gift shop (similar)
Being the first room in the house to have paint and paintbrush applied, we were a little dubious- especially after picking such a bold colour. Any errors would be painfully obvious and what didn't help with this process was the paint we chose...
Dulux Paint- Sapphire Salute
Having been to B&Q we'd been recommended Valspar paint as being the best on the market and eagerly purchased the paint but we found that it went on streaky and horrid- something which really knocked our confidence with decorating. Thankfully Dulux saved the day and went on the walls like a dream to achieve the finished look which is what we had desired all along so in our experience we'd recommend steering clear of Valspar paints!
I hope you like what we've done with the space. Personally I don't think the photos do the room justice. We are always getting comments on how lovely the room is; even from the sceptics who said the colour was too bold. The main thing is we've made this space a place we are proud of and truly enjoy entertaining people in as well as ourselves. A date night in the dining room is one of my favourite pastimes and I'm forever telling Chris its the best place in town and they know our music tastes so well!
We've now done the bedrooms upstairs and are about to embark on the hallway soon so keep an eye out for more DIY diaries coming up on the blog.
In the meantime, what's your favourite room of your house and why?