Snap Decision: Choosing Wallpaper for the Dining Room

Update April 2013... Want to see the final dining room and what I went with?  Click here.

My dining room has a quite unusual feature. That quite unusual feature is a 37" wall-mounted lcd television. I know it sounds horrid and I'm sure that it's not the 'done' thing in the design world. However, I feel the need to explain. You see, me and W like to sit at the dining table - it's where we spend most of our time. The chairs are comfy and as it's right near the kitchen, we can have the news on in the morning while we're eating our breakfast or have it on while we're cooking dinner. We can put music on during the day and as the dining room is in the centre of the house, it's easy to hear from pretty much anywhere in the house. We sit at the table with our laptops with the television providing background noise to our tapping away and chit chat. We LIKE television, I'm not too posh to acknowledge that fact. It is what it is.

The before picture.  No, it's not supposed to be nice, that's the point.

And so while aesthetically, most would agree a television is not the most pleasing thing to look at, it does serve a sort of social purpose in our home in that it actually allows us to use the dining room so much more than we ever would if the television was not there.

As such, a challenge presented itself.  Do I 'cover' the television and try in some way to hide it? Or do I incorporate it in my design and allow it to become what it really is, a fixture that is a part of the room as a whole?

I've decided to buck the trend and incorporate it as part of the design.  And part of that design is to make it a feature wall.  (I know, I know, stay with me here...)

Now, I am terrible with wallpaper. No, not in the hanging it (of which W does a rather fantastic job - it's lovely to have a handyman in the house) but in the choosing it. I tend to decide on my colour scheme along with the look and feel of the room first and then hope that I find a wallpaper that fits the scheme. What you probably SHOULD do is start with a fabric or a wallpaper that rocks your boat and then take the colours and patterns as your cue to how the rest of the room unfolds.

Yes, I am backwards, I acknowledge that.

So after choosing my colour palette I set about looking for the perfect wallpaper. I wanted to go for something very dark so that the television would not be the dominant feature in the room.What I was looking for was something with touches of mustard (to pull in the scheme from the living room) and possibly olive green and red to bring in the colours of the kitchen. Going about trying to find this magical combination of colours turned out to be pretty near on impossible.

I probably ordered about 10-15 different wallpaper samples to no avail.

I was, however, very near to ordering this one:

Nina Campbell - Birdcage Walk

Notice the black background, touches of gold, red and olive green.  It has birds on it!  And birdcages!  How cool!  But I was still unsure.

And then I found a picture of it on line in a full room setting (albeit a bathroom).

Image courtesy of gmtoday

And I knew that no, it wasn't right.  It wasn't THE ONE.

You see, when I bought the wallpaper for my living room, I was completely and utterly in love. I wanted that feeling again. I wanted to know my decision was absolutely perfect. It wasn't happening.

I kept swaying back and forth about my decision and as much as I'd like to start redecorating this room, like, NOW, this one big decision has been holding everything up.

Now I'm not sure if you are familiar with ACHICA, a 'members only' website. They hold private sales for very limited amounts of time on all manner of products at exceptionally good discounts. All you really need to do is register with them to become a member and you don't even need to learn a special handshake or wear a nifty hat like this:

It's okay, there are no funny hats required for
ACHICA memberships although that also means 
I can not claim to be Grand Puba.

Anyway, I received an email from them which I do near enough every day to let me know of the promotions they had for the day.

Well, they had sales on Graham & Brown wallpapers. Excellent.

I love the fact that the sales only last for 2 or 3 days and often the really good stuff sells out rather quickly so the pressure is on to purchase NOW. I had a look and saw this:

Wack a television on that wall and it's practically my dining room.  Definitely a sign.

And my heart skipped a little beat. The lovely lattice design, a little bit geometrical, a little bit ornate. It's grey which I wanted to do in the dining room anyway. Ok, so it wasn't very dark and it didn't have mustard or olive green or even black in it. I didn't care. It's normally £30 a roll and it was on sale on ACHICA for £13. That was enough for me and I clicked that beloved 'BUY NOW' button.

Purchasing this wallpaper was a complete impulse decision but I believe that sometimes the best decisions are based upon gut instinct.   I have bought, not what I thought I should get, but what I really liked.

So do you think it's mad to have a great big television in the dining room?  Have I broken every single design rule in the book?  Do you ever debate for months over something and then find yourself working completely on impulse?  Are you the Grand Puba of a secret organisation? Let me know in the comments...

Image credits:  Happy Days image courtesy of stitchsusan.

Shop in the Spotlight: An Angel at my Table

I have a bit of a thing for the unexpected and quirky and An Angel at my Table is an absolute delight, filled to the brim with beautiful and unusual finds and I wanted to relay my recent experience with them.  But first I want you to feast your eyes on some of the gorgeous design pornography that awaits you on their website.

What transpired during my experience, which could have led to me never ordering again, has instead made me quite happy to not only purchase again but tell my readers (all 3 of you) about them as well.

Oh, hang on, one more for good measure... isn't this just breathtaking?

Sorry, moving on...  Despite perusing their site for probably a year or so, it had been the very first time I had purchased an item from them.  And what I chose was this rather stunning white sunburst mirror to grace the wall in my living room.  It was to have pride of place, on the chimney breast and the first thing to catch your eye when you walk into the room.

I finally placed my order after a little convincing to W that it was exactly what the room needed - while he trusts me, sometimes he does wrinkle his nose about my choices!

I received my order about a week later and was absolutely gutted to find this when I removed it from it's rather enormous box:

In fact, four of the 'rays' on the mirror had broken off due to what appeared to be mispackaging.  Ya see, it was obvious from the foam inserts that the mirror had been placed into the insert upside down.  As it wasn't correctly positioned within the foam, it moved around in the box and broke.

With heavy heart, I weighed up my options:

Option One:  I return the mirror (which due to it's weight would be very expensive) and ask for a full refund.  This would also entail me looking for another mirror that wasn't going to cost me £250 and that I liked equally as much.  Hmmm.  Considering I'd been looking for months and had my heart set on this one and it was only just in my budget, that didn't look likely to happen.

Option Two:  Return the mirror (again, major hassle and cost) in exchange for a new one.  This option entailed both waiting around for another mirror (have I mentioned how impatient I am?) and hope that the second mirror would get to me unscathed. 

Option Three:  I keep the mirror as is.  Use a bit of glue, perhaps a touch of filler and some white paint and see if I can get a bit of reimbursement towards the delivery charges from An Angel at my Table.

So Option Three it was.

I wrote them a detailed email that evening and attached images showing the packaging and the broken mirror and asked if there was any way we could come to some arrangement as I really didn't want to have to go through the hassle of returning such a large item.

At just after 9am the next day, I received a phone call from a delightful lady called Patty who first and foremost apologised for the problem.  She explained that they had sent out many of these mirrors in the past without any problem.  They are packaged directly by their manufacturer and she went on to reassure me this was an anomaly in their normal stellar service.  She was so kind and so helpful that I almost felt bad about complaining which I'm sure wasn't at all her intention but it was obvious this was a small company and their customer base meant the world to them.

Not Patty.  But she sounded like she would look exactly this nice.

After a very friendly chat with Patty, she assured me we could come to some compromise but that she would need to speak with the owner of the company which just happened to be her sister in law (love a family-run business, don't you?).  After about an hour, Patty kindly called again to let me know that they were happy to offer me an incredibly generous discount and that my card would be credited back.  Again, more apologies and with such a nice lady, it was easy to accept.  In fact, it was much more of a discount than I had imagined I would get and the item was already marked down in clearance so I got a real bargain in the process!

A couple of weekends ago, we set about gluing the mirror back together and it's barely noticeable that it was ever broken at all.

I've got a heavy discount on a stunning mirror due to a bit of diy on our part and it now holds pride of place in my living room.  W has also admitted that it looks rather wonderful in it's new home (*cough* toldyouso W *cough*).

Thanks to the convex mirror, you can actually see the ENTIRE ROOM
if I took this photo straight on and the room isn't ready to be seen yet!
So apologies for the awkward angle...

Go and buy lots of stuff from Angel at my Table.  They have beautiful, unusual things and their customer service, at least in my experience, is second to none.  And no, I'm not being paid to write this.  (My blog is not very famous yet so yeah, still waiting for those kinds of offers to come rolling in... ahem.)  In the meantime, it's a family-run shop with gorgeous items and great service and I will most definitely be purchasing from them again.

Any fabulous online shops that you've come across you want to share?  Go on then, spill it in the comments.

Image credits:  Images 1-5, Angel at my Table;  All other images my own except for Imaginary Patty Image courtesy of www.callcentrehelper.com

Design on a Dime: Learning the Art of Patience

We turned the key for the first time in our house just over 7 weeks ago.  It is hard looking around and still seeing so many unfinished rooms and so many unfinished projects.  Of course, how could I possibly expect that the whole house should be gorgeous, sparkling and finished by now?  It's completely unrealistic I do realise.  As I've always said, "Patience may be a virtue but waiting is a bitch."

When I think it through and ignore my impulses, one thing comes to mind.  You can't rush design decisions.  Have a vision and plan it out?  Yes.  Rush out and purchase things because this morning you saw something really lovely on Apartment Therapy and you must try it yourself this afternoon?  No. (I have certainly thought that.  I know you have too.  Oh, don't try to deny it because I can tell when you are lying.)

Sure, it sounds fantastic to just blow your budget and purchase everything new but where is the fun or pride in that? And anyway, do I really want a show home? Do I really want it to look so brand spankingly new that people are afraid to sit down?

I would be afraid to bring food anywhere near this room.

To me, some of the most beautiful interiors appear to have been born over time, with items lovingly collected from here, there and everywhere, creating an eclectic look that's entirely your own and not off the pages of the latest Next Catalogue or the Ikea showroom, or indeed, the pages of Laura Ashley.

This room says to me...
"Pull up a chair because we're going to break bread 
and not worry about crumbs."

I want to grow to love my home more and more as time goes on, adding and subtracting and editing each room as I go.

How much better is it to look around your home and know you have nursed something back to health, that you've been able to take an item with you from home to home and repurposed it and reused it again and again?

Of course, there are practicalities to all of this.  I have a budget.  And not a big one at that.  We simply can not afford to go out and buy everything new.  As a result of this, there are items I am tired of, that I have looked at in so many room settings that I have lost the perspective of whether or not they even work in a room anymore or whether I should retire them because they no longer fit my aesthetic.  So I have to ask myself, will a new paint job magic it better?  Can I use it somewhere I hadn't thought of before?  Can it be covered or recovered?  Rediscovered in some new way?  And then when I do buy those lovely shiny new things and I do splurge a bit, the decisions are well thought out and researched so that I am confident it's going to go to the best possible purchase and I'm getting the biggest bang for my buck.

And when you think about it, for those of us that are slightly design obsessed... are our houses ever really finished at all?  I have always constantly tweaked my living space as my moods and tastes change and as I'm influenced by what I see on blogs, on television, in magazines, in trends.

Let me share with you a case in point... I bought my dining table and chairs in 2007.  I had looked for one I liked within my budget for ages, had saved for it and got it on sale and I adored it when I purchased it.  It was one of the first really ADULT purchases I'd ever made in terms of proper "grown-up" furniture.

I still rather love the table.  It's so substantial and weighty - it has that certain gravatas with good strong lines and not much fuss.

In fact, West Elm has one right now that's almost identical to it.

West Elm Dining Set

But then I look at the West Elm site and think "Ooooh look at the bench that goes with it!"  Bear in mind, I'm in the UK, anyway, with no real access to West Elm furniture "but but but," my brain starts to work in overdrive.  "I can find one!  I can build one out of scraps of wood!  I could find something similar on Ebay for cheap!"  You see where this is going...

Or I see upholstered chairs (I do like me a bit of tufting as you may know) and I simply think, "I WANT THAT NOW!!!"

Following this exchange, I sit myself down and give myself a good talking to.  I have high back leather chairs.  I should really count my blessings because initially I was very tempted to go with the cream leather chairs (soooo glad I didn't give in to that temptation now. "Ban the magnolia!" battle cry etc etc)

Don't hate. 
This is my dining room in it's infancy & many changes await!
(shitty wood mantle and Ikea shelving courtesy of the previous owners; 
ladder, wires, Wii Fit Balance Board and spirit level courtesy of us).

To be fair to my dining chairs... I don't actually hate them because you can (probably) sit on them through a 6 hour 15 course meal without your arse going numb.  However, they no longer make my heart sing.  I would love to spend stupid money and buy gorgeous tufted chairs but it's simply not practical when there's really nothing particularly wrong with these ones (except for the fact I like something else out there better).  And so I have to consider other alternatives.

I actually attempted to make slip covers for them last year out of old coffee bean bags but wow have you ever worked with jute?  It is soooo messy.

I only made the one as a sort of trial run on the idea.

Someday, I may complete that project, I might not.  I may possibly breathe new life into them with different (read that easier-to-work-with) fabric.

Anyway, my point is that I need to disregard my impulses.  I need to repurpose and reuse, to breath new life into pieces that I may be tired of now and to work with what I have.  I need to realise that building a room over time will be a more satisfying experience, both in terms of the final product and in terms of my finances.

And I need to stop being so damn impatient.

Image credits:  Formal dining room courtesy of Living Pod; Dining room with painted chairs courtesy of Greige Design; Upholstered Dining Room Chair images courtesy of decorpad.

Living Room La Vida Loca

The living room, when we first moved in, was magnolia.  Bland, wouldn't-hurt-a-fly, goes-with-everything, boring-as-all-hell, might-as-well-order-vanilla-even-though-they've-got-double-chocolate-chocolate-chip-mint-with-hundreds & thousands-on-top Magnolia.

Putting the 'meh' in Magnolia. 
Ok, it doesn't really have a 'meh' but it should.

I like to think that Magnolia has become my arch-nemesis in this house.  "Ban the Magnolia!" has been my rally cry since we moved in.  I reckon it hasn't put up much of a fight because it knows that I could totally kick it's wimpy lily arse.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I have had Magnolia in my previous homes.  We were friends for years, we used to hang out all the time.  But I realised something.  Magnolia wasn't adding to my happiness.  It was sucking the life out of my rooms because I felt limited by it's love of a warm palette.  It started looking tired and sad and it started to bring me down.  So I had to do it.  I had to cut the ties.  I know it sounds harsh but when I saw it there, hanging out in my living room once more, I had to put my foot down.  Armed with a tin of paint and a furrowed brow, Magnolia knew I meant business and I knew it was time to make a clean break.

To be fair, there could only ever be one replacement.

Grey is cool, it's sexy, it's subtle and it makes whites pop.  In fact, Grey has the ability to make all the other colours around it cooler by default.  It's the great fitting jeans (you know, the ones that make your bum look fantastic) of the colour world.  It's classic and yet always somehow manages to look crisp and modern.

I especially love grey with yellow.  I was probably a bit late to the yellow and grey party but oh how deeply in love I now am with this stunning combination.   I'm also partial to a touch of olive green, bright white and black thrown in for good measure. 

 

And so the colour palette I decided on for my living room was born from all the inspiration photos I have been hording for well over a year of which only a small percentage are shown above.  A true love was born for grey and it's gang of pals - crisp white, moody black, mustard yellow, olive green and the slew of colours inspired by nature like deep dark brown and charcoal.

Once I had my palette down, I begun my search for the perfect wallpaper.  Wallpaper has finally thrown off it's past errant ways and has become one of the most fabulous ways of giving a room depth, character and that ever elusive wow factor.  I knew when I stumbled upon this gorgeous wallpaper in the archives of decor8 that it would have to be a part of my living room decor. Ya know, I didn't even HAVE a living room at that time, but I knew that someday, someday this would grace my walls.

Cole & Son's Cow Parsley in Yellow 
(although it's a more subtle yellow in person, more like maize)

I'm sure that the first time I laid eyes on this gorgeous beauty, I had a sharp intake of breath.  And it still takes my breath away.

Here's a sneak peak of my soon-to-be-swoon worthy living room wall...

You may notice as well, the grey wall....

And a gorgeous olive green velvet will be making an appearance as well...

And of course, no room in my eyes is complete without a little bit of sparkle...

 
This room has undergone the most dramatic changes of any other room so far.  We have, however, a few more things to complete before I'm able to show you the finished product.  I promise, however, if you keep visiting me here at Swoon Worthy that it'll be worth your while! ;) (I know, I know, I'm a tease...)

And happily, Magnolia seems to have taken it's leave with grace.


So what colour combinations take your breath away? Have you ever had it out with a colour that just became a difficult house guest?  Let's hear about it in the comments.


Sorry, the four room photos shown above have been in my 'Inspiration' Folder for some time so I don't know their sources.  If you do, please do leave me a comment and I'll be sure to give credit where credit is due:  1. Unknown 2. Unknown 3. Unknown 4. Apartment Therapy

I see a brown door and I want to paint it white...

To be fair to Mick Jagger & Co., I'd ACTUALLY like to paint it black.  All over the blogosphere, there is an ever-growing love of black interior doors.  It certainly adds sophistication to the plain white door and can undoubtedly make your hardware pop.

Like the classic little black dress, the black interior door has rightly become the must-have for the fashionable home.

In our home, however, there are two furry problems to having black doors in my living and dining rooms:

Exhibit A:  Senna

Exhibit B:  Pablo

Thanks to these two, I can't paint my doors black because we need to install a cat flap into one of the dining room doors that goes into the cellar, as this is where their food and litter tray live.  Unfortunately for me, the only cat flaps you can buy in UK (from my own possibly-flawed research) are either white or brown.  Admittedly, cat flaps aren't the most stunning door hardware but sometimes we have to step away from aesthetics and look at practicality.  Either we leave the doors open all the time to the cellar, or we install a cat flap.

So the cat flap, in it's infinite practicality, has won.

The two doors in my dining room are pretty horrible.

The door to the cellar where we will install a cat flap.

The door that leads to the hallway.

How the previous owners lived with them in their scratched up glory with one brown doorknob and one white doorknob, is beyond me.  In the short 7 weeks we've been here, they have been an itch that had to be scratched.  It was my hope that a bit of primer and a coat of white glossy paint will transform them into something less like a terrible blemish (especially as every other door in the house has already been painted white, strangely) and more like Britney Spears' photoshopped thighs.

As I've mentioned in this post, I bought these beauties to go on the doors and have banished the wood knobs to the rubbish bin:

We've done a bit of work this weekend, namely removing the offending door knobs, filling in the holes left by the old hardware, sanding & wiping down the doors, applying primer and then applying a single coat of glossy white.

Unfortunately, despite our best intentions, all of the imperfections on the doors have risen to the surface with their bright shiny new coat.  Which means this week, we will mostly be filling, sanding, priming and painting AGAIN.  I suppose these are the lessons you learn.

Hopefully, by next weekend, the gorgeous hardware will go on and I can show you my born again doors.

Perhaps someday, when they come up with a black cat flap, I will paint them black.

Until then, Cat Flap Manufacturers, if you are listening, THE INTERWEB HAS SPOKEN!

Black Door Photo credits:  1.  High Street Market  2. Living Etc 3.  Lavender & Lilies

Bar Carts: Terribly Tacky or Tantalisingly Terrific?

There is an alcove in the dining room that I have yet to fill.  I have seen a few images online lately  that has me thinking about the possibility of filling that void with a bar cart.  Now me and W, we like a tipple or two (or three...).  We're not heavy drinkers but a glass of wine, a bottle of beer or a cheeky cocktail does make it's appearance on most evenings after a hard day's graft or a relaxing weekend spent in the garden or with friends.

Now there seems to be two schools of thought on bar carts or drink trolleys or tea trays or whatever you'd like to call them... either they are a wonderful, semi-kitch 60's-70's cocktail party throwback that can be fun and perfect for entertaining or they are tacky displays of alcohol, bachelor-pad-gone-wrong, impractical because generally they are lower down than a standard counter top and why do you need to display your alcohol anyway?

Naysayers beware, I pride myself in falling into the first camp.

Image courtesy of Apartment Therapy

It can't be denied that a bar cart can look fabulous in the right setting.  A few sliced lemons, sparkling glasses, mixers and spirits in beautiful bottles can look enticing and glamorous in equal measure (MEASURE, geddit? I kill me!).

Even the vintage ones could be given a new lease on life with a bit of spit and polish.  For something like this, a tin of black spray paint to the metal (or even a bright unexpected colour - mustard yellow? lime green? vivid turquoise?)  and a bit of graphic wallpaper protected with poly on top for the trays could instantly transform it into a conversation piece and really make it sing.

This kitchy wonder went for around £35 on eBay.

Found this fabulous vintage number on eBay as well...  Gorgeous!

People of Staffordshire, Rejoice! 

This baby is a pick up only but with no reserve and a starting price of 99p

For those with a few more squid to spend, there are a few higher end options.  This beauty from Restoration Hardware may advertise to your friends that you only have two types of spirit on hand but they'll forgive you when they get a look at those sleek lines!  Seductive isn't the word.

Restoration Hardware Duncan Bar Cart

Or how about this little sexy number with the Queen Anne legs in silver leaf?  Staying in would certainly be the new going out in my house if I was pouring my Morgan's Spiced from this curvy beauty.

Silver Leafed Mahogany with Bevelled Mirror Top from Quality Lounge Suites

And look how elegant they appear in the right setting.  Obviously, the drinks cart doesn't even need to hold alcohol.  A few well-chosen pieces can redress your humble trolley into something out of the ordinary.

Image courtesy of Elle Decoration

And so, my search continues for the perfect bar cart but until then, pass me another Long Island Iced Tea, I might need to sit a while.

What's your take on bar carts?  Love them or loathe them?  Leave a comment and let the world know where you stand when you're getting em down ya neck.

Image courtesy of Apartment Therapy

Cheap & Easy Before & After: Coffee Table/Storage Unit

When W and I moved in together, we had the inevitable task of trying to mix his n' her styles.  W had bought his house 9 years before and it was for him, a step on the property ladder and so most of his furniture was either bought on the cheap or handed down.  Being like so many men out there, redecorating his house fell low on the priority scale and many of the items, initially meant as a quick fix, were still hanging about 9 years later (including a curtain pole that appeared to be held up by cellotape and the power of positive thought).

Fortunately for me, without much prodding, W realised a few of his things wouldn't really go with the aesthetic of my decor and so we only kept the pieces that worked for us both.  His bed became the guest bed, his rather elegant wrought iron coffee table passed down from his mum worked well with the dark furniture I brought with me, his desk was large and practical so that stayed but his horrible velour blue sofas went to charity...

One of the things he was ready to chuck out was this coffee table cum storage unit into which he had shoved old magazines, his wii console, dvds and whatever else found it's way to the bottom shelf.  I had other plans, however.  It was an ugly colour and laminate so it wasn't going to win any design awards but I'm not one to throw away something that may prove to be useful.

Admittedly, the Morgan Coffee Table from Ballard Designs has better 'bones' but it did provide that needed inspiration.  This one goes for $400 but I was able to get a very similar look at a fraction of the cost.

Image courtesy of Ballard Designs.

I started by looking for some baskets that would provide much-needed storage (although when is storage unnecessary?).  A task which initially, I thought would be easy but was a lot more difficult than you might think as the baskets needed to be narrow and long as well as high enough so that you couldn't see the contents. Eventually, after lots of trawling around, I found banana weave baskets from an online shop called  Terracotta Spice and three of them fit the space nicely and provided a lovely natural texture.

I would love to say I spent hours and hours on this one but if I'm honest, I sanded it down a bit to take off the glossy sheen, wiped off the dust and slapped on a couple coats of glossy black paint.

Once dressed, I don't think it's too far off the $400 one but the 'makeover' cost me less than £40 (£22 for the 3 baskets and £12 for the paint).  And it fits nicely into our new home's living room.

What do you think?

 A little reminder of what it looked like before...

And after...

The vingette is subject to change 40 times (I'm thinking more 'objects of curiousity' are required than a standard fern) and the table may move 4 more times before this room is completed but for now, I'm happy I didn't let W get rid of it.