Okay, let’s just start off this post by saying, I’m not happy with this room. Not really even as just a ‘temporary situation’. There are a whole host of reasons why this is not even close to what I want this space to eventually look like, starting with the fact that we will soon be starting building work on this space so I literally want to spend ZERO time and ZERO budget on doing anything with it. So why am I bothering to share it? Well, I recently asked on my Instagram Stories if people wanted to see my totally unfinished probably-gonna-stay-this-way-for-a-while rooms. And the resounding response (94%!!) said yes. So if that’s what you want to see, who am I to argue?
My biggest bugbear with the room is the paint colour. I have absolutely no doubt that some of you will really like it. It’s sort of a dusty grey-blue which, for all intents and purposes, is absolutely a fine colour to paint a room. But I just don’t like blue in my home. I’ve learned that over the years – it’s not a colour I feel happy to live with.
Psychologically speaking, it leaves me feeling… well… blue. Cold and blue and it brings me down. There are certain shades I don’t mind (teal is lovely, emerald blues are great) and I can certainly admire a deep indigo velvet sofa from afar. But I know now that it’s not something I enjoy living with.
In fact, before we moved, I actually got rid of every single blue decorative piece I had – blue cushions and blue bedding, blue crockery, blue decorative pieces, blue art – the lot. It sounds drastic but I have SO much stuff that there didn’t seem any point to keeping it all (some I sold, some I gave to friends/family, some I donated to charity). And then we move into this house and half the rooms have been painted some shade of blue! Ha! Always the way!
Now I know you may be thinking, ‘Well if you hate it, why don’t you just re-paint it?!” which of course, would be the logical thing to ask. The thing is, we are looking to do a huge amount of work on this side of the house over the next few months (see here for more info on what our plans are). The electrics need completely rewiring, that back wall is coming down and we’ll be creating an open plan kitchen-diner.
That back wall? Bye, Felicia.
Add to that that over the course of the first 6 weeks we have been here, we’ve have had 4 sets of visitors – 6 if you include the next two weekends! Don’t get me wrong – I love having people over so I’m not complaining at all. It’s been great. But the few weekends we’ve had on our own to get things done have mostly been spent unpacking and getting the house in order, painting and finishing up the bathroom (you can see that here, it’s the only room I’ve managed to paint so far!) and getting plans in place for the work we’re having done. Spending a weekend painting a room that will soon be ripped apart seems to be a bit of a waste of time and energy at the moment!
A few other reasons I’m not entirely enamoured with this space… I want to replace some of the furniture in here eventually. The Mid-Century sideboard worked well in our old dining room but in here, I feel it’s just too dark and heavy for the space so I’m going to be looking for a replacement in the future. I also talked about my dining room chairs – I’ve had them for years and I have loved them well but I feel like it’s time to mix things up and try something different.
I’m also not crazy about that mirror in here (below) or the artwork. Not that I don’t like them individually, just not all together in the same space. The truth is, I decorated the living room and our bedroom first and so a lot of my favourites went to live in those rooms. The dining room has sort of been an afterthought – just a mix of things I didn’t have homes for so they came to live in here. So there’s no real theme going on at all which, to my eyes, makes it feel a bit of a jumbled mess!
Case in point: On the vintage gold shelving unit is all the ‘leftover’ decorative items that I don’t have a home for right now so I see it as a place where I ‘shop my house’ when I’m doing styling posts. I love that unit but it’s not being shown off in it’s best light right now.
Please bear in mind, it’s in no way styled! It’s just housing THINGS for now! At some point, I will be styling it properly (you can see how I style shelves in my post here) but this is how it’ll stay for a while anyway!
Oh, and if you watch my Instagram Stories, you’ll know that what you see above isn’t actually art at all. Ya see, these frames were just empty for quite some time (see above about getting rid of blue art!) and I know I want to put something in the frames eventually. But until I’m sure of the direction of this room, I don’t want to spend time/money on choosing art. So I used some IKEA wrapping paper I picked up last year! Yep, an old trick that I used to use a lot more back in the day but figured it was a good quick fix for now so I didn’t have to stare at empty frames!
So that’s my dining room tour – for now anyway! I know it’s not a terrible looking room or anything and that it could be a whole lot worse so please don’t mistake my disgruntled-ness about this room as being ungrateful. The room has good bones and gets gorgeous light all day through the big bay window. And it’s a nice size too – it just that it has so much potential and I’m desperate to do something about that. But for now, this is what it’s looking like! And no, I’m not planning on any grand makeover before we start work so this is how it’ll stay for a while too!
I hope you enjoyed this little look at my dining room! I’ll be sharing other areas of my house that aren’t quite ‘there’ yet over the next few weeks just so you can see how I’m making do with what we have for the time being! In the meantime, do you have rooms in your home that are just ‘okay for now’ until you get around to redecorating? I’m sure you do! Go on and share in the comments below!
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Don’t care much for the blue-gey walls either but where did you get the FABULOUS.gold coloured cobra on the sideboard from…..want,want,want!!!!
Hahaha! I always get comments on that one every time I share it! I bought it at HomeSense a few years ago ;) xxx
Still looks total pinnable hun, (think I just made up that word). x
Aww thank you!! And ‘pinnable’ is totally a word (or it should be) ;) xx
I’ll take those chairs off your hands !! Lol I can’t wait to see what you do but I totally understand having rooms good enough until the right time!
Hahaha! Well I will be selling them at some point *wink wink* ;) But yep, there will always be spaces in our homes which aren’t quite right but as always, time and budget plays a big part in living with it for a while! xxx
Its nice to see the “living with it till we get there” side of houses, although you own such beautiful pieces and style them so well you can hardly tell! We have so many rooms that are being lived with as they are, and because we up-sized so significantly they are empty, I really have to hold myself back from going in and pealing off horrible old wallpaper, all in good time..!
Aww thank you Annika! Oh it’s killing me not to pull the paint brushes out and rip up carpeting #thestruggleisreal Haha! I totally get it! xx
It’s a lovely space, but yes, the grey-blue just isn’t you – too mundane! ;-)
And never apologise for not being totally happy with the way things are in your house – it’s your home and it is your prerogative to get it absolutely perfect for you.
Our living room is the only room we have not touched at all (except for adding a mantel over the Yorkshire stone fireplace) because it was fine as it was, compared to the rest of the house! Liveable certainly. It will be the last thing we do, once we’ve moved the front door, though the expense of that mean its quite a way off yet! x
I have really had to hold myself back from just getting some paint on the walls but there really is no point to doing that so yes, mundane blue it is for now! Haha! At the moment, most of the house is simply ‘liveable’ but well, time and budget is always a factor – we just have to exercise patience I suppose until we can have it all the way we like it, right? ;) xx
I love it and have been living with quite a few of the same rooms since we just moved. Can’t wait to see the changes.
I’m not a blue person either, unless it’s a jewel tone navy blue. I do have a guest room with gray walls and shades of blue fabrics and draperies and guests seem to love it, so it’s been “temporary” for quite some time – only because I’m in that room very seldom – only to clean or ready for guests.
Your dining room looks lovely. Can’t wait to see the renovation.
I’m totally allergic to blue walls as well. They give me a ‘foreign body reaction ‘, haha!
So in love with those gold accents and the gold shelf – dining room goals for sure!
Angela at Blush & Pearls
I find the space very lovely. I know you like what you like. You have done such a great job with the decor and space you have. I can’t wait to see the transformation. Nothing wrong with switching up things and creating new and better spaces.
It looks lovely, even as a placeholder arrangement. Truthfully though, your crown moulding steals the show – that corner near the fire place! Gah!
You are so right. I had painted my walls a greyish blue in high school and man was it depressing ! I do like navy and royal blue in general though, just not on the walls. Your dining room looks great otherwise. Love all your accessories <3
Well, yes, the walls are not a pretty color and it doesn’t work with your beautiful furniture and accessories. But paint is cheap and even expensive wallpaper is completely justifiable! I can’t wait to see how you transform this space.
Yep I’m the same with blue, just don’t get it. Unfortunately in my home, ‘temporary’ decoration morphs frighteningly into five years down the line, & still living with it! It’s great that you share all the things you’re unhappy with though, it makes the rest of us see the light at the end of the paint chart tunnel!
I second the gold cobra – I must have it! Can you source it for us? Thank you.
Ahh thank you Kebra! It was purchased at HomeSense a few years ago, unfortunately! xxx
It may be a space in waiting but you have created a more than adequate temporary solution when many would just have used the room as a storage space & kept the door closed. I know exactly what you mean about blue, especially that insipid watered down shade. I love blue skies, wear lots of blue in the summer & have some gorgeous glazed blue pots in the garden but as a colour inside – never. Your plans are far bigger than anything we have ever attempted, today’s task is to mount two theatre seats on a base..!
I like the blue walls, but they’re definitely not YOU! Isn’t life grand that we each can find joy in very different things? Thank goodness, because I never want my home to look the same as someone else’s. Hooray for individuality!
Bit late reading this one… BUT i also hate blue rooms, i painted over the turquoise bathroom in the end and feel so much happier about it! Thanks for the inspiration! Also, i actually quite like the gold shelving unit with everything on it haha, it reminds me of displays in the British Museum x