dining room design plans: inspiration

as i wait for my mortgage loan to officially go through, and as i fill out what seems like an endless amount of paperwork to apply for the board, i have to ask myself: why did i think this would be fun?

OH WAIT, I REMEMBER. because it meant that, if i pinched my pennies and made some smart choices in the renovation, i could redecorate a little bit. ALL ON MY OWN. i have been pinteresting up a storm trying to figure out what to do with my dining area, which will actually just be a section of the living room (thanks, new york, for your ludicrous lack of space). since the apartment isn’t all that big, and from the entryway, both the living and dining areas will be visible, they need to be congruent spaces. i want them to feel separate, but the same.

there are a few ways i’m hoping to achieve this:

• lighting: i’m going to go a bit more modern in the living room (with a serge mouille knockoff as the centerpiece; wish i could afford the real thing but there AIN’T NO WAY), so i want the dining space to feel, if not super modern, at least somewhat so.
• rugs: a more neutral rug in the dining room (i’m eyeing a natural hide rug, but this will have to come later in the process, as those babies are EXPENSIVE) paired with either a) a natural jute rug layered with a vintage kilim or b) a moroccan shag rug in the living room.
• the color scheme: i’m keeping the walls bright white. my current place is gray, and while i might go for a “warmer” white with a little more gray in it, i’m going to stay from color, at least for now. most of my furniture has a white and/or neutral base, and i’d like to keep it that way. i’ll bring in my pops of color via textiles, which are much more easily altered than wall colors are.

one thing i know i will be keeping, at least for now, is my ikea docksta table. oh, the beloved docksta. it’s an ikea favorite; i hope they never get rid of it. it’s a knockoff of the famous saarinen tulip table, which i adore but cannot afford. and dressed up with some nice chairs and good lighting, it’s actually quite wonderful. here it is styled a variety of ways.

it’s not fancy, but it gets the job done. and you can easily fit four chairs around it, six if you squeeze. as you can see from the shots above, it’s also a truly versatile piece. it goes with just about anything, chair-wise. i’m torn between my beloved bentwood chairs (love this modern black version from crate & barrel) and a slightly more comfortable wishbone style. right now, i have clear chiavari chairs, which i’ve loved, but am ready to let go of.

so, how does it all come together? that’s a post for another day, friends. most likely, it’s a post for tomorrow. i am slowly, painfully, very unsexily teaching myself verrrrry basic photoshop skills with the help of my friends here at the office, and I BE MAKIN’ SOME DESIGN PLANS! so stay tuned for that, because it’s going to be SA-WEEET.