dining room design plan

(the dining room design plan, so far)

luna pendant | cygnus pendant | capiz chandelier | work hard poster | bentwood chair | docksta table | sheepskin rug | hide rug | bar cart

so, if you are a regular reader around these parts (and by that i mean, my two friends who read this thing – i mean, i’m writing for posterity and personal shits and giggles, right?!), you may recall that yesterday, we talked about my dining room design plan, and took a look at a few spaces showcasing the ikea docksta table, which i currently own and will continue to own until i can afford the real thing.

as a totally untrained interior design addict, i find that gathering inspiration is the only way to begin even wrapping my head around what i like, and by extension, what i want my home to look like. i need to sort through image after image, put them all in a (digital) pile, and say, okay, looks like i have a whole loooot of white walls here, so, you know, i guess i like white walls. my home will never, ever look like a magazine, or even be bloggable, but a girl can dream, right?

generally, when it comes to inspiration, i start with my favorite blogs: style by emily henderson, elements of style by erin gates, and amber interiors by amber lewis. i’ve been reading these blogs since emily, erin and amber started writing them, and to say i have girl crushes on all three of them would be the understatement of the century.

i’m an emily henderson fan girl (i’ve applied to write for her three times. she has never responded to me. sad face.), and have been since her pre-design star days on HGTV. emily is like that cool, quirky girl in class who is never afraid to speak her mind or wear that weird shift dress. and i love her for it. her work always includes a lot of antique and vintage, and as a result, the spaces she designs feel immediately lived in. #goals

EMILY’S WORK

erin gates…what is there to say? she’s an amazing writer, she has a beautiful, emotional, incredible heart, and she’s an amazing designer. she melds her life stories with her design, and the results are always spectacular. i’d highly recommend her book, which i received for hanukkah last year and promptly read COVER TO COVER. her design work tends to fall a little too traditional for me – but then she’ll go and do an animal print stair runner in her home and i’m all *heart eyes*. i love you, erin.

ERIN’S WORK

amber lewis is a california based designer who is the EPITOME of cali cool. i am pretty sure that her work is the sole reason i want to paint my entire apartment bright white and go crazy on the kilim rugs. seriously, her spaces are TO DIE FOR, and each and every one of them is SO her. she has an incredibly unique eye, and while her look is decidedly west coast-ian, i am hoping to inject a little amber flava flavvvv into my east coast apartment. now, if only i could afford the amazing rugs she sources from turkey, morocco, and the like.

AMBER’S WORK

why tell you all this? because i think my design style falls squarely in the middle of all of these. i want a little bit quirky, a little bit neo-trad classic, a little bit california cool with ALL THE TEXTILES. blending these is going to be hard, but the dining room design plan above…it’s a start. the animal hide and the schoolhouse electric luna pendant? they’ve got amber written all over them (with some shibori throw pillows in for good measure, of course). the black thonet chairs? they seem right up erin’s alley. the sheepskin? something emily (and amber) would totally dig. i am hoping i can find a few vintage pieces to throw into the mix, a la emily, and keep the rest cool, clean, and simple – while still feeling comfortable and lived in. wish me luck!

next up: the living room.