While we were doing our kitchen makeover last winter, we also made a few updates to the dining room, namely painting the wooden floor a much darker shade. This oddly shaped room leads directly off the kitchen and the honey coloured floor really stood out against the slate of the kitchen.

Despite the fact the floor really hasn’t worn well, in fact it’s worn absolutely terribly, (I blame four slightly inebriated men relocating the table on Christmas day), I’m still glad we made the move over to the dark side. While I wanted this room to have a separate identity to to the kitchen I was also conscious both spaces needed to complement each other.

We painted the walls Dulux Super Matt White just like the kitchen and James built a cupboard and shelf within the fireplace painting it in Valspar Charoal Sketch left over from the snug. A log burner would have looked gorgeous in here and the flue is in place should we ever want to do this but we figured the only time we’d use it was when we had guests. It gets toasty warm in here when you have a few bodies so we felt we really couldn’t justify the cost.

I’ve mentioned several times on my instagram feed that I was desperate to refinish our dining room table. The treacly varnish really wasn’t floating my boat. In the end James gave it a quick once over with an electric sander and some sand paper and I’m over the moon at the difference it’s made. We haven’t waxed or varnished it yet but as I want it to be a battered farm house style table I’m not sure we really need to. While the table was a doddle to makeover the chairs have been a different kettle of fish and they’re currently in the garage waiting to go off to be dipped and stripped. I’m a big fan of the Tolix style chairs I brought in from the garden but they’re a little bit too small for the height of the table.
On the table I added a star tile from the kitchen to carry on the motif. On it stands my favourite vase (it’s the perfect size) from Kempton Antiques Market.
The lights hanging over the table were from eBay. We had intended to get the electrician to relocate the light fittings in the middle of the table but never got round to it. Instead the ceiling hooks from from B&Q really add interest and lots of people comment on them.

The chest came with us from the spare room in our old house and it was the one I mentioned in my recent How to Paint feature. I bought the shutter mirror hanging over the chest from Hilary and Flo in Sheffield last year and next to it stands an anglepoise style lamp from HomeSense. I found the vintage bar sign in a local antique shop and the bar tray was bought several years ago from Bert’s HomeStore in Brighton.

I have jute rugs all over the house. I can’t quite remember if this one is from Dunelm or JD Williams, either way I like how it softens the space, I bought the pink rug from French Connection for my dressing room but when it arrived laid it out here for size and think it may have found a different home instead. Who doesn’t love a layered rug?!

On the walls I added some framed instagram prints over the new column radiator which used to sit above one of the staircases in our old house. These are just Ikea frames with custom mounts. I did this in the snug too and they really do look more luxe in a larger frame. I also have one propped on the floor alongside my David Ehrenstråhle Monumental Guide to New York print.
I hung all the plates using invisible disc hangers. The plate wall is made up of a couple of old ones; the Ralph Lauren clock was from HomeSense and the jack rabbit from H&M. The ‘Love’ plate is probably my first, last and only piece from Astier de Villatte. My husband bought me this from their John Derian collaboration and I absolutely adore it.

The old bus blind was about a tenner from a vintage shop and the piece of wood James used to make the shelf above the fireplace was £5 from our local reclamation yard. My favourite piece in this room has to be the bonjour sign which I commissioned Melissa from Sign Hive to create. It looks perfect next to the collection of vintage bottles I collected for our wedding decor.

I’ve tried my best to mention all the sources but if you have any questions then please do let me know.