Hey buddies! It has been such a looooong time since I first began engaged on the eating room dilemma. It’s been so lengthy the truth is I believed I’d begin by sharing my design agony right here so you possibly can make amends for all my struggles with this area. You probably have a  good reminiscence, you’ll bear in mind our eating room is an open idea and a pass-through area from the lounge (which had its personal issues that Emily helped me remedy, thanks Em!) to the kitchen. Right here is the ground plan so you possibly can visualize the area:

As you possibly can see we don’t have plenty of area right here to work with and solely have two partitions on both aspect. The wall with home windows has piano home windows put in, not as a result of we have now an upright piano however as a result of we stay within the metropolis and homes are positioned inside an arm’s size of each other. Belief me, we love our neighbors. Keep in mind this put up? However….we additionally don’t wish to stare into their home windows by means of our home windows, ya really feel me? Awkward.

Generally tasks, nonetheless properly meant, create a snowball impact that perhaps you or I didn’t foresee. That’s what occurred to us in our eating room. I liked our authentic eating room design and I particularly liked our vintage nook cupboard (ahem, I imply I did haul that factor from home to deal with with us as we moved), and I additionally actually liked the desk (nonetheless do, it’s been moved to the basement as my work floor). However after I re-designed the lounge, we LOVED the way in which it took form and the way it began to vibe and really feel natural. Which is nice, besides our eating room didn’t have that very same FEEL.

The Residing Room Now:

Wall Sconce | Sideboard | Stump Desk (comparable) | Arm Chair | Rug | Espresso Desk | Spherical Ceramic Tray (massive) | Trendy Bowl   

The Eating Room Earlier than:

Each are very fairly and really feel very us, however they didn’t stream collectively and complement one another, particularly after they’re a mere two ft away from each other and in the identical visible path.

For context with this challenge, this all started throughout the pandemic and simply because the world began to open again up. So if we had been going to sort out a eating room makeover, a few of my must-haves had been:

• Cozy aesthetic
• Cohesive with the lounge 
• Thoughtfully curated
• Bespoke
• Designed with intention
• Performance and stream

Earlier than we get into the reveal, you must know rather a lot (and I imply rather a lot ) of planning went into this area – protecting in thoughts, that we didn’t make one structural change. It was really fairly just a few readers and Instagram buddies who steered banquette seating beneath the piano home windows. (I’m all the time listening, people!). Sadly, that might imply I’d lose the nook cupboard I’ve held onto for 15 years however after a lot debate, it was time to let her go. This time, as a substitute of retiring her to our storage unit, she discovered a brand new life with a brand new household who was trying and searching for a bit like her to finish their area.

So now that the concept of a banquette was heavy on my thoughts and since I used to be nonetheless grieving the lack of parting with my beloved nook cupboard, I knew one thing equally particular needed to change her. So I started sketching out my concepts of bench seating and landed on this:

Don’t decide my not-so-3-D try at drawing. Sure, that is what I turned over to my buddies at Conventional Cabinetry. Andrew and Liz each got here out to measure (as a result of you possibly can’t take my phrase on measurements) and speak by means of the challenge. They actually listened and we had actually good chemistry immediately. For those who’re ever commissioning a custom-built piece simply bear in mind that 1) it’s costly (and rightfully so) and a couple of) you really want to have an excellent communication plan and relationship along with your commerce accomplice so {that a} drawing like this could really be delivered. 

Insert Megan (not thee Stallion) – who took my hen scratch and turned it into an precise buildable rendering.

Then the magic occurred:

I simply must over-share as a result of the quantity of labor and a focus to element that really goes right into a {custom} piece is outstanding and the Conventional Cabinetry crew deserves their flowers.

Lastly, it was set up day!

Our very personal in-house High quality Assurance Tester (AKA my husband) examined it completely. And it was so good I may’ve stopped right here.

Desk (comparable) | Chairs | Vase (comparable) | Candle     

Nevertheless, whereas all the arduous work and heavy lifting was happening I used to be actually holding conferences with Calico Corners to accomplice on part II of the bench – the upholstery. Then we landed on these materials to finish the bench:

Calico Corners Stripe Material | Calico Corners Inexperienced Velvet Material

The Calico Corners crew stopped out to measure the bench in individual and off to the workroom they went to create the right complement to the white oak bench whereas additionally protecting inside my natural aesthetic.

I’ve labored with Calico Corners on 4 tasks now and each time, they exceed my expectations.

Do you know velvet is an excellent efficiency cloth? Really easy to wash and take away pet hair. I see you Remi and Mister! Additionally, these soft-close drawers really feel so buttery.

Clearly, you possibly can see how a lot I’m over the moon with this complete bench. The desk and chairs actually helped herald heat and luxury in addition to the legs on this desk are simply properly…attractive.

Now it’s been such a very long time coming so I’m so thrilled to share the reveal!

Calico Corners Striped Material | Calico Corners Inexperienced Velvet | Eating Desk (comparable) | Chairs | Chandelier | Counter Stool

Since we’ve snowballed right here, I made a quite simple swap of lighting and stools within the kitchen to additionally carry the stream of the eating room by means of to the kitchen somewhat bit extra as a result of we’re SO not prepared to take a look at a kitchen transform.

Pendant Lights | Counter Stools | White Fruit Bowl

And now that we’re older, I VERY a lot recognize a stool with a again and these are so comfortable whereas contrasting a bit greater than their predecessors in opposition to the all-white cabinetry.

Cupboards | Armchair

I do know I shared a peek of them earlier than in my build-up to this put up however I’ve to share once more how these cupboards stability out this area whereas additionally offering much-needed storage and show area as a result of as a stylist properly….let’s simply say I’ve plenty of stuff 🙂

Visually, the burden of the cupboards works so properly with the adjoining wall the place the bench and home windows are. It’s a slim room so shifting the seating to the window wall actually helped outline the walkway. See these attractive desk legs I’m speaking about? Additionally, your eyes aren’t going loopy, the desk has a barely irregular form as properly which made me fall even tougher for her. Thanks, Excessive Vogue House.

And though I want I had moved this chair for images, it actually is that this stunning and comfy.

Again to these stunning cupboards that so many individuals swoon over on Instagram.

I do get plenty of questions on how I styled them however really I crammed them with the items that I like and since I’m a really earthy shade pallet lover, properly, all of it simply meshes by itself. Certain, I play with heights and preparations however protecting inside the identical muted shade household makes life simpler when you have got this many cabinets and glass doorways. Play with textures, glass, pottery, wooden, and many others. If this speaks to you because it does to me, I additionally gravitate in the direction of artisan handmade objects for his or her natural shapes and irregularities. Many of the objects right here have been thrifted and for those who do select to thrift, perceive persistence and persistence are your finest buddies as a result of it takes time. However anybody can do it so don’t be discouraged. If that is the place you discover design paralysis inside your personal house, you possibly can assist slim down what you want by saving inspiration pictures from magazines (sure, I nonetheless do this) or in fact, Pinterest. Now simply take note of the pictures you save. One thing about these pictures even when they’re not matching your precise imaginative and prescient caught your eye. Research the picture to search out what’s it that your eye is drawn to. The colour? Shadowing? Textures? Does it spark a sense you lengthy to really feel? The form or silhouette of an object may also be alluring to the attention. 

Stylist Tip: Differ heights and scale in order that your eye dances round to take a look at every part however depart sufficient visible respiratory room in your eyes to relaxation. AKA – don’t cram all the issues into a cupboard simply because they bodily match.

Dinner Plates (comparable) | Pasta Bowls (comparable) | Ceramic Cups (comparable)

Like something, styling takes follow and everybody works by means of design dilemmas and paralysis. 

One tip I realized with open-concept flooring plans is to design them in a approach that all the areas really feel like they’re in the identical relationship despite the fact that some could have completely different personalities. You may obtain this by means of shade, textures, pattern-play, and many others. Did I examine off each single one off the must-haves within the eating room? No. Nevertheless it lastly feels juuuuust proper. I believe it feels cohesive with the lounge now and that was one in every of my finish targets. I like that the 2 areas don’t match however they do complement each other and inform the identical story. I get it, open-concept flooring plans are powerful! However, that doesn’t imply they’re unattainable and if I can do it with none structural adjustments being made, so can anybody else. The most important lesson I realized when designing our eating room? Design with intention and function and ask your self these powerful questions akin to funding vs. expense. Do you really like it or are you able to wait till you discover that excellent classic/vintage piece? Lengthy story quick, taking a scalable design strategy actually allowed me to thoughtfully curate our house.

*Design by Lea Johnson
**Photographs by Sage E Imagery

The put up Lea’s Open Idea Cross-By Eating Room Design Agony – SOLVED! appeared first on Emily Henderson.