When we first moved in, I was pretty confident that I'd be removing the wallpaper in the dining room.
If you look closely, there appear to be Christmas ornaments with little stags in the design. Christmas year round—such an interesting choice!
BUT! Like many design aspects of this house, much to my surprise, it has grown on me. The overall impact gives me old-timey saloon vibes, and I really don't hate it.
So while, yes, mayyyybe I would eventually like to change it, it has worked its way much farther down the list of priorities, and maybe even off the list (HA!).
Here you can see a couple photos from the listing before we purchased:
// DINING ROOM BEFORE //
It was absolutely very tasteful, but a little too formal for my personal taste. I also wanted to try to utilize smaller scale pieces, as well as pieces with a lower profile, because it felt like this room could easily feel a little too cluttered.
Below you can see how I opted for chairs with a mid-height back vs. the taller chairs above, which I feel calms the space down a bit.
The layout of the dining room is pretty straightforward, mainly because there are so few options. There are doors on every single wall, multiple on some, so it's a big "walk through" area.
We do eat a lot of meals here, and it's great for board games when we have friends over as well. I also find myself working here from time to time because it's regular table height, and my desk in my office is standing height.
The chandelier is another element that has been up in the air for me. I don't know whether the it was original to the house, but it is absolutely a vintage (maybe antique?) fixture.
When we moved in, there were some 90's looking flowery glass shades over the lights, so I swapped those out for something that felt more true to the fixture design. On it's own, I do love the fixture, but I think eventually I'd love something bigger and less colorful.
The rug in here was a big jump for me because it was so bold (you know me and my tone-on-tone style), but I think because the walls were already so bold, it helped me get out of my comfort zone.
I had already purchased a different vintage rug for the west wing (though it now lives someplace else haha) that was a step in the bolder direction, and once this one arrived, I think it really solidified my addiction to vintage rugs...sorry, not sorry! HA!
You'll may recognize the rest of the pieces from our Madison house. The table, chairs, and credenza were all in our dining room there. The little tufted bench used to live in our entryway, and has found a nice little home beneath a collection of quirky vintage artwork.
Of course, I have a mirror over the credenza—more often than not, I prefer a large mirror to a large piece of artwork - to me, it's visually more calm, and it makes the space feel more expansive. That said, you can't have mirrors on every wall, and artwork is suuuuper important too.
The little stool beside the credenza is one of a set that I found on marketplace that I originally was hoping would work well with our island. Something about them felt too busy for that space, but I now have them split up in three different rooms acting as plant stands, and I love them!!
One thing I've loved about this room is all the pass-through views in the space. From any spot in this room, you have views into other rooms. It's very central, and so visually, it's a very fun spot to be or to look through from another room.
Work with Lauren Figueroa Interior Design
LFID is a full-service interior design firm serving West and Southeast Michigan known especially for our Designed in a Day service.
We work with clients from Detroit to Novi to Clarkston, and Grand Rapids to Holland to Traverse City—and anywhere in between! We pride ourselves on creating bespoke, people-centered spaces—because after all, people are what this life is all about!