Serenity Now

Okay, Lucinda, I know you were worried about my head blowing off, so these are for you. It's the Old Living/New New Dining Room, repainted. Here's how it looked Sunday. But this is how it looks now. Ahhhh. That's better.

It's gray, pale gray, though it looks a bit blue in these photos. I'm kind of excited to have a grown-up dining room. I've always looked at pictures in magazines of white-on-white rooms and longed for something similar, but I didn't think I had that kind of life. But, can't I? I think I can.

I was going to take pictures of the antique booth yesterday, but I forgot to bring the camera. The antique booth is covered in gray felt, too, but it is reading "pink, pink, pink." I'm okay with it. I think it looks really sweet and pretty and feminine and simple. I'll probably be back there today or tomorrow so I will photograph it soon. I think there's a big sale there this weekend, so if you've never been it might be a good time to go. I believe there are a bunch of special exhibitors, too. For this table, I got a piece of 48" round plywood cut and just put it on top of a little cafe table we had — the big oval that had been there was just too big and it begged to be pushed up against the wall. And I think my little tablecloth came out nice. I used tan linen and then made the long, long, long strips of ruffles out of a finer white linen. I didn't finish the edges, mostly out of laziness, but I'll say I was going for deconstructed. We'll see what happens to them when they're washed. Maybe they'll totally disintegrate, I don't know.

We have a lot of color in our house, so this is a nice counterpoint. This room is what the front door opens into, the first thing you see. It's kind of weird to walk into a dining room, but I think the table, over by the fireplace, looks pretty and inviting. I like the idea of eating dinner by the fire. I think it needs a few more modern pieces in it, like this pendant lamp maybe (I was going to do that whole Christmas-light chandelier but it felt a bit too fussy after all, since the room is a little on the precious side already) or these little pillows for the armchair (which is just to the left of the fireplace and is dark green). But I'm psyched to have somewhere to put these ivory scallopy dishes that my mom gave me for my birthday a few years ago. And that teapot up there, in the top picture? Marshalls, $9.99!

Comments

[joanna]

Oh, the dining room looks beautiful, and I love all of your little touches :)

[Lilli]

This is so soothing and polished-looking. Such perfection can't be someone's home, can it? This is actually a photo spread from a magazine, right?

Either way, I love it :)

[laura dodson]

Gorgeous. Simple. Love it. All those creamy whites against the grey is stunning. Not fussy at all. Way to go y'all.

[wee]

O! Alicia! It is STUNNING! When I saw the second photos, I could have sworn it was a scan from a magazine...Martha or Blueprint or mayhaps Domino. Wow. I love,love,love, white on white schemes. So sophisticated. You pulled it of beautifully! I am trying to pick colours for my walls right now too... I'm trying to move away from my life-long penchant for green. I'm just not feeling the green anymore. I'm frightening myself by leaning towards blue. Am also salivating over aqua and red colour combos, but it wouldn't really work with the rest of my house decor.. but I might be able to get away with it in the bedroom and my little studio. I find myself walking around in a fog these days, thinking W.W.A.D (What Would Alicia Do ) .

[wee]

Argh... cringing at my spelling and punctuation errors above! Forgive me.

[Veronica TM]

I love your new dining room! Everything in there is beautiful and very "grown up", lovely.

[clarice]

Really charming !!!! Love it Clarice

[Dacia]

I was SO going to ask where you got the teapot! Thanks for sharing. It's beautiful. I love the collection of white dishes on the mantel. It really turned out great!

[Beth]

Oh wow Alicia. I love the room. I love the color... looks like my snow dove gray from my condo. I especially love the table by the fireplace. Looks cozy. You guys did a great job!

[Gina]

Love all the white and soothing colors!

[stephanie]

alicia, i love it!! all that whiteware gathered together on the mantle looks very homey, but sophisticated at the same time. i have that same pendant light picked out for our dining room. i love the glossy shade.

can i just say i miss you? lisa and i will surely go check out your booth this weekend.

[molly]

wow, it looks lovely alicia! man, when you say you're going to do something, you really do it! i love that.
can't wait to see pix of your new booth, too.

[mgleber]

I LOVE the fact that you are leaning more towards the moden side! I'm not much of a shabby chic gal myself and can't wait to see what you come up with!!!

[blair]

beautiful, as always. you are such a master, when A gets a vision, great things result!

[Baby Tease]

Hi- White on white on white can be for anyone. You made it look simple to effect and it turned out originally yours, not copied. Who needs all of that color cluttering our lives? Congratulation!

[Jodi]

Serenity now... insanity later! Hopefully not in the dining room, though.

Seriously, I love the dining room. It's very peaceful and serene. Martha Stewart would be jealous if she saw it!

[Posidriv]

What a beautiful, beautiful room! It looks like it belongs in a fairy-tale! I just love it!

[Michele]

So beautiful Alicia! Light grey is an amazing color isn't it? It would seem boring, but oh no, this is just gorgeous!

[Jessica]

it's gorgeous!

[beki]

Oh my godness, it looks like a room straight out of a magazine! Absolutely beautiful, really.

[andi]

Your room looks amazing! You did a beautiful job! It really does look like a magazine picture!

[Edwina]

Martha eat your heart out!

[SeAnne]

I LOVE your room, it's great!!! Where did you get that lovely teapot?

[hannah]

grown-up in the best way! so sad we didnt get to cross paths last week. although, now i know first hand you cant beat the orgeon coast. waiting to see that booth of yours, pink, pink, pink huh?

[Tomoe]

wonderful rooooom!!!! your blog isn't called posie gets COZY for nothing! you sure know how to do cozy! hahaha :)