Office/Dining Room Update – PART 1

My dining room/office needs a total overhaul. For Christmas, I asked for money to redecorate it. I can’t wait to make some changes to the ugly room that you can see from every angle of my downstairs.

Even though we’re moving in six months, it’s worth it to me to make these changes now. And really the only investment we’ll make that we won’t be able to move with us is about $30 worth of paint. No big deal compared to the pay off. My philosophy is that it shouldn’t matter if you’re living somewhere for six months or six years. I feel better about life when my home looks and feels beautiful to me. Don’t you?

First up on the to do list:

1. Change the paint color.

The mustard color is not good in here. I’ve pretty much hated it since I finished the last paint stroke about two years ago. I’m leaning toward something a lot less warm and much more neutral, like Benjamin Moore’s Silver Fox – a nice taupe-y gray. It basically matches the gray linen on my dining chairs and will look nice with the blue gray currently on my living room walls. One of my favorite bloggers, Mrs. Limestone, used this color in her home renovation and I love it.

I’m also considering Sherwin Williams’ Intellectual Gray, which seems to be a cleaner gray (can gray be clean? hmm), after seeing this post on Style Court.

2. Our old desk is NOT working.

We bought our pretty little writing desk at a thrift store a month or so after Michael and I were married and we refinished it together. We both had to let go of some sentimental attachments to the desk last week when we sold it on Craig’s list (for twice what we paid more than five years ago!).

The little shelf was not quite deep enough for the iMac (two accidents too many there) and the height of the desk surface was uncomfortable for me (carpel tunnel, anyone?)

Since a lot of the furniture in this room is more feminine (scrolled legs, etc.), I decided we needed more balance and that the new desk needed to be sleek and straight-lined. I found this parsons desk on Craig’s list for $25. (about $275 cheaper than the West Elm version I was looking for)

It’s actually a table, because there are no drawers, but I plan to get this red filing cabinet from IKEA to fix that storage problem.
3. A new desk chair is immanent.

Over the summer while we were in New York and Brussels, the people who rented our house broke the legs on my pretty tufted office chair {tear}. As a replacement, I’ve had my eye on a nice, simple upholstered side chair that looks similar to this

or this.

You’d be surprised how hard it was for me to find anything even close to these chairs on eBay or Craig’s List. Here’s what I was able to find though:

Not too bad, right? But that blue velvet has to go.

Schumacher’s Chiang Mai Dragon in aqua has been my fabric obsession of 2008, and I think my little chair would look amazing all wrapped up in this chinoiserie love.

I read online that the design originated from a 1920s block print that Schumacher associates found in an old English fabric archive. The print is so very Art Deco with the stylized Asian flowers, trees, lanterns and, of course, dragons. I am crazy about it.

Here are a couple of my favorite Chiang Mai projects that I’ve seen around the blogosphere.

Photos below of chairs at Boston-based Hudson, via Pink Wallpaper

photo below of Designer Jen West’s daughter’s bedroom, via Style Court.
photos below via Maison Luxe

Chiang Mai Dragon pillows via eBay UK, ($60, pair of two cushions)

Aren’t the colors of this fabric just gorgeous? I think that’s why I’m so excited about it – the colors are such a nice complement those in my living room (which is viewable from the dining area).

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the office/dining room redo…