Dining room makeover! (Or: wallpaper is magic!) : Annie Elliott Design

My dining room was just fine, Gentle Readers. It really was.

Dining room with natural grasscloth and navy blue trim

But I was sick of our table. That’s how it started.

We bought our dining table 19 years ago, when we moved into this house. It wasn’t expensive. It was newly made from reclaimed walnut, and the legs were painted in a blue/black milk paint. The look didn’t bother me, although I was tired of it.

The real problem was functionality.

First, the table was too tall at about 31″. (30″H is standard for most dining tables; could be 29″ if the table is vintage or antique.) I felt like I needed a booster seat. And the apron was so large…

we couldn’t have gotten taller chairs even if we’d wanted to. (And we didn’t want to.)

Second, at only 33″W, the table was a tad too narrow. Skinny tables have many advantages, but I wanted the table to be about 6″ wider.

Third, look at where the legs of the table are positioned.

The table was 104″L, but you could only fit 3 chairs comfortably on each side because of those darn legs. I wanted a parsons-style table, with legs at the corners, so we could fit 4 chairs per side.

I found THE TABLE, a Milo Baughman 1970s Burlwood table, on Chairish, from a vintage store in Michigan called Le Shoppe Modern. The people there couldn’t have been lovelier to deal with. I knew the table would be a bit orangey, but I liked the richness of the color.

Milo Baughman burlwood dining table — A similar table

I did wonder, though, whether it would work with our grasscloth. Only one way to find out.

Dining room with Oriental rug, grasscloth, and coffered ceiling

Nope. It didn’t.

SO. Obviously we had to re-wallpaper. (Feeling guilty, I asked John whether we should just paint the walls. He said — and this is how I know I married the right person: “Really? I mean, I think we need wallpaper, don’t you?”)

Like every room in our house, the dining room has gone through many iterations. In reverse chrono order from the grasscloth, the room was bright yellow (for about 2 months – disaster from the start), Farrow & Ball’s Light Blue,

Gray room being painted — I thought it would be MUCH bluer

Revere Pewter (who was I?!),

Man and woman painting a wall with roller — My brother James is pretty good at painting. As am I ;)

and, for move-in, Concord Ivory, which wasn’t as gross as it sounds.

The dining room was a tough code to crack, and the grasscloth definitely cracked it in 2017.

Dining room sideboard against natural grasscloth — Pretty, right?

But. The table with it?

Burlwood table with natural grasscloth — Hard no

So. Neisha Crosland’s Queen Fruit to the rescue, via Schumacher.

Wallpaper sample hanging on wall — Go big or go home, right?

Won’t it be dark? I could hear Georgie asking. Well, yes, Georgie, kind of. BUT the wallpaper has some metallic paint, which reflects the light in a most pleasing way; we’ll bring back the floor lamp that was here before the bamboo; and we’ll add a tiny accent lamp on the red cabinet.

Small red Chinese cabinet — This picture makes me a little nostalgic

Ready?

Dining room wallpapered in Schumacher's Queen Fruit Lapis — Unstyled but relatively tidy

Dining room with Oriental rug and Queen Fruit blue floral wallpaper — I LOVE the Polo Blue trim with this paper. That sealed the deal, tbh

Dining room with burlwood table — See how the walllpaper reflects the light?

It’s kind of awesome. The rug looks much better in real life, as does the red cabinet. The room isn’t finished: I’m not sure about the art I’ve re-hung (oops), and now I wonder about the drapes.

But I think I’ll just figure out what to put on the table and call it a day. For now.

THANK YOU to all of you who voted in the Webby Awards!!! We ended up coming in 2nd to Etsy in the People’s Voice contest, but, not to be cliché, we were very, very honored to be nominated. I am extremely grateful for your support.

This blog post is dedicated to Georgie: fair warning before you come home for the summer, Bub. She recently said, “I hate how I have to find out what you’ve done to the house from TikTok!” Fair enough.

Annie Elliott Design is based in Washington, D.C. We’re experts in creating gorgeous, color- and pattern-filled homes and telling people what to do in the nicest way possible.