Dining Room Dilemma

Do you have a room in your house you just can't stand, but have no idea why? I hate my dining room. Always have.

It's been through a few iterations.

When we bought the house, it had carpet which sorely needed replacing ,which was fine because we were remodeling the house anyways.

Once we laid new flooring, added crown molding, and "decorated," it looked like this. Yeah, my dining room was a living room. You'll see where this is going...

My husband HATED it. In retrospect, an orange mod rug from IKEA isn't really our style anyways. He's always, always, always right (except about the kids).

Here you can see how the sunken - yes, sunken - living room fed into the dining room behind it.

When we had our second baby, Husband's office become Baby A's room. So we - AKA contractors - built a wall and pocket doors to enclose the old dining room. His office is in there now. Best decision of all time. The cost vs. lifestyle return was HUGE. The flow of the house isn't as perfect now, but it's much more usable. More on that another time. 

There are very few things I like about this room, though. First, because Husband is always, always, always right (except about the kids), I realize we should have filled in the sunken floor and made it all the same level. Too late for that now, but in my next lifetime I'm totally doing it. That and ripping out the center wall into the family room to make an open floor plan. 

I think the hardest part of this whole dining room conundrum is that there are a few things I love, but I can't decide how to make them work with what I own or could eventually make/buy.

First, I LOVE my buffet. It was super cheap from Rooms2Go, and now I've seen the exact same one for 4x as much at high end stores. Lucky buy.

 

I'm also currently unnaturally obsessed with my centerpiece on the dining table. Bedazzled candlesticks for Shabbat? Check. Faux succulents? Check. Wicker ball for woodsy appeal? Check. Shiny Silver Tray? Check.

Mirrored frames on the wall? Check.

What I think is crazy? The giant reptile enclosure my super handy husband built for his 3 - seriously THREE  - tortoises. It's complete with humidity control, heat control, lights on timer, and a sliding window for easy access. Now the tortoises live in the backyard and I'm stuck trying to sell this thing. But once I do, we're going to put my in-laws piano there!

I also hate the whole wall. There is no good picture, but it's like a weird alcove with half a wall of windows which I keep filling with chairs. It was the dining chairs for a while, until I sold the old sofa and put it's matching chairs there.

See - sunken. And the more upholstered chairs by the window. So odd.

I also detest our Home Depot special chandelier. It's just so terribly un-special. But I didn't take a picture of it because it's so boring I didn't even think of it.

I know it's not bad. But it's so BLAH! Next project will be faux-wainscoting and painting to add more... who knows. Texture? Drama?

I can't wait to sell our reptile terrarium. If you're interested, let me know! Then I can put the piano in its place.

I'll also have to eventually invest in an area rug, a new chandelier, and a table that can fit all 8 chairs. No, I don't know how it is I ended up with a table that doesn't fit as many chairs as I bought. Poor planning, I guess.

Got ideas for my horrible room? Let me know!

Kristina