“Lil’Bit New Orleans in Texas”

RED. It’s the first thing you will notice in my Dining Room. I love all colors, red is a classic color for a traditional Dining Room. The color red is a warm, passionate and energetic color. It stimulates hunger and conversation (which is exactly what you want in a dining room). When deciding on a color for the Dining Room, I tested several on the wall before I ultimately decided on ” Merlot Red”  by Martha Stewart and I just Love It!

Thrift store Inspiration

This is a piece of art that I picked up for $12.00 at a thrift store, which I absolutely fell in love with and knew I would display it in this room.

It gave me inspiration (can you see where the red came from?) along with several other pieces, a gold framed mirror of my mother’s, gold goes perfectly with red, vintage Franciscan ware with red apples (gifts from my best friend) a mahogany china cabinet passed down to me from my grandmother,  and a love for Louisiana (fresh steamed red crawfish anyone?)

Combining all these items that I love, I ended up with this look. We did not want it to look too formal or too casual, we did not want it  too feminine nor too masculine. I think it turned out nicely, although, I would like to  finish painting the chairs and dining table, also add more photos from our someday future trip to Nawlins. What do you think?

Note: be sure to scroll cursor over the photos for captions 😉

Kitchen (after) facing Dining Room

As you enter,looking towards right

This is the view from the hallway, sorry no food, the table is not even set, this is just what it looks like when not in use.This is how it looked after we started  demolition

Widen doorway and removed brick chimney

Replacing the threshold

The ceiling structure had to be replaced

View of bay window area from attic

View of bay window area (left and center )

Another view of the right bay window

Here are some photos taken during  renovation

This room is very special to me for several reasons, the black and white photos are some I had taken on our honeymoon, blown up and framed, the 2 largest frames were found in the attic.I spray painted them black. The photos make it feel more personal and invites great conversation…

This awesome wooden bowl, our good friend (Eric) made  for us out of a mesquite stump from our property… Displayed on this very worn old table my husband grew up with, he shared this table with his grandparents, his sister, his parents, his son, his three nieces and many other family members, it holds a lot of memories for him. Something I am most proud of  in this room is that after Gary, my so talented husband, completed the drywall, I finished the rest of the room myself. I taped, floated and sanded the walls and ceiling smooth (sanding the ceiling and walls smooth is not fun at all) in fact after this room, we hired crews to do the rest of the tape and floating in the den, living room and the hallway. l stripped and refinished all the original trim work (again not fun) cannot afford to pay someone to do this, unfortunately. It is very time-consuming, I still have to do this for the rest of the house. Then I installed new crown moulding with a  frieze to make the crown look massive (never did this before, it was fun) . I applied venetian plaster to the ceiling, (this I would do again but not on the ceiling) sanded, stained, polyurethane the floor (3 coats of stain to get it this dark) installed the original window sills, window and door casings, and all baseboard. Then I installed new chair railing and picture frame moulding to give the walls a look of wainscoting. I primed, caulked and painted all walls, trim and all of this I enjoyed, and then finally I got to decorate the room. I ordered custom window blinds and hung them. I also found and ordered the curtains, the chandelier, rug and the bar armoire. The old dresser also given to me from my best friend (Anita) I use as a buffet server, and store all linens and serving dishes inside.

All of this work was done pre blog so unfortunately I don’t have a lot of pictures of the process but here are a few…

Hope you enjoy my little bit of  ” New Orléans in Texas”  style Dining Room

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Linking up at these Great Parties; My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Knick of Time Interiors, A Stroll thru Life, A Bowl Full of Lemons, The DIY Dreamer, Savvy Southern Stlye, Romantic Home, Chic on a Shoestring, Funky Junk Interiors, Nifty Thrifty Things, I Heart Naptime, Between Naps on the Porch, A Stroll Thru Life, The Farmhouse Porch, Our Home Away From Home, DIY by Design, Common Ground, French Country Cottage, My Repurposed Life, From My Front Porch To Yours, Redoux Interiors, VMG206