#27- I have a thing for Cappucino

We finally got around to painting the Dining Room, and I'm not going to lie to you, you may just be disappointed in me. Remember back in June when I brainstormed different Dining Room ideas based on the great antique table we had from my Grandmother?  Thanks to a lot of your input and comments, I realize and have embraced the idea that home design isn't just about having the best "stuff," but more importantly it's about what that "stuff" means to you.  You build a home by surrounding yourself with meaningful things and memories.  For me, that dining set, even if it is a bit Gothic or mismatched for the style of The Lodge, will always remind me of the moment I sat on the swing overlooking the lake with my Grandmother about a month before she died and she told me that she wanted me to have it.

West Elm has got nothing on that.

Our Dinning Room set as seen in The Bungalow.

That's not to say that we can't make it our own, because there's meaning in that too.  As a reminder, here are some of the styles we have found and love:

Great way to use a Gothic set and make it modern

Love the simplicity with pops of color

For both of these I thought that the addition of some wainscoting into the room, and a bright color or perhaps even some geometric wall paper above it would bring a flare and interest into the room.  Like these great images I tagged on Pinerest.

So now I'll finally come clean and share with you the reason you'll be disappointed in me.  Even after all this amazing eye candy and inspiration, I went ahead and purchased an 8th gallon of Cappuccino White.  (You can read about our first 7 gallons here.)  I know, I know.  Boring!  Lame!  White!  But let me explain, or better yet show you.  Here was my problem:

See where my Cappuccino White paint line stops right above the door?

What you are looking at here is the shared wall from the Dining Room into the Hallway, looking into the Kitchen.  Try as I could I just could not come up with a suitable transition that would allow me to do something unique in the Dining Room that wouldn't bleed into the other rooms. If I continued that wall into the Hallway, I'd have to continue into the Foyer, and if I went into the Foyer, I'd have to go into the Loft.  It's all one big integrated space.   Sure, I could have put up some sort of piece of trim molding to make a line, but it never would have looked right, and it would have taken away from the concept of the house, which is that all the rooms are open to each other and flow into one another.  So I decided instead to go with our first plan- paint all the walls in the adjoining rooms a clean, creamy color and make them unique and interesting through furniture, fabric and lighting.  Sort of like this guy:

So I may have disappointed you all with color choice but I hope to redeem myself with lighting and fabric shortly.  And if not, that's okay too.  It's all about taking the time to find what works (and doesn't work) for you.  Although I'm crossing my fingers that this all comes together the first time, wouldn't that be special?