home tour: dining room!

Please note, the cactus artwork was provided free of charge to me by Minted.

All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support this blog.

I promised you guys a full house tour this fall and got all the photos taken and then BAM the holidays hit and I never got around to posting them all!  I promise to finish posting them soon... so far I've posted the living room (you can see that here) and I will soon be posting the kitchen and the family room.  Our house is always evolving and changing and with these photos being a few months old, I've already switched things up a little.  It's crazy how homes evolve like that!  But on to our dining room!

While most of our home is white and bright and airy, this room is the exact opposite.  When we moved in the previous owners had already painted it this cool moody blue-grey color and we instantly loved it.  This paint color is about the only thing in the whole house we didn't change.  The good news is we loved the color, the bad news is that I have ZERO leads on what actual color this is. I am constantly asked the color and I feel terrible saying I have NO idea. I wish I did. Maybe it's one of these!?!?  The paint color is definitely a departure for us and we love how moody and cozy it is. The chair rail trim was already installed in here as well... I think it helps break up the dark color as well. This is the perfect place to share a family meal, do puzzles or play games as a family.

We didn't have a huge budget for this room so we reused the chairs we had in our old house. This exact style is sold out, but I found a similar set of 4 here for a great price! Then we looked for budget buys for the rest of the room.  This dining table is from a local store, but I found a similar option here.  We knew we wanted a super long table to fit lots of guests.  We can even squeeze two more chairs at the table to seat 8 (and maybe even 10 if we really squeezed). A dining table is a big investment and a daunting one too. I had the absolute hardest time deciding - but in the end I love the blonde wood. It's so easy to decorate around.

We LOVE shopping for our home at IKEA - this light isn't anything fancy but it fits the space great and was $40.  It looks like this exact light is now sold out... but this one is similar and still reasonably priced.  Lighting is such a fun way to add personality to a room, but it can be expensive.  I often have trouble pulling the trigger on the expensive stuff, so one day if I decide I want something fancier then I won't feel bad about replacing the $40 option. In the future I would love to invest in this light... or something like it, I think it would be so pretty with the tray ceiling.

I really fell in love with these cactus prints for the dining room. I can't tell you why - I just did! It could have been that I had just gotten home from Arizona around when I was making selections for this room.  I guess those desert vistas really struck a cord with me.  When the prints first arrived I thought it might be time to breakdown and paint the room white. But the moody blue paint worked PERFECTLY with the greens and blues in the cactus prints and it was like it was meant to be! (left print, right print)

We knew we needed some storage in this room and this IKEA buffet was the perfect size for the spot. Plus, another budget find.  To add a little more personality to it I added these fun pulls that go better with the vibe of the room.  I found these cool woven baskets to use as wall decoration from Etsy - unfortunately it looks like the seller I bought them from doesn't sell them anymore. But I did see similar options at Home Goods recently.  I think it would be fun to continue to add to my collection as I find similar baskets. 

The rug was a random find from Urban Outfitters (on sale even!) - I just love trolling their "apartment" department for quirky finds. Unfortunately it's sold out, but I found a similar one here.

And I can't forget the bar cart! I love a good bar cart set up... we only set ours up when we are entertaining.  It's so nice to put the mixer items for two or three drinks out and then guests can help themselves.  When we don't have it stocked with our favorite cocktail recipe I keep a plant and some other decorative items on it.  It's super convenient to leave in the dining room, or wheel into the kitchen if we are entertaining more casually in there. 

I hope you enjoyed the little look into our home.  Of course, rooms are always evolving... I still need to find blinds for in here (anyone else have a bear of a time trying to find window treatments with a tray ceiling!?!? I'm stumped!) and I'm always fiddling with the decor on the bar cart and the side boards - but that's the fun of it!

Thanks again to Minted for the gorgeous artwork for this room!