Swedish Inspired Dining Room

When we first moved into this house the dining room was dark
and gray.  Now it is bright and light and
gray!  We started the renovation of the
room by replacing the carpet with hardwood to match the rest of the house and
removed the 80’s railing (eyesore) which separated the dining room from the
living room.  See the before picture at the bottom of this post.


The rustic farm table was my first purchase as a grown
full-time working woman in my mid-20’s. 
I remember feeling so grown-up to have a real dining room table.  I still love this table 20 years later and
cherish all the scratches and nicks.


I love the juxtaposition of old and new, falling apart and
sparkly, and rustic and modern.  The
rustic candle holders (or large wine goblets!) paired so nicely with the drift
wood and clever cork ball on top of the pristine white table runner and
mirrored stand.  I love the fancy light
above the farm table which casts an intricate design on the ceiling and walls…
that is perfection to me.


The sideboard (aka my grandmother’s old dresser) drawers are
hard to open but every time I open a drawer, the smell of the wood brings back
all sorts of good memories.  I placed our
favorite wedding photos on top, with the candlewick milk and sugar set that my
mom just handed down to me and a picture from our favorite Swedish artist, Carl
Larsson.  I like to think the dining room
looks a little Swedish in my Pacific Northwest home.


I found the sweetest fork lapel pin at the antique fair in
Brimfield, Massachusetts and a couple of years later I received the spoon lapel
pin as a gift…. a perfect pairing for this nook on the wall.  


The photo collage on the wall contains old pictures of my
parents and grandparents.  I have
pictures of my grandparents Christmas card photo greeting from 1954, my beautiful
mother when she graduated from college, an angelic picture of my father and
aunt growing up, and a picture of my grandparents when they were dating in
1939.  The collage also has a picture my
mother’s birthday cake as a little girl. 
Every year for my mother’s June birthday, my grandmother made an angel
food cake, frosted it with fluffy whipped cream, and added a vase of pale pink
roses placed in the middle.  My birthday
is also in June so the tradition was passed along to me and then I passed it on
again to my daughter who was born at the beginning of July.


Also in the summer, my white hydrangeas bloom right outside
the large window.  The white and green
provides a picturesque backdrop to the décor in the dining room and a reminder
of the flowers on my wedding day.


p.s. Here is the before picture.


Share This Story

Home Love Stories

You May Also Like

4 Comments

  1. 1

    I love it Amy! What a beautiful room! We must have similar styles because it just looks perfect to me. 🙂 Also, I LOVE that chandelier! I have had my eye on it for a while, I don’t own a house yet, but by hook or by crook someday I shall have that chandelier! 😉

  2. 2

    Hi, Amy! Well done! I really like how you’ve arranged your family photos. and that you obviously enjoy looking at them and recounting the fond memories they portray. Thanks for sharing! I also like your combination of natural fibers/materials and metal. Oh, and the view of the woods and rock retaining wall from the big window is beautiful!

  3. 3

    Welcome Amy! Your dining room turned out so beautiful and bright! I love how you incorporated the old and the new. And glamorous too, with that amazing chandelier! I absolutely love your dining table! I enjoyed reading about your family photos and how much meaning they have for you. Your photo display is very nicely done and I think it is in the best place where everyone can enjoy. Again, a simply Beautiful space! I am inspired! 🙂

  4. 4

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>