Color courage is just steps away. Check out our ideas for taking one dining room from calmingly cool to warmly welcoming to vibrantly vivacious in three simple phases. Follow along below to see our first two stages leading to colorful confidence then, tune in to our next post to see the final result.
We’ve all been here, at this beginning stage. And there’s nothing wrong with it—that new space with bright, white walls, a white table plus matching IKEA chairs, the neutral pull shade. Clean-lined and sophisticated, simple and safe.
A textured sisal area rug adds warmth to all the clean whites.
A subtle, favorite piece of art hangs on the wall, and a wire basket pendant is striking in the mostly white dining room.
A sideboard cabinet, in a neutral driftwood finish, holds dishes and linens.
Tired of the band-aid blinds that came with the house? Paint a stencil right over the top of ‘em! We used a subtle white paint and a Martha Stewart lace stencil. For a successful transfer, use stencil adhesive spray to reduce paint bleeding underneath. Make sure your brush or roller doesn’t have too much paint on it—dab excess onto a paper towel. Two light coats are better than one coat of too-heavy paint that will get under the stencil and smear.
When you’re ready, it’s time to bring some more color accents into the dining room. It’s like splashing paint onto a plain, white canvas.
A blue accent wall, a couple of mint-colored chairs to pair with the white, and a striking piece of abstract artwork liven up the space. The look is now more sophisticated and sleek.
Upgrade that table and pendant—both are more appropriately sized for the space. The table still has a clean white top, but the cool grey table legs compliment the other blues and teals in the room.
The pendant adds a bit of warmth, a bit of brass sparkle to the dining room.
Choose one multihued fabric pattern—like this table runner—that sums up your color scheme. The textile becomes the link that binds, while offering inspiration for adding new color shades in the future.
A sisal rug with a geometric black pattern adds visual interest. Plus, a touch of black in any room is needed—it grounds the space visually. Mix geometrics with organics such as florals and also with solid accent colors. The trick is a variation of scale. If you have a large-patterned geometric, go with a smaller patterned floral for something else, and vice versa. This variation adds dimension to the room.
Don’t miss the culmination of our 3-step dining room makeover in the next post!
© Caruth Studio