Dining In The Dark

One of the things I love most about our  new house is the separate dining room and kitchen nook areas. I had always wanted a breakfast nook, specially after having kids! Our old house had just the dining room and our poor chairs, table, and rug saw it's fair share of spills. Having a separate space that we only use on special occasions is heaven sent!

This is how our dining room looked the day we moved in.

Perfect space with lots of natural light. Natural light that I'm not sure if I want to cover up with curtains.
Which would make my life so much easier because I have come to the realization that  I am a mega snob when it comes to curtains. First, they have to be hung a lot higher, much closer to the ceiling. The curtains have to measure about 96" because 84" just won't cut it. Which stinks because it means more money and 96" curtains are never as readily available in places like Target or TJMAXX which is where I do most of my snooping around for good deals on things for the house. So yes I am a major curtain snob. I might change my mind as the room evolves and when I do make up my mind I would love for these curtains at Anthropologie to be on sale for at least 75% off its mind boggling $162 (per panel) price!

When I first saw this room I knew the color would have to go... no question about it! Marc and I couldn't decide on a color. It's an ongoing fight with us because I want him to sometimes be like the typical guy that doesn't give  a shit about what color I paint the house. But then I love his input on things and he enjoys being involved also. Plus he is the one who paints so I can't complain too much! We went everywhere from Benjamin Moore to Home Depot to Lowes. The room looked like this for a long time.

The search came to a halt when I found this image on Pinterest via Design Sponge

As soon as I saw it  I decided then and there that the walls would be black! Surprisingly Marc was all for it!  So off we went to Lowes for what felt like the millionth time! And we started looking for the perfect black, and we found it in the most unexpected place. We found a can of Valspar Paint+Primer in the most perfect inky black in the missed tint pile for only $5.It was exactly the color we wanted but didn't know existed. We took it home and Marc started painting right away!

It was a bit scary to see it going up. But we figured that at $5 if we hated it we could just paint over it. But we didn't have to cause we both loved it!

The color is so moody and makes the perfect blank slate for all of the things I've got planned in this crazy little head of mine. 

This last picture shows what the room looks like right now. I know it's supposed  to be a "formal dining room" but I hate anything too formal and I think that the rug color takes some of that formality away and makes it more of a fun space. Totally me! 

We are still playing around with what we will be hanging on the walls. And I of course am planning to take this ugly lamp down and then burying it in my backyard! It will never again see the light of day!

This post is longer than I expected... I'll go a little more into detail about how I plan to accessorize the room in another post. I might even include a mood board cause I'm cool like that!