The day has FINALLY come! Ever since I left the nest, I’ve always dreamt of having my very own dining room where I could host holidays and dinner parties.
The day has finally come and the process of making my mid-century dining room a space I am proud to host in was nothing less than perfection.
I think having SUCH excitement for my own dining room made the idea of decorating by myself SO overwhelming. So I recruited the help of my friend and interior decorator, Casey Nowell, to piece together my perfect space.
They say the only time you should look back is to see how far you’ve come and GIRRRRRL… have we come a LONG AF way. Like I said, our old home didn’t have a dining room, so we had a table that was ENTIRELY too small for the space + this awful rug that didn’t match our new vibe at all.
The four black chairs were a thrift store find from my very first ever apartment in Los Angeles. I bought all four of those bad-boys for $80 and they have stuck with me way too long. I’d say it’s time we said good-bye.
Pair that with a bunch of mixed and matched decor and thrift store items and you have the total cluster-f of a space we were working with before.
All I had to do was share some Pinterest inspo, the dimensions of our space, and a video for her to see what it looked like. From there, Casey pieced together a few different style options to help us begin to visualize the final product.
With that, we took the 3 looks she created and pulled what we liked from each to settle in on our dream dining vibe.
Casey’s virtual approach of piecing the items together so that I could visualize the final product was a GAME-CHANGER in making this a space I loved. And once I was able to see it come to life, we settled on a mid-century modern dining room (shocker, I know).
Once Casey put together our final design, she sent us all of the links so that we could buy at our leisure. Because let’s be real here… As much as I would have loved to just buy EVERYTHING at once, that just wasn’t realistic for us.
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Casey’s approach allowed us to prioritize what we wanted to grab and spread our purchases out over a few months. This was awesome so that we didn’t have to be house-poor from redesigning!
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What I love most about our space are the details that really makes it uniquely ours. I think my absolute, hands-down, most favorite detail is this custom painting created by Rebecca Snyder of The Custom Art Co.
She commissioned this piece specifically to tie in our open-floor plan by pulling in our green, blush, & golds from the living room.
She even did a custom frame to tie in our furniture. I am so in love with this piece because it’s the first statement you see when you walk in. It’s completely unique to us.
Never will there ever be another one identical. Plus, it was created by none other than a fellow Texan girl-boss creative! Pretty much encompasses everything that makes me smile in a 30 x 40 frame.
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The bar nook is the other detail that I love. First of all, I’ve never had a bar cart so I feel ultra-adult now. Second, I think what one stocks on their bar cart says a lot about them. Third, given the fact that I dominate most of the design decisions in the house, I wanted to create a tribute to Travis by highlighting his favorite cocktail. I love my Old Fashioned man…
The wall art is nothing but an 11×14″ frame from Michaels. I made the graphic on Canva and had it printed at my local Alpha Graphics for a whopping $12. I love how this inexpensive DIY turned out and totally personalized the space.
Casey taught me another awesome trick for decorative books! Just go to Goodwill, and grab any $1 book that is plain black when you remove the sleeve.
I never realized that underneath MOST hardcover book sleeves is just a plain, black book. This is a brilliant way to get a high end look for a low cost.
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Needless to say, with the help of Casey, and the beautiful work by Rebecca, my dining room is a space I am the MOST proud of, and cannot wait to host countless dinner parties in!
Now for my next project… should I move on to the guest room or the sun room? Vote down below in the comments!
Casey is offering 50% her E-Design services. It’s normally $250 per room which means YOU get Casey for only $125 if you DM her and mention the code word “LIBRA” in honor of her birthday month! Whether you’re looking to revamp a space or do a full room makeover like us, she’s got you covered. She can also design your space from anywhere in the world!
Fun fact: she never saw our dining room in person until the day of the reveal. So when I say she can design from anywhere, I mean she can design from ANYWHERE!
Rebecca is offering my readers 20% off at The Custom Art Co when you used my code “BDAI”! So go shop some beautiful custom art of your own and take full advantage!
Home Decor Haul: Mid-Century Modern Living Room