Now that things are getting back to normal around these parts, it’s time to rethink dining. As in the dining room. As in the area of the house that is probably the most unused part of most of our homes. Think about it. How many times do you actually dine in the dining room each year? There’s Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, the kids’ birthdays, and the occasional dinner parties that we throw.
Since our formal dining area shares a space with our main living area in the great room, I decided to streamline it. I took some of the chairs to the basement storage area, and decided to give the top a library table look.
I asked myself “What would Ralph, as in Ralph Lauren, do?”, and I came up with a plan.
I went to my decorating stash and pulled out some rustic, as in the distressed lawn balls, wooden bowl and shoe form, and mixed them with some fancy.
I like to have some blues around in January because it’s a cool color, and well, January is a cool/cold month. I pulled out some blue books, along with my vintage Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates book that spent December in our sunroom.
I also tossed in an old school marm’s bell, a flow blue plate from my grandmother (here and here), and a piece of handkerchief glass.
The fancy came in the form of these silver candlesticks. I also added some new books to the mix, including the new Young House Love goodie.
I love how removing the additional chairs really opened up the room. I kept a chair on each end to anchor the table and so we can sit down anytime to look in a book or write a note. The brown pillows on the chairs add a masculine vibe.
I plan to buy some coffee table books this week at the local public library’s used book section to stack on the floor. They will give it even more of a library table feel. So, by redoing the dining scene, this area will get used more than just a few times a year.
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Take care.
Linking to 
What a marvellous idea. I love incorporating books in decor and had long contemplated lining my dining room with shelving for that library feel but that is not going to happen. Very nice vignette! Linking up via Savvy Southern Style. Happy New Year!
Hi, saw your link at Savvy Southern – love this new look you’ve created using what you already had, and love all things library! The wheels in my head are spinning 🙂 Mary
I love the idea of turning it into more of a library and making it functional! And of course it looks beautiful too. 🙂 Happy New Year to both of you lovely ladies!
Vanessa
it looks wonderful! And I remember having a Hans Brinker book as a child! 🙂
This is a great idea. I spotted the pillows you made in the chairs and they look so good there!!
Nice! I think you have created quite an inviting spot for reading or a cup of tea! Great idea to get rid of the chairs!
I love the way you have that set up. Yes, the dining room is hardly ever used here. I just look at it.
I use my dining room for another library -as my library is full of books and my art supplies. I have books stacked everywhere and on practically every surface. I need to move some of my chairs out though.
Genius!!! It is such a useable space, I bet you sit there all the time now! Found your blog through Savvy Southern Style, I will be back.
I just recently did the same thing with my dining room! Yours looks great. I love the idea of giving it a library feel. It will be such a cozy spot to read. Visiting from Savvy Southern, but I am off to take a peak around.