Exotic & Eccentric Setting

Hi there, thanks for accepting my invitation to see the reveal of my new dining room...
Please, do come in!

F	or the last couple of months or so, this room have been a muddled patchwork of various green paint swatches, as I pondered a new, fresh and uplifting decorating scheme (just in time for the most anticipated Spring). It took a while to make up my mind,
considering the "right" paint choice... but the colour green at this moment in time, just feels right to me.

Especially since I explained it here, this room is at the back of our home and sadly doesn`t get as much sunlight as I would like...

 Also, since we can see our small backyard from this room, I wanted it to feel like we were extending the dining room into the outside - hence the choice of the Palm Leaves Wallpaper (a purchase from Ebay) to replace the other print (that used to be in the ornate picture frame) that I had for donkey years...

"The restful green on the walls, 

highlights the verdant shades of the garden outside

 and the plants  that I have indoors."

...and because I absolutely love the colour black....

I used it as much as I could in - accessories, curtains and voiles, upholstery, and of course paint, 

the fire surround, and what use to be the wall chrome lights have now also, been painted...

And these big black glass ornaments (seen below), on top of the cabinet have been primed, sprayed in black gloss and then I lacquered them, for protection. (Although later on, I intend to add white zigzags to them) but for now they will do. And since I too love the Hollywood Regency look, I asked my dear hubbie to add wooden moldings to both doors, so they could be painted white, which gives a nice touch and the perfect contrast to the ordinary black gloss doors...

And not only that, but he has also made the most amazing job of upholstering my pair of Edwardian chairs... plus, all the other 6 chair seats in the same beautiful collection of  Paoletti fabric, that has a nice subtle velvet raised detail and sheen to it.

While for the table cover, I simply used pins to fold this fabric neatly... so that the pins won`t be on show.
This way, when I fancy a change for a different tablecloth,
I can still use this fabric for another future project that I already have in mind...

And to make my classic glass cabinet a bit more modern looking... without having to paint it (as I`ve explained here),
 I simply used double sided tape and stuck leftover pieces of the same wallpaper, that I used for my living room TV screen cover.

I love to use feathers, quite a lot, (as you can see here) - since they always exude glamour!

So of course, they had to be part of my dining room and the colour orange makes a nice contrast -
- to the four different green hues chosen for this room...

 As I said in the past, I intended to decorate on the cheap... and on the cheap I did!
I always wanted to have some type of a bar, for this room... and now my wish has finally come true, at last!

- After seeing these photos of my new bar, I just noticed that the top shelf needs to be adjusted a "little"... 
so, I will be adding some more of the chequered fablon (that I bought from B&Q) to the back of the shelf, so it won`t be as dark for my beautiful vintage glasses, to sparkle along....

My "bar station" used to be a chest of drawers that I bought from St Catherine's Hospice - second hand furniture shop for £20.00. And I gave it a little transformation, by removing the drawers, a dash of black paint again, chequered fablon for extra detail, and also, because it reminds me of being one of the elements that Kelly Wearstler likes to use in her own designs... 

And some bling bling in the form of drawing pins.

I love it all. Actually we all do!

Alan, (that`s my husbands name), he`s already getting used to be bossed about, when the lady in charge - (that`s me, by the way), "demands" one or two cocktails... but there`s no need to worry, this bar is only open at weekends. 

So my special bartender can have plenty of rest, during the week. Lol

I acquired most of my treasures for this room from auctions and other various second hand shops. Although the lovely brass champagne bucket, was last years Christmas present for our home! Along with the other bigger one that I have displayed on the dining table - both bought from Home Sense. And the vintage brass round tray, (seen also below) was a bargain, bought last year, just in time for Christmas... and it goes perfectly with the drinks bucket, that is housing tropical plants to compliment the more -

"modern take" on the  jungle / tropical scheme, that I was after!

"But the piece of resistance for me, has to be the big wicker lampshade that was another inexpensive charity shop purchase. In the evenings, it provides this room with such a lovely soft glow..."

 I won`t disclose how much I paid for it, because I do have another one also...

 and I`m still considering either to put it for sale on my online shop (whenever that takes place - hopefully sometime soon)! ;) At first, I thought to use each one (of these lampshades) at either side of the chandelier - at a low level to create, intimacy and drama. But sadly, it just wasn`t to be. Our dining table isn`t centered to the fire surround, so the lampshades would look out of proportion. So I resorted to plan B. Which luckily, turned out quite nicely in this spot, just as well...

Since my dining room, is only used for a few special occasions during the year...
-  (special at night time), mood lighting is an important factor - for in here.

I wanted drama!
And of course, my huge old crystal chandelier, that used to belong to a French chateaux... helps somehow... but not entirely.
But with the new addition of the wicker lampshade, now we are talking!

You see, this room is a walk through to get to our kitchen... and how it was looking in the past, it was (a bit to bland) for my liking.
 It didn`t grab anyone's attention... dull it was! And that, I am not! It just didn`t reflect my personality. But now I`m so, very content.

And (as I explained it here) the Eclectic style, is about daring to do things differently...

So, with that in mind, I wanted to add a few quirky elements to my dining room.

 I found this cool vintage florescent bar sign (on Ebay), that lights up, and changes images as you walk past it.

... again, more light, more drama and another talking point!

Which in my opinion, you can never have too much of...

And also, since decorating Eclectic style, it should be personal and an expression of who you are... I just had to bid, for this vintage African tribe figurine (at my local auction).  You see being mixed race, Portuguese and African (Angolan), from my mum`s side... this gorgeous figurine is just too perfect to add a very personal touch, and has so much meaning to me...

I hope that it will pass through my many generations to come! 

Aw., I just remembered, what do you think of my new vintage rug?

These photos don`t do it justice!  (I`m hoping to showcase it - in more detail, on a different post...). That too, was a charity shop find from St Catherine`s. For many months now, every time I would go into the shop (little did I know, that I was walking over this stunning vintage rug). You see, only little snipets of it was on show, since there was quite a lot of furniture covering it. I have been browsing for "the right size" vintage rug that would go under my large dining room table (on Ebay) and the prices can go up to £300.00 and they were nowhere as in good condition as this one.

So again, waiting and waiting and a bit more waiting and browsing does pay off.
 I`m sorry for again not disclosing how much I paid for it, but since I do like to change things around in my home...
(maybe this beauty will be available to buy one day..., but not for a long while yet)!
 First, I want to stay just as it is looking right now - stunning!

The curtains, were again another bargain!  I bought the three used pairs (but they are in like new conditon) from Ebay, for £25.00 including postage. I was fully aware that they weren`t long enough, but I still bought them, just so I could make a "ballroom type skirt" by hand stitching another pair of faux sating curtains into them. And since I was after an even bigger impact (curtain wise)... I added a few pairs of inexpensive black voile curtains.

And I must give my darling husband a big thank you, 
for his admirable patience while painstakingly painting the walls in these rectangular shapes.

"Since I wanted to add a bit more of interest to this room, I came up with this idea of using three different green paint colours. I`ve opted for a pale colour that reminded me of Spring, and a more vibrant green that would represent Summer and the olive shade would be the Autumnal. While for the chimney breast and above the picture rail, I`ve painted a brighter acidic green...  that blends in nicely, with this zingy palette."

Just as I was editing this post, I realized that the opposite wall where the huge gilded mirror is, was looking a bit lost on it`s own and the wall was looking too bland, also. So I went to have a rummage through some treasures that are still awaiting to be listed on my online shop, and found these two gorgeous paintings that have a raised detail to them... and straightaway, I know that they would be perfect!

BEFORE 

AFTER

"The use of orange and reds hues,

 makes the perfect contrast to the greens backdrop..."

(I took these three photos (seen below,) looking through the gilded mirror).

And on this photo below, you can just about see a snipet of my back yard.

 Sadly my Fatsia Japonica "Spiders Web" plant, has grown way to much out of portion, and it`s blocking quite a lot of natural light, 

hence this room looking a bit dark still, (so I`m hoping to move it to somewhere else). 

And last year, we added a tall fence, (to our back yard) which again let`s less light coming in, and we also added slats to the outside window has a feature, that too looks great but again it blocks some light... so it`s a good job that I managed to create a glamorous (in my opinion) dining room, without looking too dark and dull. Although, when we finally get around to doing our kitchen, (that is next to this room), we intend to knock down two walls and add at least two skylights (so there will be lots of natural light flooding through). Also (two days ago) it was a foggy day, when I impatiently took these photos. I was too impatient wanting to share my new dining room with you! Haha. But no need to worry, I`m hoping to take "newer" photos, when better lighting is available. On the positive side, I hope you could had a feel for my new "glamorous" dining room and see how welcoming and intimate it looks and feels at night time!

Just the perfect ambiance for the perfect special evening meal... don`t you think?
And guess what? You`re invited! ;)

And to conclude this post, allow me to share the before and after photos...

(On the photo below, I thought that the room looked too downright oppressive... so I asap repainted it in white.)
And you can also see, what I meant by swapping the print inside the picture frame, for the Palm Leaves Wallpaper...

And now, what do you think of the new colour choice? On second thoughts, it`s my home.

I chose what to do with it - to please me and the rest of my "familia"! And so should you!
Do what pleases YOU! (Without wanting to sound too rude)! Lol.

Anyway, sorry, for another super long post.  And wishing you all a fabulous weekend, decoristas! And once again, I can`t put into words how much I value your daily visits. So for that, I`m very thankful! A huge hug sent your way...