Modern French Country Dining Room: WK 4
Modern French Country with a little Paris Apartment…
As I hoped, things are turning a corner in WEEK 4 – finally! It was time for the madness to end. Mirrors have proven to be difficult and anyone watching my Instagram Stories knows the craziness! So let me fill you in on what has happened since last week during my One Room Challenge.
In looking at the evolution of the room, the product changes, my personal preferences, etc. I think this may turn into more of a Paris Apartment look! The vibe is getting more sophisticated and less French Country 🙂 It’s still eclectic mixing high and low, but with a little more glamorous feel.
It’s like that Donny & Marie song “A little bit Country, a little bit Rock n Roll.” This room is “A little bit French Country, a little bit Paris Apartment.” Hang in there for the ride! I feel a beautiful room in it’s metamorphosis.
A little crystal, some gold, warm woods, touches of velvet, sumptuous fabrics, subtle patterns, orchids, and fine china – voila Paris Apartment in all it’s eclectic yumminess! I can’t claim a true Paris Apartment because the walls are definitely NOT white 🙂
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Mirror Drama
Last week the mirror showed up shattered and the replacement Aria Mirror showed up to my home like this…
It was supposed to look like this…
The adhesive dried out and the mirror and backer were separated. So that meant the mirror was sliding around in the frame! Not good. Luckily, Hayneedle was AMAZING and we negotiated a discount so I could try to fix it. The frame is SO gorgeous and I just didn’t want to hunt for another one.
Back in the day I worked for GE Sealants and Adhesives and have some adhesive knowledge, which came in handy 😉
For $5 dollars using some Loctite PL530 adhesive and 48 hours of dry time, it’s fixed! The negative Amazon reviews are from people who used it on acrylic mirrors, so it ate through the back (technically called etching) which is a good thing for a strong grip. This was a high quality glass plated mirror and I’ve not had a single issue.
Here I am in the mirror and SO happy with how it looks in the room 🙂
Want to know how to hang a large mirror? I have a simple 10 step process with a tutorial CLICK HERE!
Bar Cart Beauty
The new bar cart also arrived (in the background of the picture above) and it is gorgeous! See how it works in that Paris Apartment theme better than French Country? I’m playing with the styling, but it’s already stocked with booze from my cabinet 🙂
It was very easy to assemble and I made two modifications: put the mirrored shelf on top and decided not to use the glass hangers to add more room for taller items on the lower shelf. I’ll show you the final styling at the REVEAL on May 10th!
Drapery Miracle
After looking at everything in the dining room, I knew the only way to get a the sophisticated Parisian look was to create custom drapes. In my heart that has always been the answer, but I didn’t want to spend the money. My mind got changed after a visit to the fabric store.
The ideal was a silk that matched the walls, but I can’t afford that! Finding a fabric that matched the walls was a tall order in the first place. I got SO lucky!
Instead I found a Magnolia fabric in polyester satin called LUBNA in the color Sea. The fabric sheen has the look of silk I wanted, in almost exactly the same color as the wall. Yay!
Distinctive Fabrics & Furniture not only whipped out my lumbar pillows this week but they also committed to custom panels by May 3rd. WOO HOO! Truly a miracle in this tight time frame. The fabric was in stock and the workroom willing to “work” with me.
Then I found the most gorgeous drapery hardware with matching gold rings. It looks beautiful with the wall color, fabric color, and all of the other gold objects in the room.
Urbanest, 1-Inch Drapery Rods, Renaissance Gold
Urbanest, 1 1/2 Inch Rings, Antique Gold
Rug Indecision
Good news! I was able to sell my original rug purchase to a nice lady locally. Phew. Last week my replacement rug plan was the Suzanne Kasler Katarin rug, in Platinum. After changing direction on the drapes, the platinum rug was going to be TOO much of the same color.
I’m going back to what I know and love – a Natural Sisal rug.
Artwork Re-Work
Gallery Direct is well, slow. My return still hasn’t been authorized and I am trying to cancel my 2nd order. It just won’t make it in time. A new plan needed to be developed. One thing I’ve done in my past and love the look is hanging plates on the wall. Plus it’s oh so French!
When I went to pick up my rug at Ballard Designs, I saw these gorgeous plates and it sparked an idea. Maybe plates can be the art? My design friend Ruth and I played with some options on the big counters in the store and I left with a couple of plates like this…
This weekend I traced the plates and I’ll be playing with the template on the wall this week. If I can come up with a pattern that works in the room, this is the direction I’ll likely take.
What is Left?
All of the chair seats are almost complete, so I should be able to share a peak next week. Then I need to:
- Frame the Delicate Mind abstract art I ordered – it’s gorgeous!
- Attempt to make a faux orchid arrangement for the table
- Finalize accessories and lamps
- Re-coat the wainscotting (2 coats didn’t cut it)
- Polyurethane the credenza
Here is a sneak peak…yes, I was terrified on that first pounce of paint to the credenza! The color is call Shark Fin, by Valspar.
Check Out the Other Designers on this Journey
Have fun following along and please visit the 20 Featured Designers and the Guest Participants. Thanks to Calling it Home and Linda Weinstein for creating this fun event that motivates us to makeover our spaces in 6 short WEEKS!
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Until next time…
Porch Daydreamer
Tracey