Modern French Country Dining Room: ORC Week 5
Eiffel Tower Miniatures, Lamps, Plates, Chairs, and Framing
How in the world is Week 5 complete of the One Room Challenge? I’m finally at the point that when I look in the dining room I don’t cringe and see the finish line is in sight! Let’s review what is new this week as we head into the REVEAL next week 🙂
If you are just starting this journey and want to see the weekly progress, I’ll link each week so far: WEEK 1, WEEK 2, WEEK 3, WEEK 4
Last week I shared that Paris apartments started influencing the design of the dining room. After looking at so many pictures and analyzing the style, I decided to write all about Paris Chic decor in detail. CLICK HERE for that post.
The Parisian theme is still in full force, as I progress forward in solidifying the design style.
Room Sources to Date
Please hover over each picture and click on the “chain link icon” to be taken directly to the products. The chandelier is a close match, since the one I purchased is no longer available.
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Post contains affiliate marketing links, but all products were hand selected by me! If you buy through one of my links, I may make a small commission that helps support producing content and maintaining this website.
Travel Memories to Decor
Many times I’ve professed my love for Suzanne Kasler. Her design style has influenced mine for close to 20 years! In one of her books that I was drawing from for inspiration, she calls herself a “Francophile” and has the most amazing collection of Eiffel Towers!
After being inspired by the collection above, I’m thinking of displaying travel mementos on a very small scale. My own personal Eiffel Tower collection is only 2 deep LOL. It’s a start. This past summer on a trip to Sydney, Australia with my son, I purchased a crystal miniature of the harbor as a memento. It’s been sitting in a drawer and I would love to find a home for it!
Someday maybe I’ll be able to have a display as grand as Suzanne Kasler’s, but for now here is my simple version that I am considering for display on the credenza. Before, my larger Eiffel Tower held my reader glasses so if this plan doesn’t work it still has a job 🙂
Lamp Selection
Making a change to the lighting has been a little difficult. What finish should I chose? Would more gold be too much? Is white too plain? Luckily, I found pearl lamps – yes pearl! A pearlized finish has been the best bridge between the blues, golds, creams, and warm woods I have going on in the room.
Plus they were extremely affordable! It’s a big but welcome change to move from a typical tall buffet lamp to a regular table lamp. The lamp shades that shipped with the bases were a little too wide and white for the room. Luckily, I found new shades that fit within the space and on the credenza better.
Classic Linen 10 Inch Tapered Shade, Ballard Designs
If you are looking for a new shade, I highly recommend this line! They look great during the day and at night, which sometimes is a challenge.
Plates on the Wall
It has been confirmed, the artwork from Gallery Direct is not going to make it in time for the reveal. Now I await a refund – wish me luck! Plan B was to display plates on the wall! Luckily, I have lots of experience creating templates for hanging things and plates are NO exception.
Simply trace each plate you are hanging and get to work playing with layouts using painter’s tape. Here is the arrangement and I’ll save how it all turned out for the reveal 🙂
The hardest part? Two IDENTICAL arrangements feet apart flanking the mirror. Yikes. It’s a total of 18 plates and a lot of hangers!
Attaching 18 plate hangers was quite fun – NOT LOL! Here are the plate hangers that I used and worked well.
Velvet Chair Seats
Velvet Chair SeatsAs promised, I said I would share how the chairs are coming together with the Oasis Velvet fabric covers and the new lumbar pillows. This is a BIG peek showing you the credenza and new wall color too 🙂
Notice the plates artfully arranged just above the chair 🙂 If you didn’t know it is SO easy to recover chair seats. Follow my simple tutorial CLICK HERE!
Gold Frame Gone Wrong
Next on the “to do” list was to frame the A Delicate Mind canvas artwork. Pictureframes.com had a GREAT deal this month and for under $100 I was able to order a 24″ x 30″ gold floater frame. Their manufacturing plant is also in North Carolina, so the days for delivery was practically overnight! Floater frames allow the canvas to be the main attraction looking like they are suspended inside of the frame itself.
Anyone following my Instagram stories saw that while I was thrilled with the packaging and frame – I was not thrilled with the gold finish. It was the only one offered and even online I thought it was going to be the wrong shade of gold. It definitely had a VERY orange cast compared to the other gold items in the room.
With a $7 can of spray paint and 15 minutes, the frame is now the perfect complement to the artwork. The previous color pulled too much of red and orange out of the artwork and I wanted a more subtle look. If you would like a full tutorial on how to spray paint picture frames: CLICK HERE.
The spray paint color I used was a really nice medium gold without being “brassy”. Crazy how a small shift in color changes the entire look!
Other Projects
Luckily I made good progress on other projects as well…plus am on a path to major budget destruction!
- Wainscoting got a third coat of paint – DONE painting!
- All artwork hung
- Drapery hardware updated
- Bar cart accessories purchased
- Orchid arrangement supplies arrived
- Bought another set of plates to enhance the wall design
- This room is crying out for gold flatware, so yep bought a set
I was hoping to complete the orchid arrangement this week, but after traveling to Toronto for a couple of days my timing got pushed and I focused on the “big rocks”.
The FINAL piece that will make or break the room are the custom drapery panels. They arrive May 3rd and I am anxious that the dye lot is as perfect as the sample against the wall color.
Please send good vibes my way that it all comes together and I have a sunny day or two to shoot the photography before the REVEAL post May 9th!
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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Once a week, I’ll send you an email with all the details and posts from the previous week. To follow along daily, I’ll be posting on Instagram and Facebook, so choose the social media platform that works for you.
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Until next time…
Porch Daydreamer
Tracey
Tracey, I am so impressed with your quick and clever fixes! Absolutely LOVE those chairs and the new seat fabric you used!
Jessica, that is SO sweet! I’ve recovered so many chairs that it’s a necessity when I choose new chairs. Anything I can tailor to my room I love!
I am not sure I would have noticed that the artwork had the wrong color frame, but seeing the difference relaxes something in me that was jangly with the first frame color. Thanks for that detail.
Yarrow, Exactly! It’s just off somehow and your mind knows it. Then when the color is just right, you sigh a sigh of relief 🙂