Art of Dining

The walls of the dining room are wrapped in oyster color velvet so that when light hits the fabric the colors are shimmery and rich. The custom chandeliers pay homage to the history of Charleston and the wall-to-wall sea grass flooring complements the layers of unique texture in the space. The walls are adorned with 18th century paintings and the garden is glowing with carriage lanterns flickering with gas flames. The waiters surround the table and in unison all appetizer plates are removed. Then, again in one fluid movement all entrees are placed, and the guests do not skip a beat in their conversation. The wait staff anticipates anything you might need before you know you need it. Glasses stay full, stray crumbs are removed before you notice them, and dining is an elevated art form at The Peninsula in Charleston. In the world of decorating, we may not have wait staff or elevated dinners, but we can have dining rooms that are elevated with art. Let’s peek into the Begonia model from last week to see the finished dining room which will make the blended home complete somewhere in the Heart of The Villages.

• Paint
The new wall paint is Patience 7555. This color is what I would call a perfect crème. It looks fresh, light, and warm. The best way to keep a home with an open concept open is to use the same color throughout all the public spaces.

• Flooring
The homeowners chose Sahara Sand luxury vinyl plank for the entire home. This flooring has warm sandy tones with a hint of grey. Also, this flooring has variable lengths so that the floor looks like real hardwood.

• Mirror
We installed a large arch mirror in the dining room to reflect the light from the large mirror in the kitchenette area. They are directly across from each other and create the illusion of light coming from real windows in the home. The light bouncing from mirror to mirror is fantastic in the space. The mirror is 72” high by 48” wide and it looks like a Palladian window.

• Sideboard
The sideboard is a furniture hack! One half of the couple had a large entertainment unit made of rattan. We did not have a space for the unit, and it was difficult to get rid of the large piece. We decided it would look great as a sideboard if we cut it down. We taped off the pencil reed bamboo and took a reciprocating saw to it. We cut down eight posts to about two inches above the enclosed bottom. To add a top that looks amazing we purchase a piece of custom made thick heavy glass to float on the top of the newly cut posts. I stained the top of the posts, added dark felt and the piece looks like something from a high-end furniture collection. I like mixing rattan into a space, and I really love that the old entertainment unit could be re-purposed in such a useful way.

• New Chandelier
The old chandelier seemed a bit heavy in the space. We changed it out for an orb chandelier. What I like about a large orb is that it makes a statement because it is large! However, it does not take up visual space and light in the room. Look at the before picture and you can see how the globes hang a bit heavy and block light when they are not in use. It is difficult to see the art behind the chandelier. Remember, that chandeliers are best when they are open. Also, don’t be afraid to hand your chandelier a bit higher than the standard 30” from the tabletop. I tend to like my lights higher and out of the way.

• Lamps on buffet
Even though we have a chandelier in the space, we still added tall lamps to the buffet. At night when the room is not in use, it nice to have low lighting to light the space rather than the overhead chandelier. If you are using the buffet to serve food, the extra light is nice so that you and your guest can see the food when they are facing it since the chandelier would be behind them. Without lamps they would be casting a shadow on the food.

• Art
The art is a large collection from an award-winning water colorist that has retired. The pieces are amazing, and I love having so many on the wall together. One of homeowners has a green thumb. She loves botanicals and nature represented in art. The wall of watercolors brings her great joy, and it provides lots of conversation points when having dinner with friends.

• Rug
The dining room rug is an 8’ by 11” or about that size. The rug is a multicolored rug from Karastan that we purchased online. The company online that we purchased from has software that allowed us to download a picture of the room and place different rugs in the space online. This is a great way to be sure you will like the rug before you purchase the rug. I like the symmetry of two matching rugs in the space. These rugs are colorful, but they don’t take all the attention in the room. They complement the art and the lamps. They are like great supporting actors to the other stars of the show.

• Orchids
Since one of the homeowners has a green thumb, she is very particular about permanent botanicals. She has cats and must have fabulous copies of plants otherwise; they would eat them. The fuchsia orchids on the table are always in bloom and they look and feel real.
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Before and After Pics Below