Holiday Ready

It is getting close to that time of year when you will need your dining room! Take a good look at it! Is it ready? Have you paid it any attention lately? Many dining rooms that I encounter have a great set of furniture in place but they look perpetually unfinished. A dining room in an open floor plan can be challenging to complete, but like any other room needs decor to make it feel finished and inviting. Moving to Florida means change in all directions and that often includes home décor in some fashion. Let’s take a peek at two dining rooms that are freshly finished and ready for the holiday season somewhere in the heart of The Villages.

• Big Red Wall
This dining room is a Gardenia model. The homeowner had painted the back wall what I would consider the perfect red. This red is not too bright and not too red. Accent walls in red can be tricky because they are very pronounced. They are the first thing the eye sees in a room and the trick to make the wall work is balance in the space. Red is a color that absorbs light making the back wall look darker than it should look. We decided to break up the red by adding light to the space. The arched mirror was installed to capture all the light from the opposing window in the kitchen. The mirror is 48 wide by 72 high and we hang it thirty inches off the ground. This height will guarantee to capture lots of light in the kitchen. This mirror remains popular with Villagers because it looks like a window and adds light.

• Large art
The homeowner wanted a dash of Florida added to the space so we added a large splash! The homeowner chose a watercolor rendering of a Sandhill Crane by Gene Rizzo. The picture had to be big to balance with the red wall and mirror. The finished size of the picture is 40 wide by 52 high. The bird creates a stunning vignette depicting one of the most loved birds in Florida Life. The dark frame ties into the black furniture and highlights the dark tones in the picture. The large piece of art is a great start to a fabulous focal point in the dining room.

• Hurricane sconces
The dining room wall is so big that it needed more on it to feel complete. We chose hurricane sconces in sets of two on each side of the picture. The black iron of the sconces worked well with all the black in the space and with one click of a remote, all the candles begin to burn. These candles look so real that I would doubt anyone could tell the candles are electric.

• Runner
Every table needs a runner and this runner ties the entire color scheme together.

• Red pillows
The red pillows on the chairs on each side of the buffet help to pull the red around the space to enhance the balanced effect.

• Dining room two
This dining room is awash in blue tones and is a Begonia model. The walls of the home are painted grey and the homeowners liked the color of the walls.

• Rug
This dining room was able to accommodate a generous 9×13 area rug. A rug this big allows all the chairs to stay on the rug while eating. Also this rug deposits a large amount of color in the space.

• Dining room set
The dining room set was new and had a greyish finish which looked great in the space but we needed more color. I decided to pull a trick out of my hat and add tealish blue plates to the back of the china hutch. When the blue plates are standing up against the back wall of the china hutch they provide a massive amount of color vertically and everything in front of the blue plates can be seen with ease.

• Clock and art
We added a clock above the china hutch to create a sense of height in the space. Again this wall is very big and needed more. We added two pictures stacked on each side of the hutch. These pictures combined so well with the clock and buffet the wall felt finished.

• Mirror
The arched mirror works in a Begonia Too! However, in a Begonia we have to hang two arched mirrors. We hang them directly opposing one another so that they will reflect onto each other. This trick helps to add the missing window back into the kitchenette where the window does not exist in the Begonia.

• New chandelier
The homeowners added a new chandelier that is an open drum shape. The open drum shape allows light to pass through the chandelier. If the drum was a closed shade the light would block some of the mirror. The open drum makes a visual impression without taking up space. The chandelier was the perfect way to make the dining feel complete and ready for the holiday season.

• Table setting
The homeowner chose to place colorful placemats around the table with a centerpiece of hydrangeas. This works well to make the table look complete.

P.S. –Attention all club presidents! We give free decorating seminars. It is lots of fun and very informative. Call and schedule your club today. Also, we are on-line check out our web-site at www.ruthdyer.com and you can always e-mail us at ruth@finishingtouchfl.com or Call Ruth your full service decorator at 352-804-2056.