Dining Room Update

We’ve been working on updating the dining room for the past two years or so & the final piece to our project has arrived—after a year in the making! 

I wanted to share a little bit about the history of our dining room. We purchased our first set of dining furniture in 2019 right before we moved into our home. It was our first time having a dining room, so I kind of just ordered what I liked, making sure the table would fit our family when we have them over! We used the last few years to understand what we really wanted in a dining room for this home. We began updating the dining room in 2020, starting with installing shiplap to the space. Who was here for that?! In 2021 we had a leak that resulted in us demo-ing and painting the entire ceiling, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I LOVE the exposed ceiling. And now at the start of 2022, we’re making a major update by changing the dining table and doing a new style (and a BOLD color!). 

After a lot of conversations and hosting quite a few gatherings, we realized that the rectangular dining table didn’t work well for us. Instead, we chose a large round dining table! When I stumbled upon the Pavia Bell'Arte Round Dining Table I knew it would be the perfect table for this space. I’m so excited to have partnered with Arhaus for our new dining table. The dark finish brought contrast into the space & to soften things up I added a few gorgeous faux furs to the the chairs. I love the dark finish with subtle hand-painted details, it gives the piece a rustic yet elegant look! It is completely different than our previous dining table but I absolutely LOVE IT. What do you think?

Our first floor is an L shape, the dining room and kitchen are essentially connected! The round dining table will allow for even more conversation to happen between both parts of the house. For this space, I got the 71” round table which can seat up to 10 people—we plan to seat 6-8 at ours! We placed two extra seats under the art for us to pull over to the table whenever we need it. We originally thought hanging chairs would be a nice fun addition but the extra seats were much more practical and fit around the table.

When we host larger gatherings we have at least 4 people sitting at the island so it’ll be nice to have a round table where there will really only be 1 back turned as opposed to 3 at a rectangular table.

The Pavia Bell'Arte Round Dining Table is made in Italy by a group of extremely talented artisans who have been creating dining furniture with Arhaus for decades. All of the details are done by hand, making each piece truly unique and one-of-a-kind. Fun Fact: I’ve personally met the artisans who created our dining table years ago!! They are so passionate about their craft, it’s contagious haha!!

“A passion for artistry, a celebration of family, a reverence for tradition. Our made-to-order Italian dining tables are handcrafted and hand-painted by a family of master artisans who, over our 30 years working together, has become like family to Arhaus. Bell’arte pieces feature hand-carved molding, layered, hand-distressed finishes, creating versatile, timeless works of art.”

The rich, bold color adds so much contrast to our dining room. What drew me to the piece to begin with was the beautiful, sculptural base. I love that it is truly an heirloom piece designed to last a lifetime! For an extra personal touch, the artisans can specially customize your Bell’Arte piece by hand-painting your name on the underside of the table. I love the thought of being able to pass this custom piece on throughout our family in the future! 

‘Hand painted for Shawn and Christine’

I truly love our first dining table, it was one of our first big purchases when we moved in and we were always SO excited about this piece. I wasn’t quite ready to part with this table, so I wanted to find a space that it would work in. To my surprise, it fit perfectly in my work room.

It’s so beautiful and extremely well made. I love how it sits right along the window, I’ve used it nearly every day since we moved it up here and truly enjoy the view. If you are looking to repurpose your dining table—it makes a great workspace and the perfect alternative to a traditional desk! 

Another update we did in the dining room was installing these beautiful sheer curtains. I hung the curtain rods super high above the windows to create a more elegant look. Notice I used the same rods as I did in the living room! You can read more about the living room curtain rods + drapes here. I love that you can customize the rods to be the exact size you need, which is why they’re a staple for me!

Since we decided to take down the hanging chairs against the wall, I really wanted to find two vintage pieces of art to fill the space. I wanted to find two portraits of people who were looking toward each other because I felt like it would bring the space together, toward the center which is the table! I also wanted the paintings to be super neutral, with no pops of color. I searched over the last few months and had no luck. If you shop vintage you know finding a pair of paintings in the exact size and color you need is a very tricky ask LOL. I even reached out to a vendor who has a wide assortment of vintage paintings and…no luck!

So I hung some vintage drawings as a placeholder if I were to ever find what I was looking for. I decided I’m not going to invest in anything for that wall unless it was exactly what I was looking for. Of course, a few days before I am planning to shoot the dining room, Shawn and I decided to take a spontaneous trip an hour away to an antique shop and sure enough…there were two paintings, the perfect size I was looking for, the exact details I was looking for…plus they were 35% off and were the price I was going to pay for JUST ONE painting in January. It was such a blessing!! I was literally speechless in the shop. So grateful! Don’t they look so stunning here!?

Here are some of the runner-up paintings that I LOVED but didn’t fit my exact needs or didn’t have a match. In case you’re on the hunt for vintage paintings!

I’m so happy to see my vision for this room finally come together! After taking our time over the past few years to decide what would work best for us, I can’t wait to be able to host friends and family at our new dining table. I’d love to hear your thoughts on our updated dining room & if you have any questions leave them in the comments!