decadent dining

I have been dreaming, once again, about the day when I'll be decorating my own home and can't help but get hung up on my dining room.

Personally, I think that formal living rooms are a waste of space, you never use them, you buy expensive furniture that never gets sat on, and you end up with a space that looks nice, but is a black hole for your heating and electricity. I much prefer the formal dining room. In fact, I have decided that (at least until we have children and it's unreasonable) once we move into a house and have furniture in our dining room, we'll be eating at least two meals in there a week. I can't tell you how long it has been since we sat at a kitchen/dining room table to eat a meal. We don't have the space for one here, which is why I think I'm so hung up on the idea of creating one I love.

Here's what I'm thinking....

BOLD, thick horizontal stripes in these two shades on the wall. They're Ralph Lauren's Regency Metallics and they're yummy. I had a wall painted in the "Palace Silver" shade, I think it was, and it's the most gorgeous paint. Love it.

Then, this rug will go smack dab in the middle of the room. Of course, I'm hoping that I'll have a beautiful rich, daaaaaaaaaark wood on the floor already. If not, I'll make it happen with laminate or with restaining what's already there. I'd really prefer it if this rug was in the shape of a real pelt, but I refuse to actually have a real pelt on the floor. No spank you.

This gorgeous table will go right on top of my rug, it's made of reclaimed wood and is one small way I'll be working to make my home more green.

Next, I'm going to hang this fabulous pendant over the dining table. It's massive, I included this picture to show the scale. Made of capiz shells, I think it'll add just enough sheen to make it work with the walls, but it's off beat enough to really work in the space.

These lovelies are going to go around the table- at least 6- one on each end and four in the middle. I'm thinking I like all of them with arms because of the extra weight that they add. Besides, I always felt like it makes the people sitting around the table unequal if they don't all have the same chair. Besides, they're freaking gorgeous.

To top off the table, I'm crazy for these white river stone place mats. Against the dark wood they'd really *pop* and add something special to the look. For the runner... I have something else in mind.

In the spirit of being green, I want to put the runner on top of this fabulous antique Japanese sideboard from around 1890-- because recycling is the ultimate in green living and buying an antique is just that! It's such a quirky piece, with the carvings in the doors and the glass opposite. I love this piece. It just screams "pay attention to me!" To protect it from things placed on top, I'd use the white stone runner. To tie everything in. And on top of the runner...
These classic bowls. Uh, non-classic. They're beautiful, and would look fabulous filled with fruit, with feathered decorative balls, or *ideally* blown glass baubles in various shades of green and blue.

So that's my plan. Will it come to fruition? I sure do hope so. The one stumbling block? My husband. I showed him these pictures and each one garnered a more repulsed reaction than the first. However, my husband is as smart as they come, but he doesn't really have a very keen eye for design. I told him that I am bound and determined to have at least one room in our house look like it came straight out of a design showcase. He was less than enthusiastic. Mainly because to achieve the look, money must be spent and he doesn't really enjoy doing that. But this is my goal, this is my dream and I will work hard to make the money to make it happen.