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The dining room reveal

Introducing the coral room.

By Life & Muse

February 22^nd, 2020

It’s been 8 months since we moved into our new home and I already can’t imagine what it looked like when the rooms were empty and the walls were bare. I suppose that’s a pretty good cue that we’ve made some substantial progress since moving in... and that perhaps I owe you all some after photos.

In a perfect world, I probably would have saved the dining room as the last room to be revealed. It’s definitely the boldest room in the house and the visual punch it packs usually makes for a great finale in the home tours we give when guests visit for the first time. But alas, it’s the closest out of all the rooms to being “done”, so here we are.

The gathering place

The dining room is exactly what the name suggests: a place to gather and break bread with friends and family. Our living room may be the coziest destination in the house, but the dining room is the inevitable pit stop where our guests log some serious time. Extending fluidly off the kitchen on the east end of our house, it’s easy to see why the dining room is a natural place to settle in and stay a while.

And so this room serves two functional roles for us: a dining area and a transitionary social space. These were important considerations while we were exploring different layouts for this room.

The coral room

When we started this project, Hanna and I made a commitment to not have any white walls. Both of us had only ever lived in homes with white walls and it was starting to feel more like a quiet surrender to the default rather than an actual creative intention to be clean and minimal.

And then we started on the dining room.

This room got dubbed the coral room for obvious reasons. In our early explorations, we fell in love with tones of blush pink, orange rust, dusty rose, and other fancy names that described a desaturated pink with just a touch of orange. And because we felt the dining room was going to be a lively social space, we thought it'd be fun to drape the room in something equally as upbeat and fun.

The decisions we made here were not for the faint of heart and believe me, we lived perpetually at the intersection of doubt and ambition throughout this project. But in the end, we're both so happy with where we landed, despite how far outside our comfort zone it was.

Layouts

We toyed around with a few layouts in this room but in the end decided on one that gave us a mix of soft seating (for lounging) and table seating (for dining). Besides, the rounded nook of the bay windows was practically begging for a round table (and we found the perfect one!).

Dining

Our dining set was purchased the first weekend we moved in, which goes to show how early we had committed to the room’s bold look. At 54” in diameter, the table fits perfectly amongst the windows with an ample amount of space around it for foot traffic and sliding out chairs.

The velvet dining chairs are colored in "banks rust" and really tie in the colors on the wall. Getting them early on also made it easier to match the paint to them (doing it the other way around would have been more challenging).

But for me, it’s the dining table that really pulls everything together. Not only does the maple add a natural tone to the room that helps to subdue the intensity of the walls and chairs, but the table can also extend from a circle to a 90” long rectangle to support those large group dinners. Form and function? We really hit the jackpot with this one.

Lounging

Speaking of being lucky, the couch was another example of good fortune. For weeks, the other side of the dining room sat empty while we debated how to make it more lounge-y.

Fortunately, the arrival of our new living room couch pushed us to move our old couch and it seemed only natural that we give it a try in the dining room while we were at it. Unexpectedly, the rich velvet felt right at home amongst the coral walls, and the dark indigo actually helped to ground the entire room. Win!

Old friends also stick together so we let our existing mid-century coffee table make the trip down the hall to our dining room too. They've worked together this long already, why break them up? Plus, it's always extra satisfying to be able to re-use something instead of buying brand new.

And finally, to complete the conversational circle, we accented the couch and coffee table with two walnut lounge chairs. We chose chairs that were airy and lightweight purposely to ensure the room wouldn't look too cluttered, but also went for something with a distinct form to add just a little more umph.

Accents

One of my favorite/least favorite parts of decorating any room is adding all the little accents that fill in the blanks between the large pieces of furniture. It's a muscle I'm still developing (hence why it's sometimes my least favorite part of a project) but also super satisfying when everything falls into place.

A few noteworthy accents we've added so far:

A round leather ottoman, purchased originally to take the place of the coffee table, floats between the two lounge chairs to add some fluidity to the furniture arrangement.
A beautifully slim side table colored in "clay" offers a functional surface next to the couch, while blending elegantly into the coral surrounding.
One of the most meaningful parts of this room is the collection of personal photos that line the perimeter of the walls. They capture a few of our memorable milestones and moments with our favorite people – many of whom still live back home in Toronto.
I'm still working on my pillow and throw game, but a delicate balance of soft accents sit atop our couch and chairs and offer some additional patterns, textures, and colors.

One final low-key accent I’m fond of is the artwork that hangs at the end of the hallway that leads you into our dining room. The color coordination was no accident and I love that it serves as a subtle wayfinding wink as you make your way towards the coral room.

Traces of history

Lastly, what makes this room super unique to us is the juxtaposition of modern aesthetics and historic details. I love the majesty (that’s right, majesty) of the original built-in bar, the cabinet latches, the drawer hardware, and the intricate moldings in every nook and cranny. They're a reflection of a completely different era (1909 to be specific) and I love that they've all lasted the test of time.

Before and after

Here's a quick look at some before and after comparisons before I wrap up.

Not bad for rookies

This was mine and Hanna's first real interior design project – at this scale anyway. It was a slow, grueling, and often unforgiving process, but in the end we feel like we came out with some new lessons learned and creative muscles built.

Worst/best of all, it'll never really be done. We swung for the fences with this room and only time will tell how it'll continue to evolve to suit our developing tastes.