Home Tour: Elsie’s Dining Room

Hi, friends! I'm excited to share with you the final room tour in my home today. This room has been through quite a few evolutions. When we first moved in, we were working from my home, and we used this room as our studio (mostly storage for our craft supplies). So we put up this fun Instax wallpaper. 

After we moved our work to a separate location, this room became kind of awkward. I didn't redecorate it for quite a while. It just became a nothing space. 

Last summer I decided to redecorate it and I made a plan. We noticed that we never had enough seating at parties, and especially at parties where children were invited (most of our close friends have children, so it's not uncommon to have a party with 5+ kiddos running around). We decided to make this room into a second dining room because, for us, it was the most functional way to stop wasting this big open space. 

I started with a table I loved from West Elm. We considered trying to build something similar, but ultimately decided that, when you factor in their frequent sales, it would be cheaper (and for sure what we wanted) to purchase it new (we love it!). I found our rug on Turkish Kilim Etsy, and we decorated the rest of the room around those two pieces. 

The thing I spent the most time on for this room was picking out all the art for this gallery wall. I wanted to pick pieces in a similar color scheme that felt airy and light. I had so much fun picking out abstract pieces, I could do it all day. (Anyone need me to pick out art all day? I kid.)

Print sources: (top left) Lola Donoghue, (top right) Found via Society 6, (bottom left) Kelly Ventura Found via Society 6, weaving by Rachel Denbow, (bottom right) Found via Society 6. *note: I couldn't find the specific artists on Society 6. If you know their names, please share in the comments and I'll get this updated right away! 

Say hello to our new wine cabinet. Josh built this custom for our space. It's one of my favorite things he built during his time with ABM. This wall was previously home to our crate storage (seen here and in our book A Beautiful Mess Happy Handmade Home), so once that was taken down, it felt pretty empty. We chose to build this long side table to both fill the space and provide some much needed storage. Plus, I love pretty storage for wine bottles! 

We decided to move our spirits collection to the top of this shelf because it wasn't as child-safe as we needed on our bar cart (again, even though we don't have kids, we have children in our home often, and anything that stresses out their parents, stresses us out too). 

I minimized our collection to just the things we use most often and plan to continue keeping a smaller collection on hand from now on. Less is more (well, not always, but with liquor bottles I think it is!). 

This Jonathan Adler vase was a gift from Jeremy's late grandmother, and it makes me think of her every time I refill it with a new single bloom (which is often). The little things in our home that were gifts or have memories tied to them are by far the most special. 

Since we moved this record player here from the front living room, we've used it quite a bit more. My niece, Penelope, now knows how to play records and which ones are her favorites (Katy Perry and Nirvana!). I love having it in a more central location in the house and right by the kitchen. 

This record wall was a recent DIY addition. I've done this type of wall in previous homes and would definitely do it again. I like the grid for random memories. 

Since this room has great lighting and the record player, I have been using it to paint in nearly every Sunday afternoon. I don't really have an official painting space anymore, but I kind of like just moving it around with me wherever there are good vibes. I don't keep too many supplies on hand anymore, so I just store what I have in the record cabinet. 

I bought this chair from Sarah (a set, actually) right before they moved. I think it will be an outdoor chair in the future, but for now I am enjoying it in here. What do you think—paint it? Leave it? Upholster it? Just add cushions and call it good? 

Just a few detail photos! 

These two blueprint copies fill up the space opposite the gallery wall and complete the room nicely. Love the neutral texture!  

Thanks for taking a tour of our new dining room! I had fun sharing my home with you! xx. Elsie 

More links and resources: Our book—A Beautiful Mess Happy Handmade Home. View my entire home tour here. Or take a video tour here. 

Credits// Author: Elsie Larson, Photography: Janae Hardy. Photos edited with Color Pop of The Signature Collection.