I saw a library dining room on Pinterest, and the rest was history! I obsessed over it until I was able to build my own. After living in this home for a few months, I started to dream about built-ins.
When we first moved in, our home was bare, beige and sterile (see before photos here). Adding built-ins made a huge positive difference in the feel of our rooms, as well as how we use our home on a daily basis!
The best compliment we receive on our remodel is that it looks like it was built this way. I love that we took it back in time by imitating historic homes rather than reaching for newer trends. Built-ins add instant coziness!
Related: 10 Inspiring Home Decor Books and My Used Book Collection.
When deciding how to decorate our dining room, I was torn between built-in bookshelves and wallpaper. Both had the potential to add a lot of personality to the room. I chose built-ins because I love to collect books, and I knew it could be styled endless ways.
Here’s a link to my dress. It comes in lots of colors. I recommend sizing down one size.
The light fixture is one of my favorite details in the room. It is called the Meme Tulip Drop Chandelier, and it was gifted to me from Stray Dog Designs. It is a true work of art, as it is hand sculpted.
Room sources: Table and Chairs / Article, Chandelier / Stray Dog Designs, Sconce Lights / Etsy, Tablecloth / Amazon, Rug / Apple & Oak Nashville.
The jade pottery is a DIY (I thrifted glass and ceramic vases and painted them).
When it came to filling the shelves, I wrote a post about my used book collection. The majority of the books filling these shelves are books I purchased used.
I am very proud of my spooky book collection. Whatever type of books you are passionate about, a home full of books is my favorite type of home.
Let’s talk about the fireplace for a moment. I had a fixation on adding as many fireplaces to our home as possible (we started with one and ended with three).
We added this non-functional fireplace (also called a “candle fireplace”) to the dining room. I love that you can add some glow and twinkle to the space.
I found an antique mantle at the flea market and we used it as the base for this fireplace. I had to source more corbels and design around it. I love how it makes the whole room feel more antique.
Thank you so much for reading. If you’re interested in more room tours and home content, here are a few of my personal favorites from this home:
Did you DIY these shelves, and can you show us how? Thanks!
Looks so great! Is this a different color? I thought you had painted it like a jade green? Looks very nice either way
Love it! Also here to ask for jade tutorial. Thanks!
Amazing!
How about a tutorial on the jade vessels. They’re so pretty and look RICH!
So beautiful! Love this!
This is a perfect solution for homeschooling families! So many of us are Kitchen/ dining table schoolers and you need your books close by!
Elsie, this is AMAAAAAZING. I’ve been following along with this renovation on the podcast and it turned out so beautiful. That fireplace is perfection. And I love that you went bold and did a library in your dining room. I never would have thought to do that, but now I can’t stop dreaming about it. Thank you for sharing!
Love this so much! There is nothing more welcoming than a home full of books! Looking to getting my own first home and this is heading straight to the inspiration board.