A Simple & Classic Dining Room + Julia Child Forever

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“Dining with one’s friends and beloved family is certainly one of life’s primal and most innocent delights, one that is both soul-satisfying and eternal.” – Julia Child

If you know me well, you know I have a rather large and embarrassing girl crush on Julia Child. She is right and inspiring on so many levels and her cooking shows are my favorite. My great aunt once did a talent show for us and pretended to be Julia using a curling iron to make bacon and an iron to warm grilled cheese…such good reunion memories. Her voice, her attitude on eating and dining, her wit, her zest for life and all things French…the way she says, “BOOOF BURGINYAWN!” I got onto a bit of a tangent there but if you don’t like JC you can just get the heck out. Kidding. I am going to start doing little tours of the nooks and crannies in our home under my CLEAN & SIMPLE series so you can get a glimpse of all the beautiful basics we adore from room to room. I love taking peeks into where others spend their days and that is my inspiration for these fun posts. I also love knowing “where that broom is from” and “how ya found that table cloth”, so I’ll be sharing tidbits with you like that, too. First up is our dining room!

This room is right off the entryway and is full of so much lovely light with it’s two big windows and welcoming archway. It is our main gathering place for suppers and crafts and is most often the catch-all for piles of folded laundry for this family of five, go figure. This room is special to us because it contains so many of our treasures…things passed down from my great great greats and so on.  It is peppered with things our family loves and connects us to where we grew up, yet it still reflects the simplistic and warm vibes of the rest of our home because we’ve chose to keep things fairly minimal. I love blending old and new and this space does that really well. There are many antiques and heirloom pieces that helps give this room warmth, yet I like to keep things simple so the color pallet is neutral with natural pops of color from spring flowers and dried eucalyptus. I love the crown molding and the icy grey-blue we chose to paint the walls. These blend of soothing colors makes this space feel fresh and airy while also maintaining warmth and calm. And how about that Grace painting?! My grandparents had the same one on their farm and it makes me so happy seeing it hung there. As for the cabinets, I think the tall shaker style with ivory accents make this space a timeless one that we will cherish as the years go on and we dig our roots deeper here.

It was quite important to us when looking for a home to find one with an actual dining room. We are not big fans of really open floorpans in homes and much rather prefer a well-defined space to eat in. We feel it anchors the home and sets a communal vibe.  There is something really wonderful in setting the table and welcoming friends and family to gather round in one charming space as opposed to one that is open to the rest of the house. This 1920’s colonial gave us exactly that and as soon as we saw it we knew with a few touches and some TLC it would be perfect for us. I love that you can down sit at our solid, pine table and watch the kids playing in the living room and kitchen, yet you are still in a room and not smack dab in the center of everything. It’s a cozy and happy space, one that I’ve put so much care and intention into decorating. Welcome to our dining room, dear ones.

 

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Source List:

  • Modern Black Wingback Chairs // Target
  • Antique Hutch // West Bottoms Kansas City, MO
  • White Curtains // IKEA
  • Brass Curtain Rods // Home Depot
  • Brass Drawer Pulls // Home Depot
  • Ticking Tablecloth // Fabric from Hobby Lobby made by yours truly
  • Garden Trugs // Gift from my mama
  • Pitchers in Hutch // My grandma
  • Grace painting by Enstrom // Thrifted
  • US Department of Agriculture Food Poster // Etsy
  • Hung Frames // IKEA
  • Kiddo Table // Design Within Reach
  • Cream Schoolhouse Stools // IKEA
  • Blue Stoneware Vase // Thrifted
  • Linens in Hutch // Restoration Hardware; Hobby Lobby; Various Others
  • Pig Recipe Card // Weston, MO Antique Store
  • Dining Table // Restoration Hardware Russian Pine
  • Step Ladder // IKEA
  • Rug // Turkish Rug from Ebay
  • Rustic Baskets // Thrifted
  • Old Ball Jars // My grandma
  • Garden Stick Labels // Dear Society Shop in Kansas City, MO
  • Antique Chandelier // Original feature of this home
  • Large Wire Basket // Schoolhouse Electric
  • Small Wire Basket // Antique
  • Paint Color // Head here for more information

And there ya have it! Let me know if you have any questions about the design process or if I have left any details out you were curious about. xx

 

  • Danielle - Hi lady! Your space is lovely. I admire your simple and clean esthetic. I keep things the same way around my home. I’m wondering where your wine glasses are from? I saw them in one of your snapchat stories and loved them! Thanks!! XoReplyCancel

    • admin - Danielle – Right now there are a mix because I keep breaking them! But most are the cheap red wine stems from IKEA believe it or not. They are really pretty and I don’t feel bad if anything breaks. 🙂 x AmandaReplyCancel

  • Jennifer - Hi there — Can I ask how are the Windsor Dining Chairs from Target? Do you find they are sturdy enough?ReplyCancel

    • admin - Jennifer – Hello and yes! We were originally going to get more expensive and traditional wood ones but I saw these so we ordered two to try for a week. They ended up being really great for the price as long as you screw everything in really tightly. I recommend black because they are good hiders of spills…take it from a mama who has owned white chairs and has little ones 😉 They do come in other colors and so far have been a wonderful addition to this room. I also like that they are low backs so they keep our room feeling open. That was a lot haha. In short, yep we like em. x AmandaReplyCancel

  • Katie - I love this idea for a series! You have such a beautiful home.ReplyCancel

  • Kaleen - So excited for this series! So inspirational and lovely. My daughter will be 2 in May and I’d eventually like to set up an art area like this. Where did you find your paper dispenser? Such a neat piece!ReplyCancel

  • Elizabeth Keller - Can you tell me where the white cabinets are from?ReplyCancel

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