So we had a little dinner party last week. Simple. Fun. Note to self; “You’re a detail freak.” Oh… really? Yes, I might look past the dust on the shelves. I only dust for my height. If you are taller than 5’5″… Well – Sorry! Honestly, who really cares anyway; Right? It’s not that I don’t care about my guests; I do. It’s just that I would rather be tying fresh rosemary on the napkins. Confession: I’m not a “matchy-matchy” person either. It was intentional that none of the placemats matched. I also mixed up the plates. And the glasses. I want to re-do my “formal dining room” and make it my “informal dining room”. And then USE it! A lot. I want to (gasp!) paint my dark mahogany furniture “shabby chic” distressed white. I would even love to throw in a few mismatched chairs. I know. Weird, huh? My daughter thinks I’m nuts. I don’t think it took her 22 years to figure that out, however. So I will keep you updated once I actually put my plan into action. You know – “before” and “after” pics. All that stuff. In the meantime, I have my eyes open for unique vintage mismatched plates. Or glasses. Or chairs…
I’m wanting to recreate my formal living room to a more french country or shabby chic style. My furniture is queen anne style formal beige with blue, red and teal thin stripes. how do I work around it? I would love to follow your post and see what you have done.
What a fun challenge you have ahead of you, Mary!! I absolutely love mixing things up, so I would suggest possibly painting and distressing some of your more formal looking pieces to give them a more casual feel. Check your accessories and “knick knacks”. Chances are they are quite formal and would benefit from mixing in some hand-picked treasures with a worn, vintagey look. A soft color on the walls, simple window treatments and a nubby, natural weave rug might help. My dining room set was antique mahogany and very formal looking. I painted everything creamy off white and distressed it. Sold almost all of the “matching” chairs, and replaced with a mixture of mismatched neutral chairs instead. Love it!! Have fun!!