the mismatched dinner

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…

2 thoughts on “the mismatched dinner

  1. 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.

    1. 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!!

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