I think it's safe to say that our new black and white dining room rug has set a whole new tone for our Charlotte home. Wouldn't you agree? While this may not be everyone's favorite direction, I love it and was surprised to learn that this very graphic statement won my mom over, too.
I have to say, never in a thousand years, would I have thought the dining room would be my first true focus in the house. Of course, I'm working on the hot pink bedroom as well, but let's face it, I'm not really running the ship in that room. If you know what I mean?
Maybe it's because the dining room in our Chicago house was one of the last big projects we completed. Or, maybe it's because I had fully intended to put our harvest table in this room (similar to our Chicago dining room), which would have created a totally different look. By the by, that fell to the wayside as soon as I saw this color on the walls - it's formal and serious in a way that the harvest table isn't. Happily, the cherished harvest table found another home within our home and we had this table in storage, so all ends well for everyone.
The only unfortunate (or fortunate depending how you look at it) turn of events, is the chairs. The coral plaid just doesn't work with the rug, as I am sure you noticed.
After hearing about Mary Jo's from a couple of very reliable sources, my mom and I decided to make the trek and boy am I glad we did. Any amazing selection and even better pricing. Bonus.
These were our top 4 contenders. I loved them all and wish I could share more specifics with you, but unfortunately, rolls weren't really marked individually other than with pricing.
Initially, I had my heart set on an Ikat, like the one shown here in the top left corner. You know I love blues and greens, but the brown just wasn't jiving for me.
I thought the dark grey background with hints of black on the floral in the upper right corner would play really well with our new rug. Plus, the turquoise and teal tones picked up the color of the walls. But, ultimately, I wasn't sure I really wanted to go floral, again.
The animal print inspired fabric in the bottom right corner was really fun. My mom's pick, in fact. But once the sales lady said animal print, I just couldn't let it go. Am I really an animal print girl? Hmmm...
The geometric in the bottom left corner was the exact color of our dining room walls, but I had real concerns over the pattern playing nicely with the foyer wallpaper and the geometric carpet.
So, which one did I choose?
The floral, of course. I hate to be predictable, put it really did offer the most out of all our selections. It also didn't hurt that it was half the price of some of the others.
Call the upholsterer, these chairs are getting a makeover!
until next time,
