modest farmhouse dining room

 

dining room reveal day is here!!! i wasn't sure if i was going to give the dining room its own blog post. what was i thinking? of course it should have its own post! for those of you who voted "hell yes" on my instagram poll, this one is for you.

it took me a little longer then i intended until the space was perfect enough to photograph, but now that i love every single piece in it, it is officially ready! the vibe i was going for here was modest x farmhouse x school house. i didn't want to create an overly formal space because the dining room is open to the kitchen. this space is both where we eat dinner every night, as well as where we host friends & family. so many memories will happen in this space for years to come.

the very first thing i picked out for the dining room was the school house electric chandelier. truth be told, i don't even know if i had the keys to the house before this was ordered. i just knew i wanted something funky, bold & brass in the dining room! while i put a lot of effort into all the light fixtures throughout the house, it is the dining room that must have a stand out chandelier. we have had it for over a year now & literally every single person who walks into our house points out how unique it is. it is the "tangled chandelier" from school house electric & i couldn't recommend this light fixture enough. you can pick the colour fixture, cords, light bulbs & length!

after adding the funky bold light fixture, i wanted to bring in a couple elements that complimented it. i am kind of obsessed with all things brass and black so the floor lamp & clock seemed like the perfect additions to the dining room. they also are what bring in that subtle "school house" vibe i was going for. the lamp is the "miles floor lamp" and the clock is the "kennedy clock", both from school house electric. while i was hesitant to put a floor lamp in a dining room, the lamp creates the perfect soft lighting at night. i also love how it looks in the corner that once seemed impossible to decorate.

now let's get to that dining room set! i had my heart set on something minimal with clean lines. the big sur table, bench & sideboard from crate & barrel was everything i wanted & more. there is even a matching wine rack! it is made from solid european white oak with a light smoke stain. it also comes in a dark & natural finish, but i felt the smoke stain went best with our space. for the chairs i wanted something with contrast so i went with the marlow ll dining chair in black. it is a modern take on a classic windsor back chair made with solid maple. i think the dining chairs are what really adds the modern farmhouse flair to the space. they remind me of our front porch spindle rocking chairs too! when designing each room in our house, i opted for timeless pieces. something that we will enjoy for many, many years.

last but not least, we did a small feature wall of wallpaper to act as the backdrop to the dining room. we had leftover from the living room & i did not want something so beautiful to go to waste! adding the touch of wallpaper gave the dining room the separation it needed from the kitchen. it is also the perfect backdrop to the sideboard, isn't it! the print is amime from farrow & ball & is still my favourite print to date. the wall colour is purbeck stone and the wood trim is wevet, both by farrow & ball!

for a full list of modest house dining room sources, check out the links below! xo

blackberry orange sangria

 

hi friends!!! sorry it has been a little while since my last blog post. i took a little break from the blog to prepare all the fun summer recipes i have coming your way. first up.. sangria! because there is nothing better then sitting on a patio & sipping on a cold glass of sangria. this one is a blackberry orange flavoured sangria filled with red wine, fresh fruit, orange juice & zevia's blackberry sparkling water. it is lightly sweetened with stevia which i absolutely love because i don't like my drinks filled with a lot of sugar. the orange juice brings enough natural sweetener to the mix that you won't miss out on any sweetness.

on another note our blackberry bush has its first blackberry!!!! it isn't ripe yet, but i am so excited so see the plant has taken & by next summer we should have plenty to pick. i also went strawberry picking last week which was so much fun. i came home with two large baskets full of the sweetest little strawberries that i haven't stopped baking with. i think i will be back next week to pick two more baskets full.. or three!

ingredients

  • 3 cups red wine
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 1/2 cup brandy
  • 1 1/2 cups zevia blackberry sparkling water
  • 1 apple, thinly sliced
  • 1 orange, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup blackerries
  • 1 cup raspberries

directions

  • in a large pitcher pour in the wine, orange juice, brandy & zevia. stir well.
  • add the apple slices, orange slices, blackberries & raspberries. fill remaining pitcher with ice.
  • serve immediately!

modest (great) room

 

the great room is COMPLETE! okay, i'm not sure if this is technically considered a great room or just a living room but i like the term great room better. sounds more epic & i would say this room turned out just that. like i did with the powder room i am going to breakdown each design element for you! over all my goal with this room was to create a cozy, rustic, monochromatic all while keeping things a bit fancy. we decided not to turn this into a family room because the old features were way too classy for that. instead the family room is a work in progress! we are going to turn the third floor loft/attic space into the ultimate hangout zone. now let's get into the details of this room!

step one: the wallpaper & paint

putting in wallpaper here was a no brainer, just like the rest of the house. what started in just one room is slowly escalating to the entire house. i just love the charm it brings! for this room i wanted to do a subtle wallpaper, something i would never get sick of & that you only really notice if you look carefully. farrow & ball had the perfect print for that: amime. while this print is named after the space between netting inspired by japanese fishermen, i find it looks so woodsy! it goes perfect with warm woods & antler pieces. the actual colour of the wallpaper is farrow & ball's purbeck stone so it was a very easy decision to paint the rest of the room in purbeck stone. i chose farrow & ball's wevet for the fireplace + trim as it is a a bright white with the most subtle hint of grey. it makes for a clean, blank slate mantel for candle sticks, vases & of course a silver fox.

step two: textiles

there wasn't a whole lot of textiles to determine, mainly just the curtains, pillows & the rug. i chose simple white linen curtains from rough linen. they help bring in that old world charm while also providing the perfect amount of natural light & privacy. don't they just look so dreamy paired with that brass deer head curtain rod? secondly, i went with a mix of linen & mud cloth pillows from loom goods. i LOVE pillows so i added a lot to the room design & you can bet buddy has made every single one hers. she loves the down fill because she can shape it as she pleases. lastly... the rug! it was so hard to pick a rug that wasn't going to clash with the wallpaper. or so i thought! but the wallpaper ended up looking so simple that i was able to choose a rug that had a subtle design to it. this handwoven rug is the woodmere rug from rejuvenation. i love that it pulls in the whites, greys, black & even gold!

step three: the marble & brass

because this room is all pot lights thus doesn't allow for a bold light fixture, i really focused on the details of everything else. i added a marble fireplace hearth that i got custom made from a local stone shop, brass switch plates from rejuvenation, brass laterns, brass curtain rod & a brass table + floor lamp. the laterns & vases are from crate & barrel, the table lamp is from west elm (along with the couch/library chair) & the floor lamp is from restoration hardware. i saw a gorgeous coffee table from restoration hardware made from reclaimed wood, but justin & i cannot decide if we should splurge on it or not! the one featured here is a piece we made years ago when i found a brand new broken butcher block on the side of the road. the last little bit of detail i added in are the brass fireplace tools & long holder from crate & barrel. okay, so the fireplace doesn't ACTUALLY work at the moment. the previous owner closed off the chimney, so i can only imagine there is a major issue with it. one day we plan to get it back in use! for now the logs add a sense of warmth & coziness. while it sounds like i added in a ton of brass features, each is subtle & adds a touch of elegance to everything. i love bringing in golds without going overly gaudy. i also love a mix of old & new, i mean how perfect does that gold switch plate look next to the brass diamond door knob that is original to the house (as well as the french door)!

step four: wall art

i have the MOST trouble deciding on wall art. i never know what i should frame! but then i came across framebridge & it made everything so much easier. you get to custom frame your own prints & decide on all the details. naturally i framed a huge picture of buddy holly & judging by her face in all the photos she is pretty proud of it.

for a complete list of sources, check out the links below!