You have no idea how excited I am to finally be sharing this room with you. And I know everyone is just gonna scroll down to the pics (because yeah, I’d be doing that too) but since early February when we started the work on this room, not one inch of the space hasn’t been in some way improved or changed. Wayne and I have replaced the flooring, ripped out the old fireplace and re-tiled it, we added all the wall panels, installed new skirting board and architrave, painted loads,Β changed out the door handles, reupholstered the chairs. Many things were replaced but lots of things we loved in the original space remain and we basically just updated this room to what we needed it to be – a bright, happy and welcoming space.

vase of peonies in dining room with graphic wallpaper, black fireplace mantle, gold accents - see more on www.swoonworthy.org

Here’s what the room used to look like. It wasn’t a horrible space by any means but after 3 years, it felt much too dark and there were plenty of elements that I’d outgrown. I wanted to start with a fresh slate with a pale backdrop, finally tackle the floors that had been bothering me since we moved in 5 years ago, move the TV, improve the fireplace and flex my design muscles a little bit! You can read more about why I decided to go light here.

Dining room before remodel

After many weeks of hard work, here’s what the space looks like now…

Eclectic glam living room with graphic feature wallpaper, leopard print chairs, black and marble fireplace, gold light fixture - see more on www.swoonworthy.org

I really wanted to give the room a touch of femininity, but not in a ‘soft and fluffy’ way if that makes sense. I wanted it to have a bit of sex appeal, to give the room some harder edges too and I think mixing quite a lot of black into the space grounds all the softer details. I didn’t really stick to a specific color scheme although pinks are a repeating theme, there are a lot of brighter colours mixed in as well.

graphic feature wallpaper on chimney breast, black and white marble fireplace with gold trim, peonies - see more on www.swoonworthy.org

The wall panels we added are probably one of my favourite features. It makes the room look so much grander than it did before and adding those architectural elements created much more of a finished space and emphasised the age and character of the house. I kind of want to add them to every room now!

Eclectic glam living room with graphic feature wallpaper, leopard print chairs, black and marble fireplace, gold light fixture - see more on www.swoonworthy.org

Of course, no room could possibly be ‘me’ without a huge dollop of gold. I know it’s super trendy right now but if you go ahead and look through the 5+ years of archives (okay, not really, that would be crazy, just trust me on this one), you’ll know it’s been my favourite metallic for a very long time. It just adds so much warmth and glamour to a space. I can’t see me ever getting ‘over it’.

console table vignette with lots of gold - see more on www.swoonworthy.org

Here’s the view as you walk into the room from the hallway. It makes me happy every time I step into the space now.

Eclectic glam living room with graphic feature wallpaper, leopard print chairs, black and marble fireplace, gold light fixture - see more on www.swoonworthy.org

I am realising as I write this that I have a LOT of favourite elements. Those chairs. Okay, yeah, Pablo (our black cat) likes to sleep on that one at the end and so I’m constantly hoovering it and using the ‘rubber glove’ trick to keep it from being covered in cat hair but otherwise, I absolutely love the look of them. (You can read some of my tips on keeping your home clean with pets here if you’re curious.)

leopard print chinese chippendale chairs

I kept that black console table we hadΒ as it works so well in that spotΒ and we changed out the television above for a slimmer model. I’ve talked about why we have a TV in here quite a few times before so I won’t get into it on this post but moving it to this wall makes it less a feature now and I’m thrilled with it’s new location.

console table vignette with lots of gold - see more on www.swoonworthy.org

The bar cart I’ve had for years but I really wanted some shelving to show off all my vintage glassware and I love how it’s become a little station now for entertaining in this alcove by the window. And plus, I finally have shelves in this house that I can swap and change out! Shelfies! Yay!

bar cart with marble effect shelves and graphic wallpaper - see more on www.swoonworthy.org

I added those little wall planters as well which bring a spot of greenery to the walls. The cow skull gives it a bit of a boho element too.

wall paneling, black console table with TV, wall planters, skull - see more on www.swoonworthy.org

The only thing I really changed from my original design (you can see that here) is I decided to get a large round mirror above the sideboard. It breaks up all the square elements in the room and softens some of those harder edges. Should I spray paint it gold? I haven’t decided yet. I may live with the darker finish for a while before deciding.

You can read more the sideboard here.Β Although funny enough, Quito doesn’t need his crate anymore, the main reason I chose a shorter model! Ahh well, I still love this one!

mid-century sideboard with palm tree lamp, round mirror and abstract art - see more on www.swoonworthy.org

I absolutely have to thank my sponsors on this project because without them, I doubt highly we could have ever done as much as we were able. Every one of these lovely businesses totally helped me out on this and I know I was incredibly lucky to have them on board to allow me toΒ finally get this room finished.

Eclectic glam living room with graphic feature wallpaper, leopard print chairs, black and marble fireplace, gold light fixture - see more on www.swoonworthy.org

 

The Skirting Board Shop provided us with new skirting boards, architrave around the doorway to the kitchen and the dado rails, all of which totally transformed the room with elements that looked like they should have always been there. You can read more about the process of installing those here.

Gina Julian gifted me the beautiful limited edition print of Marie, which now looks smoulderingly upon me when I am in this room. I adore her and Gina is just the sweetest person and you should totally check out her other pieces because she’s incredibly talented. You can read more about her work here.

Eades Bespoke provided that amazing graphic wallpaper which was a breeze to put up and gave the room such a wonderful punch of colour and contrast to the more subtle walls. You can read more about putting up the wallpaper here.

graphic feature wallpaper on chimney breast, black and white marble fireplace with gold trim, peonies - see more on www.swoonworthy.org

Speaking of walls, Farrow and Ball provided the stunning Blackened eggshell paint for our project. This paint was an absolute joy to work with, covers like a dream and is incredibly hard-wearing. Originally a little bit of a sceptic, I’m a total convert to F&B paint now. You can check out my full review here.

wall paneling, black console table with TV, wall planters, skull - see more on www.swoonworthy.org

Tile Mountain provided those stunning marble effect tiles and grout for the fireplace. They look so much like real marble except they don’t etch, stain and are a breeze to keep clean. I work with these guys closely, providing blog consultancy and content for their blog which you should totally check out here. They are a great bunch and the quality of their tiles for the price is amazing.

ImaginfiresΒ provided that cute little black biofuel fireplace. As it would have been pointless to install a real fireplace in here (it would have been much too hot to sit at the dining room table, there’s simply not enough room), it was so great to have a super simple option without the hassle, perfect for those cold evenings we still get even in summer in the UK!

You can read more about the fireplace here.

black fireplace with white marble and gold trim - see more on www.swoonworthy.org

And finally, that stunning cowhide rug was provided to me at a discount from Hide and Seek London. I have 2 other cowhides in my home but this one blew me away with the quality – it was exceptional. I kept joking that we got a ‘diva cow’ because there wasn’t a single mark on it (which you will always get with natural cowhide) and it’s just in the most beautiful condition. It sets off the dining room table and chairs so perfectly. Do check out Hide and Seek’s other products as well, they have some really exceptional products that are so beautiful and well made.

faux bamboo chinese chippendale chairs on black and white cowhide rug - see more on www.swoonworthy.org

So a massive, massive thank you to all of my fabulous sponsors (most of which I approached personally to work with me on this and they graciously agreed) for gorgeous quality items that I loved!

I wanted to mention as well the little faux marble shelves above the bar cart. I’m certainly not the first one to have wrapped contact paper around some standard pieces of wood to create shelves but I just love how they turned out. Plus, I have a video tutorial for you coming up soon so you can see exactly how they are done!

DIY Marble effect Shelf with vintage glasses

So that was a VERY lengthy post but I wanted to thank YOU for following along on this remodel and cheering me on the whole way! I hope it was worth the wait! I will be doing another post shortly with all the sources of everything in the space so if there’s anything you’d like to know the source for, sit tight, I’ll be sharing that really soon.

Eclectic glam living room with graphic feature wallpaper, leopard print chairs, black and marble fireplace, gold light fixture - see more on www.swoonworthy.org

I know lots of you really loved the dark blue walls and were a bit heartbroken when I said I was changing it! But I do hope you love the new space just as much! I have to say I’m so pleased myself with the room now (Wayne loves it too!) and it’s become such a lovely bright space to spend time in. So… moment of truth… What do you think of the dining room remodel?

 

P.S. We’ll soon be starting on the kitchen remodel so if you fancy following along, you can click that little button just below and you’ll never miss a post!

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Disclaimer: I worked with a number of different businesses on this remodel, many of whom I approached personally because I loved their products and genuinely wanted to use them in this space. I am grateful for the businesses that allow me to create fresh content on my blog and only work with businesses I really like and think you’ll like too! Thanks so much for supporting the brands that support Swoon Worthy!


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