Not Just An Urban Legend

Despite its many flaws, there was one room that sold me, instantly, on our Carnegie Hill diamond in the rough. That room was the formal dining room. Up until that moment, I had believed that the formal dining room was a Manhattan urban legend. And once I saw one that was real, I simply had to have it.
 

I sometimes "joke" that I bought an apartment to fit my dining room set. If I'm being totally honest, however, it's not entirely a joke! You see, while living in Connecticut, I had purchased a fabulous dining room set from Pottery Barn, complete with a massive table, two insert leaves, eight chairs, and a six piece bar/china cabinet. The set was huge, but I loved it. Unfortunately, when we returned to NYC in 2010, we left it behind in my Hartford condo. There was no way it was fitting in our midtown high rise.
 

Then, when I began searching for a place to buy in Manhattan, a place to make our permanent home, my thoughts always wandered back to that Pottery Barn set. How could I possibly say good-bye permanently?? Although it's just furniture, I couldn't bring myself to let it go. I think a part of me couldn't give it away as a matter of principle. I wanted our journey to the big apple to give us a much fuller life than we had in Connecticut. But, I wanted to make the transition with as few casualties as possible along the way. I had promised my husband that life would be better here, and keeping that promise meant I had to work extra hard to make sure we gave up as little as possible. The furniture became symbolic of that mission. For that reason, when I first walked into our new home in the upper east side, I was immediately sold when I sized up the dining room and knew my furniture could finally make the journey.

Although there are still some things I would like to do, our dining room is now mostly ready to host Thanksgiving dinner next November and many fun dinner parties with our friends in the interim. Here are a few before and after shots:

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And a few more...

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A few more still...

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And finally...

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As we did with the other rooms, we had the floor sanded and stained in Minwax Special Walnut (after replacing a few rotten floor boards). After having some cracked plaster repaired, we stuck with Restoration Hardware for the paint, choosing Atmosphere Blue, which I thought would look great with the black furniture. We also painted all the trim, baseboards, and picture molding in a high gloss white, and repainted the ceiling with a bright white ceiling paint. The best improvement we made to this room was removing the unsightly bare light bulb hanging from the ten thousand pound ceiling fan. In its place is now a Pottery Barn chandelier I bought when I made the original furniture purchase. Although I am not crazy about the built-in bar/wine rack on the far side of the room, we  slightly improved the look by painting the doors all white, and (crazy as it sounds) covering up the green counter top with black wrapping paper. It's a nice temporary fix until I figure out something more permanent to do with the space. The unattractive forest green window panes are now hidden behind white linen curtains from Bed Bath & Beyond, which add a bit of casual elegance with their waterfall valance. We also subtlely personalized the space with the three prints on the wall, two of which are prints from Paris where we were engaged, and one of which is the inside of the gorgeous church we were married in last fall. The big red flowers/sticks and vase are from Crate & Barrel. Other than the curtains, we were able to completely furnish the room with our existing possessions, so besides the floor restoration and the painters, the total cost of this room was practically nothing. 

With the slight changes we have made, I am now super excited to host holidays and lots of fun evenings with our friends. See you soon for dinner!