Our Mid-Century Dining Room Design Plan

*This post was made possible by the generous support of Article, and features gifted product for testing purposes. All opinions are my own.

Well, folks, it’s finally time to admit mild defeat on our mid-century dining room design. Don’t get me wrong! I adore all of the elements I’ve brought in (I never buy something I don’t love, after all). But the problem stems from things that I simply have no control over.

Truth is that I impulse purchased way too much for our new-to-us dining room before we officially moved in last November. I found a gorgeous set of vintage mid-century dining chairs, and then stumbled upon a secondhand farmhouse style table that John had requested, and I decided to just go for it. As much as we still adore this dining set, it’s just too large for this tiny dining room. I should have waited until we actually tested out the space and got a sense of the actual square footage, not to mention the light in the room. This dining room faces north and gets very little natural light. The dark wood dining set coupled with all of the dark wood accent furniture I chose is just too much for the room.

It’s time to shift the design to work with our current everyday routine and the needs of this specific room. Moral of the story? Try not to overbuy for your new home before you actually live in it! Luckily, I can pivot the plan now that I know what the room needs, and you can read all about my planned changes below, including a new dining set from Article that I can’t wait to style in this space.

Our Mid-Century Dining Room Redesign Plan:

1. Storage: We definitely need dining room storage. Not because we entertain (we’re introverts and really don’t do that very often), but because I have a weird obsession with collecting antique glassware and handmade ceramic serving pieces. We bought a Danish teak hutch right before moving into the house, which holds all of that, and we plan to keep it. This piece also serves as our liquor and wine cabinet! It’s here to stay.

2. Artwork: Another thing we don’t plan on changing is the artwork. You might remember when we updated the pieces in this room to match our mountain-side town here in Virginia, and also the dark blue/green color I painted below the chair rail. We still love that collection, and are going to use it to influence the design of our new dining set.

3. Dining: Speaking of, the concept of our new dining table is key for this room update. As I mentioned, the current table is just too dark for this naturally dim room, and the chairs are too tall for the small space. Instead, we’ve ordered the Emmer Table from Article. We chose the light oak stain option because I think it will help make the dining set feel more lightweight and airy overall. The glass tabletop will also be a fun change from the opaque table we have now.

4. Seating: As for seating, we chose four of Article’s Alta Dining Armchairs. Going from six chairs down to four will help make the room feel a little less crowded. We pretty much only ever use just two chairs anyway, and the old set of six was depressing. It felt like we were at a dinner party that no one but us showed up to! The light oak woodwork on these chairs also matches the new table that’s coming, as well as the light wood frames of the art. That repetition is how we’re going to make the new light wood furniture feel intentional alongside the existing dark wood furniture around the perimeter of the room that we plan to keep. As long as you repeat a wood tone in more than two places in a room, it’s totally fine to mix stain colors—at least that’s my opinion!

5. Flooring: Another thing we don’t plan on changing that’s a key feature is the flooring. The original 1960s hardwood floors are still being shown off in this room, and we love that. I think the new light wood furniture will help “speak” to the lighter wood floors, and I also love that the glass tabletop will allow us to appreciate that ’60s detail even more. Oh, and we still plan on not using an area rug. We used to have a rug in here, but it impeded the walking path to the bedrooms, which we walk 1 million times per day, so we’re sticking with the rug-less look.

The new furniture is set to arrive in October, and I definitely plan on sharing a reveal post shortly thereafter. I have nothing but glowing things to say about all of the Article brand furniture we’ve ordered in the past, so I have no doubt that this dining room set will be a hit with our family. See past Article reviews of mine here (Sven and Burrard Sectionals), here (outdoor furniture and bar stools), here (the dining room setup at our old house that we ended up leaving with the new homeowners), and here (our still-beloved living room swivel chair).