Decorating a War Zone
Way back in 2015 the dining room looked like this. The table is by Baker and retailed for $12,000. I got it for a steal on eBay. For years after I made do with wood benches I made, and then four Pier-1 hipster chairs (which I had stored away for many years) that became uncomfortable after about an hour of use.
Today. The pink rug was purchased for the Parlor a few years ago. It lasted a day. It does look good in the dining room and I plan to retain it.
The table top is astonishing.
Kenny recently found four of these. For a song ($250 total). I thought they were perhaps 20-years-old but upon picking them up recognized them as much older, likely 1920s.They proved to be made by the Robert W. Irwin Company (1919-1953).
The quality is dazzling.
Alas though, they did not work with the table.
Kenny then found six upholstered chairs, also for a song. The upholstery is very well done, and the fabric is purple (stronger in person) and taupe. Perfect.
The chairs don’t compete with the table. I placed four of the chairs around the table, and two off to the side. Then I placed two of the Irwin chairs at each end and kinda like this. The sideboard will soon become my bathroom vanity and was purchased as such. So, I will soon need a new sideboard.
This is the Baker match to the table. The first I have ever come across. It has been marked down to $2,500 which is…sigh…sooooooo beyond my means. It is also far away in California. My lust though is immense. As my thin wallet is unimpressed with my lust…
…I purchased this for next-to-nothing. I like that it is black (complementing the table bases), and modern (so as to not compete with the table).
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This is so exciting!
I am just gobsmacked by the chairs Kenny found! He is such a dear, dear person!!
Exciting to see dining room adornment!
I like the pink rug as well!
The Baker table is beautiful! Just stunning!
Awesome Ross!
I like the sink in the DR, better than finger bowls between courses! And more sanitary too, though it means taking turns – but enough wine would help with that!
Well done Kenny and Ross!
I like the Irwin chairs but I like the current mix even better.
As just as I support your lust I think having the matching sideboard would have been too matchy matchy. That simple black sideboard is going to look fabulous. As usual, from disappointment springs success.
Kudos to Kenny for scoring again, twice.
I love the little dragonflies with their touch of gold.
I don’t remember the table but I so remember the chandelier. Still looking stunning.
Looks great, Ross! The finishing touch will be friends around the table for taco Tuesday!
Brad
I know it won’t stay like this, but I love the juxtaposition of the beautiful furniture and stunning chandelier with the current raw state of the walls.
I’m seeing the dining room done. It will be spectacular!
Loving the chairs! Loving the chandelier! And the table!!
I haven’t commented in a while, but you have piqued my interest in how one identifies and matches up pieces of sets of quality manufactured furniture.
I was curious to know how you can identify the sideboard that you describe as the Baker match to the table. I am having trouble seeing design elements that repeat from the pictures that make them seem like the same set. (for example the feet on your table look finer in a refined sort of way with more detailing). Your table appears to me to be much nicer than the sideboard pictured.
Do both pieces have labels of some sort that identify them? Is it part of a specific line that was made during a certain year?
Can you tell us the name of this dining room set? Were there chairs and other pieces that also would have gone with the table? Is there other furniture not associated with dining that also are associated with it. I think that your choice of the modern sideboard should work well with the table.
The new modern sideboard will be considerably lower than an older one. I hope it doesn’t feel dwarfed in the room. I love the idea of mixing and matching styles!
I came to say the same thing as Sue. The raw reality and the promise of the future colliding is so hauntingly beautiful.