Dining Rooms – Emily Henderson

The River House’s Cozy But Modern Dining Room Reveal!

Emily — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Welcome to the river house dining room reveal – such a warm and inviting landing spot with the prettiest views, a cozy fireplace, and a painting that my brother still doesn’t know if he’s into (but he hasn’t taken it down yet!!). It’s adjacent to the kitchen, with a shared color palette, and I layered it to be so warm and textural.

The Tile

Tile | Grout

Three years ago, Max and I picked out the tile from Ann Sacks, a really simple but textural, smaller brick tile that we stacked horizontally to create a big, quiet focal point with even a mid-century vibe. My sister in law likes neutrals and didn’t want to go bold at all, and fell in love with this simplicity (and didn’t want to take away from the view).

We couldn’t decide on the grout color – for good reason, grout is a stressful decision because it changes the look of the tile and the room, and is really hard to reverse. We ended up choosing the top right – a medium gray with slightly green undertones that created depth and a pattern, but not too dark or stark. Remember that choosing a lighter grout can work, but often you lose the idea of the stacking grid effect – so it can look more like a wall of texture rather than a more graphic geometric pattern. We wanted the pattern 🙂

One of my most favorite details is how Ann Sacks sells these corner pieces so that you don’t have to miter the edges – see below. It’s just so pretty!

You’ll notice that the tile is exactly the width of the fireplace, meaning no awkward, smaller pieces on either end. This was due to JP (our contractor) doing the math with the tiler (grout size has to be factored in) and essentially building out the structure underneath to make sure that it was exactly 19 across. These details make such a difference to those of us/you with a design eye.

Faux Tree & Planter | Artwork | Rug

We finished off the interior box with black Schluter that you can’t really see. Oh, and no, I don’t know what brand the firebox is, and yes, it was legal to put it on wood (they passed full inspections, so I think the specs of that box were fine!).

The piece of art is actually a collage of a really famous painting called “Portrait of Hanne Wilhelm Hansen” by Vilhelm Lundstrøm. An artist in LA recreates these with paper collages, and she gifted me one years ago that I have been hoarding for the right place. The colors are so perfect in here!! We used a command strip, so we didn’t drill into the tile or anything. My brother and SIL were on the fence about it – I think they like it as a piece of art, but it just didn’t feel like them and felt a bit intense in here, which I fully understood. I told them to live with it for a bit and, let’s just say, it’s still there!

The Layout

Chairs | Table (no longer available) | Vase | Mug (similar) | Rug

Anne Usher, the architect, designed and laid out the room with bench seats along the window and a fireplace – not only for warmth, but to add some design elements so it wasn’t just a box with windows. So then furnishing it was pretty dang simple. At the time that rug was in my collection and pulled the greens from the living room (which I can’t wait to show you), and used our 9×12 here. Then I was slow-moving to get them a table and chairs, so Katie found this table from Rejuvenation on clearance (and was available for local pickup). She sent me a link, and I said, “Go for it”.

The Dining Chairs

Chairs

I found these chairs online that checked all our boxes:

Upholstered seats and back – Not only did they want for comfort reasons, but this room needed softness and texture to make it feel warm and inviting.
Large scale and sturdy – My brother does NOT like chairs that are giving fragile or dinky, these needed to be side and comfy (but we didn’t want all armchairs either).
Kid-friendly, i.e., not a light fabric – The color also had to work with the stools and the furniture in the living room, since it’s a big open space.

There is a real hole in the market for colorful dining chairs, but I think that’s mostly for design-forward folks (meaning, maybe there is a hole for a reason – because most people are scared of that level of color commitment. At one point, I almost just had them buy my green dining chairs from Crate and Barrel (with a different rug), but I loved the backs on these, adding a pretty line and shape. They bought 8 of them, but didn’t want all 8 out on a normal day, so they have two in the family room that they can bring in here when needed.

The Window Shades

Decorview

We partnered with Decorview on the entire house for window treatments, and everyone was excited to use their motorized shades in here. The style of the entire house is pretty minimal, so we chose a soft, warm texture that worked well with the wood and wall color. They are all on one remote that is so easy to open and close (which they do, daily).

The Light Fixtures

Chandelier | Sconces

We worked with Rejuvenation on the light fixtures and chose this lovely linear and graphic chandelier that gave them ample light (no recessed lights in here) but wasn’t so busy that it would take away from the views behind it. Fun fact is that at first we had clear glass shades because I thought that would allow us to see the view even more, but it actually looked much busier (I think the bulbs inside and all the reflection were just distracting in this case). Once we swapped out the glass (Rejuvenation’s customer service was very nice), all of us said it was so much better.

Chandelier | Sconces

The sconces are actually vanity lights that can go horizontal or vertical, but since we had such a slim area, we thought they would look great here (and they do). Both fixtures are in the unlaquered brass, so they’ll patina a bit over time in a good way, but look pretty quiet in the room. At one point, I regretted not doing a contrasting finish (like black metal) for both, but now that the entire project is done, it really just feels simple and seamless, holistically. This look isn’t right for all styles of house, mind you (a more traditional house might want more contrast in finishes), but for this style, I love how all the finishes are simple, leaving the attention to the wood and views.

The Bench Seat!

This house has a hilarious amount of bench seats. And we even nixed two upstairs. Was this one needed? Not really, but boy is it fun to sit there and stare out the window, plus for me it was an opportunity to add some color and pattern (otherwise the room would have been just wood and cream). So I was really glad that they designed them into the plan. I used this opportunity to push Pollack fabric on them – the velvets are just so beautiful in patterns that really edged up the room. Then I styled them with pretty simple pillows to add even more texture and warmth.

Pollack Fabric | Cream Pillow | Gold Velvet | Blue Fringe (similar)

I love how they turned out! Oh, and yes, all of the bench seats are in fact storage drawers. I didn’t want them to have hardware so that they would just read more simple (and not just look like dressers all over their house), but fun fact – it’s a push mechanism that your heel hits perfectly and you accidentally open them all. the. time. I hope this is more funny than annoying 🙂

We thought this was a pretty opportunity to set the table and add a lot more color, texture, and warmth. They ended up keeping everything (most were from World Market and Crate and Barrel) so they could recreate when they had nicer dinners.

Faux Tree & Planter

The faux tree in the corner is excellent (from West Elm!) and added a bit of softness and color on the left. The room really connects so well with the kitchen and the living room – all the finishes, colors, and textures share similarities, but it still feels customized and special.

You can see here how it all flows together with the kitchen. Designing open spaces from scratch is actually a lot harder because of this. You don’t want everything to match (so boring), but it needs to make sense together. I love how all the lights work together, the colors (green island, green rug), and the pops of black in the lights and charcoal seating.

Don’t forget to play with the sliders to see how it looked before we furnished and styled it 🙂

I personally think that all the fabrics, colors, and styling really made this room come alive. I was definitely worried at a certain point that we didn’t make enough strong, bold choices (which we didn’t really), but now that it’s all done, I am reminded that a neutral palette is so easy to layer on to make it what you want.

Dining Room Resources:

Tile: Ann Sacks
Benches: Custom
Bench Fabric: Pollack
Main Wall Color: Alabaster by Sherwin-Williams
Sconces and Chandelier: Rejuvenation
Faux Tree: West Elm
Chairs: AllModern
Rug: Rugs USA
Window Shades: Decorview
Windows by Marvin Windows and Doors
Flooring: Stuga

*Architect: Anne Usher
**General Contractor: JP Macy of Sierra Custom Construction
***Interior Designers: Emily Henderson (me!) and Max Humphrey
****Styling: Emily Henderson (me!)
*****Photos by Kaitlin Green

The Grand Finale: Mallory’s DIY Hollywood-Inspired Dining Room Reveal

Mallory Wackerman — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 08:00:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, we revealed my living room and my closet speakeasy, and I’m happy to report that I have one more space to share with you – my dining room! You might’ve seen a sneak peek or two if you saw the last two blog posts, since all the spaces are adjacent to each other – but now it’s time to take you on a full tour of this funky little space and share everything I did.

As a reminder, this apartment is a total GEM – perfect location, walkable to a ton of fun spots, month-to-month, vintage charm, and original tile in the kitchen and bathrooms, but almost every room was in need of a good dose of TLC when I showed up. Let me show you…

DINING ROOM BEFORE

Yeah, so it wasn’t a totally turnkey move-in situation…but my boyfriend, Austin, and I gave the entire apartment a quick paint job. It’s proof of why you should never underestimate the power of a fresh, white paint:

So much better, right?! The beige-y brown walls were just not it. Plus, they were pretty banged up if you looked closely, so this made a MASSIVE difference. It did, however, make the flooring imperfections more noticeable. We’re lucky to have the original hardwood flooring in our apartment, but it’s also pretty banged up. But I knew I could just cover it up with a rug and a big, long dining table, so it wasn’t a huge deal (because refinishing hardwood floors in a rental is where I personally draw the line).

I explained the design direction for my apartment in great detail over in my living room reveal, but the TLDR is this: we’re going for “single grandma that’s back out on the streets and ready to party.” I know you’re probably like, “Mallory, what does that actually mean??” A simpler way of putting it: a touch of vintage, a touch of modern, and a whole lot of feminine energy – that’s the vibe!

Also, see that ancient AC unit? It’s so old-looking, I didn’t even try to see if it worked (I just figured it was broken since it looked broken…like it’s missing buttons and is overall super sketchy lol), so when Austin and I painted this entire place last summer, it was about 90 degrees, and we never even turned it on. I laughed SO hard when I finally just pushed the button and realized that thing actually cranks…I was honestly in shock. All this to say I knew I wanted to find a way to cover that puppy up but still make sure it was functional…it’s quite the eyesore after all.

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I have a thing about leopard and/or tiger wallpaper. Just take a look at the bathroom from my old studio apartment – I’m still obsessed with those walls. Something about the coolness and the sheer amount of personality the leopards add…I just think it’s so fun. So I sampled tons of different wallpapers, but ultimately had the Sarah Sherman Samuel x Lulu and Georgia tiger jacquard grasscloth one in my heart (and have since the moment this pattern dropped). Originally, I was going to go with the darker yellow one, but then realized this room is already fairly dark during the day – and while it’s a great idea to go to dark in a room without a ton of natural light – I work from home in here all the time and knew it would be a lot for me to be in a dark yellow room for hours everyday, so we went with the creamier white ish one. And I put it up myself!!

DINING ROOM PROGRESS

Obviously, this wallpaper isn’t peel-and-stick – so I basically just installed regular wallpaper on the walls, but did two things to make it easier to take off later: 1. I overlapped the panels a bit so that I could easily lift off the corners and sides, and 2. I used way less glue than I would have if this were a place I owned. Ideally, the next tenant will want to keep the wallpaper up, so I’m hoping I won’t have to remove it, but if I have to remove it, it’s not a huge deal – you just use a steamer and a scraper, and yes, it takes a bit of elbow grease, but it comes off. The wallpaper in my last apartment wasn’t peel-and-stick either, and it took about 3 or 4 hours to remove, but I got my security deposit back, no problem.

Wallpaper can be a big investment (time and money-wise), depending on the type you get, but it truly makes the biggest impact, in my opinion. I mean, just see for yourself…(REVEAL INCOMING!)…

There she is!! My dining room in all her glory. Once the wallpaper was up, I sampled a ton of colors and found the perfect shade to complement – Shaded White by Farrow and Ball. It can lean sort of tan sometimes and sort of mauve other times, and it’s just so gorg in every light! Then I thought about adding in a fun moulding under the chair rail, but I might do that for phase 2, or might not do it at all, since it’s a rental and I’m not sure it’ll be worth the bang for the buck.

The dining table and chairs really grounded the entire space – I love the contrast of their modern shapes with the more traditional feeling wallpaper. I wanted to have a good mix of old and new (read: sexy grandma). I swapped out the boob light (of course) to this gorgeous Soho Home chandelier, which has the perfect traditional/modern mix, and I had been eyeing it for literally years.

Now let’s chat about that ugly AC unit in the window…

My quick and easy fix to cover up that window AC unit was to pop in a cafe curtain. Functionally, it’s perfect – you can slide it to one side if you want to let in some light from the window, and you can slide it to the other side to use the AC unit in the summer. It helped SO much with the eyesore that was this ancient box in the middle of the window. In a perfect world, I wouldn’t have to have that AC and would’ve done some gorgeous pinch-pleat floor-to-ceiling curtains so the cafe curtains wouldn’t be in the same eye-line as the chandelier, but the AC unit is so functional and I actually like being comfortable in my own home, so we had to keep it 🙂

This rug was SUPER affordable – I needed a strange size (7×10) and I didn’t want to invest too much into it. When I found this one, I knew it was perfect for the space. Those sconces are hardwired sconces, but I don’t have a junction box here, so I just put rechargeable light bulbs in them, and I’m truly in love. They’re from the Crate and Barrel x Athena Calderone collab, and I’d been eyeing them for a long time as well. I like investing in lighting that I’m planning to take with me, and the lighting in this space will definitely come with me to my next place or project.

I needed some large art for this space, so I went through some Slim Aarons prints (my favorite photographer – I always love putting his work in my projects). I got this 20×20 print and put it in a 30×30 frame – then I did a little DIY to make the framing look more expensive. I got a 24×24 mat with a 20×20 cutout and then two 30×30 mats with a 24×24 cutout. I took one of the mats and drew a black outline with Sharpie around the edge of it – then I put the second 30×30 mat on top so it covered any imperfections. Note the black outline is on all sides – it’s just the angle of this photo that only shows 3!

Sconces | Art Print

I might want to swap this frame to be a gold/bronze antique-looking frame – but I haven’t found one I love yet, and frames can be big investments. So for now I’m using this one, which is actually really great quality (and it’s real glass – it’s hard to find a large, affordable frame that doesn’t use acrylic), and it isn’t a total arm and a leg for how big it is.

Frame | Gold Corners | Music Center Vintage Postcard | Los Feliz Vintage Postcard | Candle Holders (Vintage)

On this wall over here, I created a gallery of vintage LA/Los Feliz postcards, and it was crazy affordable. Let me show you the breakdown…

The frames were sold in bulk and averaged to be about $3 a piece (I got 9×12 in a pack of 3), and they don’t come with a mat, so I bought those in bulk too (in a pack of 10 for $30), and then I cut them each down to size. I ended up just taping the vintage postcards on top of the mat because they obviously didn’t have a cut out for the postcards, and in the end you they look great. Then each postcard was between $3 and $15, and I found them all on eBay.

Frame | Gold Corners | Music Center Vintage Postcard | Los Feliz Vintage Postcard

Then I wanted to make the frames a bit more interesting – so I added on these gold corners, which were only $10 for a pack of 12. To fill my entire wall, I needed 8 frames – so here’s how much it cost:

$3-$15 per postcard
$3 per frame
$3 per mat
$3 per frame to add gold corners

So each piece of art + framing cost me between $12-$24, and after I did the math, I spent a total of $170 on the entire wall, which is EXCELLENT in my opinion, considering how much space this gallery wall takes up! If you’re looking for art – I highly recommend doing this 🙂

Okay, as we’re wrapping up – here’s the shot that shows where my living room/speakeasy are in relation to the dining room, just to give a bit more context. I just love this photo – and that mirror is so perfect & bounces the light around in the best way.

Here’s a reminder of the crazy transformation!

Dress | Shoes

There I am! I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for taking the time to read this and look at all the photos. And if you saw my other reveals as well, THANK YOU! Means the world to get to do this and I’m so appreciative. See you in the comments!!

*Design by Mallory Wackerman
**Photos by Sara Ligorria-Tramp

Revisiting A 2013 Project, DesignLoveFest’s Apartment (+ What I Think About It Now)

Emily — Mon, 05 May 2025 08:00:00 +0000

In our grown-up pursuit of “timelessness” (which gets more intense as we get older), it sure is fun to see a time capsule of our youth. The year was clearly 2013, and two “internet famous” bloggers collabbed on what now feels like OG vintage influencer content. When I stumbled on Bri Emery’s apartment from 2013, I gasped and then wanted to gossip about it with you. So much to talk about. It still pops so hard and is full of pieces that I love, while also just screaming “2010’s blogger time capsule”. It’s a real lesson in where to bring in trends as well as demonstrating the power of vintage and color. This was my last “blogger collab,” where I designed/styled famous blogger’s homes (who would be called influencers now) to cross promote, garner press, more followers, etc (I decorated Cup of Jo’s apartment, Oh Joy’s (multiple times), Nicolette Mason and then Bri Emery, aka DesignLoveFest, Green Wedding Shoes nursery, and many more). Bri redesigned our website (which has since been redesigned and is DESPERATE for a new redesign – coming soon, I hope), and I designed/styled her living and dining room. If you want to read the original post, check it out -it’s a funny read.

That’s Bri, aka DesignLoveFest, and if you haven’t seen her new kitchen in upstate New York, you MUST. She, like most OG design/style bloggers, made a lot of life shifts, and after taking a long creative/personal sabbatical from social media, she is posting again and collaborating with other old friends (which is so fun to watch on stories). She has always been wildly creative and such a visionary, so I’ll follow her forever. I dream of doing a “Bloggers: Where Are They Now” series because most of the OG crew that really took off in the 2010s, have changed careers and are thriving in such different and interesting ways (I think like 10 of us are still here, spoiler – social media caused burn out really fast). That’s a whole other story, but today let’s look at Bri’s 2013 apartment transformation:

I swear we didn’t try to take low-light befores back then… But here’s the super bright after! LOL

My first gut reaction: this room is undeniably still so fun. If I walked into this apartment now, I would think this person has so much style and creativity, an eclectic, even eccentric, point of view, and we are about to have fun. And then, of course, I’d want to edit it a bit, tweak it for 2025. So let’s talk through the main trends that were big then:

2013 Trend #1: Bright White With Pops Of Bright Colors

I was so guilty of this, doing it over and over in that decade (and still am!). The formula: all white walls, big pops of color, drenched in natural light. And the thing is, this still really works in Southern California. Of course, now we’d do a warmer neutral, and employ darker, more subtle greens and lots of muted pinks. Heck, my brother and SIL wanted a version of that in their bedroom (see here). I think for the most part it works, it’s just some of the colors here that make it feel a bit 2013. I would definitely get rid of that scalloped pillow on the sofa and reduce the amount of hot pink (the vintage ottoman could be more of a neutral).

2013 Trend #2: Fig Trees And Whimsical Plants Galore (In Whimsical Pots!)

Again, I still like fig trees, but my goodness, they were EVERYWHERE in the 2010s (mostly because of me, I think – remember DesignStar?), so I really don’t think we needed two here. And while having plants galore is more popular than ever, I don’t think doing it like this is working. I think it’s just a bit messy, the pots are a bit eclectic, and it feels generally over the top. If I could do it again, I’d do one big fig tree and a smaller green plant on the coffee table. Also, not sure we need a decorative piñata…

2013 Trend #3 Palm Springs Style Mid-Century Vintage Everything In Bright Colors

Again, I don’t mind this trend!! Mid-century is never out, and I don’t think that there is too much of it here. It’s just combined with the big saturated colors and the Moroccan rug and brass that make all the pieces feel 2013. But yes, in the 2010s, before any of us had a budget to buy investment pieces from adult stores, we bought anything from the Rose Bowl flea market, which was full of midcentury vintage from Palm Springs. None of these are dated; it’s just within the context of so much stuff and bright colors that it screams 2013.

What’s Not Working?? What Would I Get Rid Of?

That’s pretty easy – the black chair with the more Navajo-inspired woven pattern feels like we were trying hard to dip into that next trend (I’m not sure what to call it, I apologize if I’m not accurate here). At the time were really seeing the rise of African mudcloth and Aztec-style prints, and now we know better and to never buy them in a mass-produced fashion. Purchasing from the actual people whose culture these textiles belong to should always be a priority, like with my Boro fabrics. I do like the idea of the pattern, but it belongs somewhere with less bright, saturated colors or trendy pieces. I’d also nix the gold drum table (very 2013), and I’d reduce the amount of stuff by 1/3rd AT LEAST. And I really, really don’t like that colorful pillow on the sofa.

I think this was during my “miniatures” phase that I’ve never really grown out of, TBH, but I don’t force it on my friends as much now. Those flowers are WAY too big and busy in here, IMHO.

I still love those vintage lamps and would use them in the right project now. The art was from the flea market, and the Blu Dot table is so simple that it’s hard to call it in or out, but the collective vignette just feels very 2013 due to the color palette. Now I’d change the drum shades to be more tapered or pleated (or a color).

Nothing really dated here except all my EHD vintage whimsy, which I still love, but it’s a younger version of me. That lamp is still pretty darn cute.

The midcentury shelving unit is rad still, just needs to be styled with less stuff and with more grounding colors (i.e. less teal and yellow). So many plants shoved in this shot!!!

I really think the culprit here is mostly just the accessories and the styling, both of which were obviously 100% on me. And in a lot of ways, that is refreshing because those are the things that are less of an investment and easier to change.

I still really like this!!! It’s just a bit too much, too many small trends that inevitably read as 2013, and too much “stuff”. But those are almost all in the smaller pieces and would be so easy to tweak to make them work.

It’s visually so fun and stimulating,g so while it seems like I’m tearing my own work apart, it’s actually really easy to see that with a few tweaks it could feel 2025 really easily.

We kept with the same styles and colors in the dining room – that vintage dining set is still so rad, and Mid-century teak is having a big comeback right now, so do NOT sell your stuff, people.

Besides me holding the plant hostage in that cage, I think most of this works, but maybe just too much altogether.

The Brendan Ravennhill light fixture had just launched, and Max Wanger’s photography was so popular (they both pioneered a LOT of copycats).

hi, bri!

While I wouldn’t go back to 2013 Emily, I think this room actually has a lot of timelessness.

The Lessons In Trends And Timelessness:

You will not be able to avoid leaning into some trendy design elements if you are super into design (no one is immune to the zeitgeist), but if you want to avoid looking dated, buy the high quality version of it or just do it in accessories that aren’t as much of an investment to change out. I think the squiggle or amorphous shapes are great current examples – bring them in in limited amounts to avoid looking dated real fast.
Bright colors will always be more likely to be “dated”, but that doesn’t mean we should avoid what we love right now. Will they call 2022 the year of dark moody green everything? Yep! But I don’t know how you avoid any color trends without just being so boring. Will warm pinks, browns, and burgundies also be less exciting in 10 years? Probably, but again, there is no such thing as timeless colors, and for the most part, there is a way to make them still work with styling. A well-designed room with high-quality materials done in a balanced way will likely still be very pretty in 20 years. Sure, there are some navy blue tones that feel fresher than others, but for the most part, blues, greens, and neutrals are timeless (coming from someone who has and will always love blues and greens, so I’m very biased). Although if you live in Texas or Arizona it’s likely warmer tones that feel timeless there. It’s so nuanced, folks. Good luck! LOL.
Too much stuff can really overwhelm a room (and in this case, make it feel dated). I think this can be blamed on youth, especially when we are younger and we can’t afford the more expensive design elements, but we love to shop, we are drawn to smaller things that we love, because it’s what we can buy. Nothing wrong with this, but just know that displaying it all, on every surface, especially when they are all super eclectic, can just look a bit cuckoo. I had to learn this lesson over and over and over.
Authentic Vintage will always be in style – it’s just context, styling, and color combinations that can make the pieces look dated to the specific era that it “came back” in.

For the most part, I think that this room could be tweaked so fast to make it feel “in” right now – the main “dated” culprits are in the accessorizing, which feels pretty harmless to me. Thoughts????

**Design by Emily Henderson (me!)
*Photos by Laure Joliet

My Friend’s Moody Dark Green Dining Room (You Should See The Before)

Emily — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 08:00:00 +0000

This is a real pleasure to introduce you to an eclectic cool dining room I helped design for one of my best friends. If you haven’t seen their living room, dining nook, or basement go check those out afterward, but what you’ll see is a continuation of this “traditional with a big edge” style, employing some classic elements along with a few contemporary twists. I LOVE how it turned out so much.

When they bought the house everything was neutral and pretty tame, so they amped it up pretty quickly with this green paint color (Bancha from Farrow & Ball chosen with Max Humphrey) then I came in and furnished it all (spending other people’s money on Saturday mornings is really my favorite hobby and satisfies my shopping addiction without the personal damage!).

As you can see the dining room can be viewed from the living room so the colors really had to work together (and dare I say, they do). The green really pulls you in and then the colors once you are inside speak to the living room so clearly. I feel like it’s impossible to not feel happy looking at this photo.

The rug was game-changing – the colors and pattern are perfect in here and really livened up the room. I had been eyeing it for a long time so I was so happy when I finally got to use it somewhere. The dining table is a really pretty walnut oval, with awesome curves (and I love how the curves talk to the light fixture). I opted for two captain’s chairs in a soft green velvet, then punched up the side chairs with these from Soho Home (the multi-color upholstery is so pretty, especially on the more classically shaped chair).

Marble Footed Bowls | Gold Candlestick Holders (similar) | Little Pedastal Bowl (similar)

FYI, they normally don’t leave a beautiful book open on their dining table when not being used:)

Bar Cabinet | Lamp | Art (unavailable)

This room is used as a home office at times (especially with all the shelving) so we added this cabinet (more oval shapes offsetting all the grid of the window and the stripe of the rug). And that punch of red in there with the lamp keeps it feeling moody and unexpected.

The colors really did all work so beautifully together – the greens, blues and warmer red tones create such a cozy and yet totally modern palette. It was also such a refreshing room to design – so different than my light/bright Scandi vibe. That green paint color has a lot of yellow which I typically don’t choose (not sure why) but I really LOVE it in here (but be careful in a really bright room it might be really bold/jarring).

For the shelves, I mostly just styled with what they already owned. I edited it and curated it a bit, only bringing a few things from my prop closet that I was wiling to part with.

I do love a before and after and this one really shows how layered and warm this room became:

Outfit: Denim Shirt | Long Skirt | Clogs

So again, if you haven’t seen their living room, dining nook, or basement go check those out. I just love how this house turned out so much and hanging out in here in person is even better. Cheers to friends who give me free rein to do cool stuff (and who have fantastic taste in making the project so seamless). xx

*Decorated by Emily Henderson (me!)
**Photos by Kaitlin Green

A Pink Breakfast Nook Of My Dreams (My Friend’s Makeover I’m Jealous Of…)

Emily — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Apparently pink rooms are having a moment over here (my guest room, my brother’s guest room) and while technically this room was painted before I took over decorating I will happily take credit for how pretty it is. Nicole and Curtis, two of our best friends, chose Dead Salmon by Farrow & Ball for this super classic and beautiful dining nook. This room is so beautiful and was frankly pretty easy to furnish and decorate because they had a great start with that color, light fixture, and the black shelving.

This was the room before. The windows are just as beautiful but those brown walls and ceiling really weren’t their style.

It just wasn’t living to its full potential but I feel pretty confident in saying that now it is…

Wall Color | Door Color | Table | Dining Chair

See?! Ok, let’s get into some of the main pieces. The shape of the window lent itself to a large round pedestal table, but I didn’t want it to be white which was harder to find than predicted. I found this table randomly on Frontgate, and it’s 60″ with a pretty dark marble top and a lovely traditional base. There are a lot of trendier post-modern pedestal tables out there, and certainly mid-century styles but they didn’t feel right here (plus, we wanted to use these more modern chairs) so I love how the base is so classic and traditional. The chairs are from Soho Home and the color is perfect (it talks to the green in the more formal dining room) and the cut-out in the back is a really lovely detail.

Candlestick Holders | Taper Candles (similar) | Wood Salt and Pepper Shakers

Because this room is small and pretty simple, design-wise, we decided to set the table to add some styling elements. I really love that vase (with green interiors) and used Crate & Barrel plates with Anthro bowls and World Market glasses to deck it out.

See how the two (well, three) spaces talk to each other? All have their own personalities but are definitely a part of the same family.

White Footed Bowl | Black Shelving (similar)

Nic and Curtis had this black shelf/cart already along this wall which totally works but we recently talked about adding more pantry space to the nearby kitchen (which they desperately need) and bringing in two deVOL-style cupboards here. I like this vignette, but I think a prettier piece with closed storage would work better. The photo art is one they’ve had for a long time which reminds them of when their girls were little on skateboards:) I mostly edited and curated what they already had there, making it look better (which is my favorite thing to do), and added that pretty footed bowl, and a live jasmine plant which we all became obsessed with.

Chandelier

The chandelier is so perfect in here – it holds the space so well, but it’s reflective and airy (not visually heavy) which keeps the room balanced.

I will never tire of this room and the only thing better than looking at the photos is being in here in person. Thanks, Nic and Curtis for making my job so easy. xx

And as a reminder, here’s a pretty great before and after:)

*Styled by Emily Henderson (me!)
**Photos by Kaitlin Green

Introducing The Next Room…Robyn’s Welcoming Patterned Dining Room Reveal

Jess Bunge — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 09:00:06 +0000

This dining room reveal is one of my favorites ever, and not just because it was for one of my best friends in the world (but that probably helps). It turned out so gosh darn elegant and yet livable. If you missed their living room reveal (which you’ll see a peak of below) head there first for the background and the befores) because today is focused on this jewel box of a room that I’m so proud of (and jealous of, TBH).

Remember, the move-in before was colorless, pretty charmless, and cozy-less. So we had a clear directive – but that doesn’t mean it was fast, cheap, or easy (nothing ever is). It took a year, a fantastic partner (yes, perks to being my friend), and a lot of meetings squeezed in to make it happen.

But you can see the potential, right? The big window that frames Mount Hood, the pretty original floors, the built-ins – all just needed some color and point of view. The dining chairs were 10 years old (and falling apart), the chandelier was honestly fine (but sold on FBMP now), and the rug felt too boho for this elegant room but the table? Oh, that heirloom table that’s been in her family for generations was so pretty so we knew that we’d keep that.

You can see here the connection between the living and dining room here, with a shared color palette of such warm tones, mixed with so many blues and greens. The dining room properly draws you in, while being totally balanced with the living room – not one room feeling heavier than the other. Almost like magic! (but not magic at all, LOL, it’s a hefty combination of effort, intuition, risk-taking, mistake-making, time, money, and experience…so easy!).

Introducing The Dining Room…

Kaitlin Green blew me away with these photos – the vibe is captured so perfectly! I think my favorite thing here is the rug with the wallpaper – neither “matching” necessarily and both rather busy, but because they are both classic and even historic, it now looks so vintage and original in here. I feared that it would be too much (especially with the other Persian rug in the living room) but now I see that when you are using such classic motifs and are wanting an old-world vibe, this is the way to go (and let’s be clear the tones and colors work really well together – a lot of complementary tones, not just random). See the full video tour here (just wait for the ad to play…thank you!)

The Pretty Brass Chandelier

We almost kept their chandelier because it was “fine” but boy am I glad we didn’t. This one is so incredibly beautiful and the slate blue shades make it feel so updated, while the finish and the shape are classic. You can customize the drop, the finish, and the color of the shades (we almost did the burgundy but Robyn got scared and I complied). We kept it high enough to see the view from the living room, but low enough to still feel connected to the table. It’s perfect. And I apologize to those of you who hate it when we photoshop out recessed lights – While I didn’t ask Kaitlin to I am so grateful she did as they can be distracting if they are wrong, stylistically. One thing we could have done is replace them with brass spotlights but they were done spending money and making decisions, and since they didn’t mind the recessed lights we left them and just photoshopped them out for cleaner shots).

New Dining Chairs + Antique Table FTW

The wallpaper is a classic William Morris pattern (that Rejuvenation sells!) and it was Robyn and Ryan’s first choice so YAY!!!! I loved it too so it was a real win. The chairs are a nice modern pairing to the more detailed/decorative table legs and the black finish added a nice depth and edge to the room. The wishbone shape is not only super ergonomic but the roundedness always adds a nice contrast to a rectangle table.

We knew that we couldn’t do a bold piece of art in here, and no gallery wall (too busy + there is one in the living room) so we hung this gorgeous huge mirror which obviously reflects a lot of light and adds so much elegance. The brass frame works so well with the hardware and the chandelier (obviously) and that rounded cut-out detail in the corner keeps it from looking too simple and modern (by giving it a vintage vibe).

I know I’ve been harping on the dark blue paint color, but it sure is so perfect, especially with the unlacquered brass handles popping off.

Brass Handles | Brass Knobs

We chose a hardware (The Ladd Collection) that has a little bit of detail, leans more elegant than utilitarian but still feels fresh and modern. My goodness, did this elevate this built-in a lot.

I styled the credenza with winter branches, a big bowl of mixed pears, family photos in frames (From World Market), and a vintage set of the perfect-toned glassware and carafe (from Stars Market in Portland – although I saw very similar ones from World market the next day that were much more affordable lol). We put a nice classic candlestick lamp in the corner to balance out the branches, draw your eye, and provide a nice ambient glow.

Burgundy Glassware (Vintage) | Table Lamp | Leather Ottoman (Vintage)

We brought over my beautiful inventory of tablescape pieces (that are from Anthropologie for the most part) to style it all out and boy did it look so pretty. Again, all the tones just work so well together.

I think this tour isn’t complete without some before and afters:

What a difference a year makes. They are sooooo happy and grateful (me, too). Here’s one more of Robs and I for those of you who like to see best friends being unabashedly affectionate 🙂

*Design by Emily Henderson
**Photos by Kaitlin Green

In Search Of Green, Blue, And Pink Upholstered Family-Friendly Dining Chairs (And My Favorite Options Ones Thus Far)

Emily — Mon, 19 Aug 2024 08:00:00 +0000

Shame on the market for having so many cream or white boucle seats for dining chairs – I mean, what fantasy land do you think we live in? Should we put a white rug underneath it??? Use white cloth napkins? Wear white on spaghetti Tuesdays? Where am I supposed to I wipe the marinara after eating penne arrabbiata with my fingers? A “napkin” you might suggest and sure, whatever, we have “napkins”, but if you have kids or have friends with kids or neighbors with kids or grandkids, dogs who eat at the table (true story) or just general marinara fingers then a light fabric will not do – napkin or not. Sure, we could cut marinara from our diets. Shun teriyaki and soy sauce from our sushi. Only drink clear sodas or “water”. However, light or white fabrics are generally a bad idea when you have children nearby. Oh, and please don’t suggest a flat mid-tone gray fabric. What is this – 2007??? I’d LIKE A NICE COLORED FABRIC DINING CHAIR PLEASE!!! And NOT one that’s a million dollars. So today I’m going to show you all the ones I found – high, low, and in between. I wish I could say there were more but I’m hoping after this there will be (for the love of God a good modern pattern PLEASE).

Of course, my history with colored upholstered dining chairs is long. Let’s start with these vintage beauties from 2011:

left: photo by tessa neustadt | right: photo by david tsay

These are still some of my all-time favorites. The chairs were vintage from MidcenturyLA, I think $300 a piece including the new blue upholstery that I chose. Not nothing, but they were perfect. If I could go back in time I would not have sold these with the house. They are awesome and brands try to knock them off, but can’t quite do them as well. RIP.

photo by tessa neustadt | from: emily’s kitchen and dining room reveal

Then when we moved to Los Feliz we had these chairs with Crypton fabric. The color was nice and sure Crypton cleans up WAY better than non-performance linen but they were still too light in color and had too many arms to withstand my marinara-filled double toddlers at the time. Sure the marinara comes off but not without a parent cleaning it off (stains aren’t physically repelled even when you have performance fabric). In short, the toddlers won, I lost and my best friend got the chairs.

photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: styling to sell: how we staged our dining room and kitchen (With the changes i should have done years ago!)

But only after I found my dream chairs at the flea market (shout out Cherner), redid them in leather and while I LOVE THEM SO MUCH, Brian couldn’t handle how fragile they were on a daily basis. They creaked so badly and I’m super sensitive to that stuff. And it wasn’t easy for the kids to get in and out of them. I still have them and plan on putting them somewhere someday (see? I learned my lesson about selling my favorite things) but they couldn’t be our daily dining chairs. Brian’s dad joined the complaint choir about them, the kids acted like they didn’t know how to get in and out of them and I had to come to terms with the fact that perhaps these aren’t good family sit-for-hours chairs. FINE.

photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: mountain house “reveal”: the dining room built-in dilemma (+ the 3 mistakes we made)

At the mountain house, we had that huge built-in dining nook and then bought three chairs that worked well with them. When I say huge, people come from all over the country to see the world’s biggest dining nook. SHE FAMOUS! It’s comically big (but I love it). They are all good/fine but the chairs are pretty heavy and the kids (until previously) would act like getting into one is like wrestling a shark – like they scrambled and wrestled and the noises of the grunts and the wood legs on the floor – it was always a thing, ALWAYS. Once sitting, they were locked in, imprisoned temporarily, which was nice for us parents, ha. The leather and wood repelled all marinara easily, but the arms and the heft meant work for me to get them in and out every single time (god, this sounds like my kids have no motor skills, but trust me, even when they are older pulling out a chair on a wood or tile floor is so loud and annoying! And then having them scoot themselves in by jumping the legs forward, just no. You want them to be able to pop in and out without assistance!

photos by kaitlin green | from: my favorite spot in the farmhouse: our sunroom reveal!

Where we have currently landed in our dining room is truly excellent. The tone of the green is so pretty (enough blue in it to not look primary or collegiate), and they are extremely comfortable. They are pretty from the back (because that is how you see them the most!) and are easy to pull in and out or slide into. I sit in one for 6 hours a day on my writing days. 10/10

But for my brother’s river house (with two young kids) I didn’t want to use the same ones (and yes, they would work PERFECTLY with the green island, but c’mon, I can get more creative than that). So here is where we are with the room:

photo by kaitlin green

It’s pretty but very neutral, with the only color coming from the trees outside. Now, the kitchen and living room will both have color (all TBD to be honest) so I can’t just design in a bubble. I did lean towards black chairs for the longest time (and at the time of publishing this post nothing has been decided) but what I really want is a colorful, patterned chair that isn’t busy but is just more interesting. There is truly nothing on the market, readymade that is under $1k a chair. But I did find a decent amount of green, blue, and pink dining chairs (basically non-neutrals) for those of us who have dreams of upholstered colorful dining chairs (i.e. not painted wood or metal).

Wait, Why Do You Just Use Wood Or Metal?

This is less of a comfort thing because there are a lot of comfortable wood or metal chairs. This room wants and needs texture, softness, and color. I could get metal/wood and buy cushions but I’d rather find an upholstered mid-toned colorful chair.

OK, here is what I found after hours, days, weeks, and months of shopping online and in person:) There’s a range of budgets but honestly, dining chairs just don’t come cheap.

Blue-Toned Upholstered Dining Chairs

Green-Toned Upholstered Dining Chairs

Pink-Toned Upholstered Dining Chairs

Opening Image Credits: Photo by Kaitlin Green | From: My Favorite Spot In The Farmhouse: Our Sunroom Reveal!

Choosing THE RIGHT Rug Size For Every Room (All Of Our Tips And Tricks)

Emily — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 08:00:00 +0000

How to choose the right rug size for your space can be difficult, especially when rugs are notoriously kinda expensive and therefore intimidating. In general, people buy rugs that are too small because 5×7 and 6x9s are so much cheaper than 8x10s or 9x12s, but it’s often going to make the whole space look chopped up and accidental so in a way you’ve just wasted that money. Tough love, folks.

But I wanted to pull together a post that gives you ALL of my tips, tricks, warnings, and learnings for rug buying. I’ll be covering all the major rug spaces – living room, bedroom, dining room (controversial, I know), and hallways. I LOVE what a rug does to a room. Instant cozy, instant texture, and instant color…or pattern…or both:) Let’s start with the living room…

The Living Room Rug Rules

GENERAL RULES:

Typical living room rug sizes are 8’x10′ and 9’x12′.
Make sure your rug is at least 6″ wider (8″ is ideal) than your sofa on both sides.
Typically run the rug the length of the sofa.
Give 30″ to 36″ of a walkway between large furniture pieces (if your living room allows for it) if not then at least 18″-24″. That will help to inform your rug size.

Waverly Broken Stripe Rug

TIP: Measure the size of your SEATING AREA before shopping and get the closest size up from that. If your budget is tight and your room is small you can have a smaller rug that floats in front of all the furniture – this is especially ok if your sofa is backed up against the wall – you don’t need to waste the rug real estate under the sofa if you can’t even see that it’s there. But if your furniture is floating or if your room is big, get a larger rug or else it will make the room look smaller, chopped up, and totally out of proportion. One of the main functions of a rug is to pull the room together, not chop it up.

Rowena Checked Wool Area Rug

TIP: Legs on or off? This is a question I get ALL the time and my best tip is BE CONSISTENT. If you don’t have a massive rug that fits all your furniture (because yes, that is ideal) then make sure that you are at least consistent with how you handle the legs; if your sofa legs are off, have the chair legs off the rug as well. If your sofa is all on, then you can’t have the chairs all off or it will really chop up the conversation area. So I say, ALL ON, or ALL OFF. Just be consistent so it looks as intentional as possible. I have seen it where the sofa is all on and the rugs are 1/2 and vice versa and it can look fine, but ideally, all the legs would be on the rug. If you have to choose which legs should be on, then choose the ones that are the least obvious. AKA, if your sofa is low and closer to the wall then you are less likely to see under it and reveal the fact that it’s not fully on the rug. See, I told you… nuanced.

Oregon Plaid Wool Rug

TIP: Orient the rug to the room – If you have a long rug, orient it length-wise. If you have more of a compact room, orient it horizontally. This is not always the case so it’s a very nuanced situation. Often if you have a really long and skinny room then you might have two different seating areas and two rugs that are oriented with those seating areas, but the rugs need to cover up a certain amount of real estate on the floor in proportion to the room, so if you are orienting the rug to your sofa, not your room then often you are cutting off huge portions of the room and again, making it look smaller. So when in doubt, go with the orientation of the room.

Myrtlewood Jute Area Rug | Blue Jay Wool Area Rug

TIP: If you have a rug that is too small but you love it, then buy a large sisal that fits the whole seating area and layer your favorite rug on top – I used to do this ALL THE TIME. Sisal, jutes, seagrass rugs are typically more affordable so buying a 9×12 is more doable than a 9×12 antique kilim.

The Dining Room Rug Rules

GENERAL RULES:

Typical dining room rug sizes are 8’x10′ and 9’x12′.
Give at least 12″ between the rug and wall if you have the space.
Allow at least 36″ from the edge of your table to the edge of the rug. This let’s gives you room to pull out your chairs without falling off the rug.

Blue Lake Striped Jute Area Rug

TIP: Rugs are rugs, not wall-to-wall carpet, so make sure that there is some breathing room between the rug and the walls so that it doesn’t feel too tight in there.

TIP: Not every dining room needs a rug, but if you do have one make sure there is plenty of room to pull the chairs in and out without having the chair half on and half off the rug.

TIP: Flatweave rugs are, in my opinion, the best choice for dining rooms. They are the easiest to move chairs around on as well as clean. If you don’t want a flatweave then tufted or low-pile rugs can also work. I just suggest avoiding shags and thick piles. They will catch everything that falls off the table and are much harder to clean.

The Bedroom Rug Rules

GENERAL RULES:

Ideally, your rug should have at least 24″ on all three sides of your bed.
Our typical sizing rules are: for a Twin go for a 5’x8′, a Full 6’x9′, a Queen 8’x10′, and a King 9’x12′.
The legs of your footboard should be on top of your rug.

Blue Pacific Striped Wool Area Rug

TIP: Make sure that you have some space on either side of the rug once it is tucked under your bed. If it is similar in width to your bed then it may look too squished and small for the size of your bedroom.

The Runner Rug Rules

GENERAL RULES:

Have at least 3″ between wall and rug on each side
Your runner shouldn’t be the exact length of your hallway.

Oregon Plaid Wool Runner

TIP: Front legs of hallway furniture (cabinets, benches, etc) should sit on or off the runner.

TIP: If you have a door that opens up to your runner…consider the pile height. Most bedroom and bathroom doors open in towards their rooms so this likely isn’t an issue for runners going into hallways. BUT, for doors that open into a runner, rug thickness is something you want to consider. Nothing is more annoying than a door catching on a rug every time you open it.

TIP: Have a really long hallway? You have the option of getting one long runner or two shorter ones. A long one is always great but can be pricey. Using two (or even three) runners is a great alternative. Just be mindful of where the split happens. You don’t want to have it in the middle of a doorway where the potential to trip is much higher…

Hope this was helpful and that you are bursting with rug-buying confidence!! And not to plug our own rug line but we do have some pretty great and affordable rugs riiiiight here in case this post inspired you to finally make that rug purchase:) Have any other questions? Let me know. xx

Opening Image Credits: Styled by Getteline Rene | Photo by Mark Weinberg | From: It’s Here! Our First EHD Collection With Rugs USA (+ Why Now? And Why This?)

12 “Modern” Chairs That Look Good With Antique Dining Tables

Emily — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 09:00:00 +0000

I’m helping two of my best friends decorate their new homes and I feel like the luckiest person in the world to use my time/talents/connections to relieve their stress and help them love their homes more. I guess thirty years of extremely close friendship warrants some perks:) And because we are all busy moms with demanding jobs, this is a guaranteed way to be able to see them frequently. So today I’ll show you R’s dining room highlighting the only piece of furniture that I think we are keeping (all the rest were starter pieces that she is ready to part with after a decade – please note the sun damage stripe on the back of that sofa – isn’t that nuts!!!!??!). Her dining table is a family heirloom and we really love it but the chairs she had were really lightweight and felt cheap/old (while admittedly they didn’t look bad). I ended up pitching this whole project to Rejuvenation and the plan for it looks so perfect for them I can’t even tell you. Here you’ll see some that we played with.

To be honest many of these are above our budget and some just aren’t going to be right for the rest of the design, but I figured I’d show you all the ones I pinned and talk through why.

Monte Ivory Performance Fabric Dining Chair

Ugh, I love this chair. It felt a bit delicate to them and the shape at the top might be too trendy but the undertones of the wood worked well with the table. But hot tip – performance fabric doesn’t mean that they can’t get dirty, just means that when they do they are easier to clean (so to be clear – you still have to really keep white furniture clean). This was a no-go for their family (two boys and a dog).

Zoey Caned Armless Dining Chair

This is a solid choice – I love the simplicity of the lines of the legs against the turned table legs. And the mix of materials is really nice.

Molina Dining Chair

Molina Dining Chair (Set of 2)

This chair is def on the hyper-traditional side (feels very 1940s) but those lines are so pretty and classic.

Dalton Leather and Cane Dining Chair

Again, above our budget this time (when you times it by 6 it’s like GEESH), but I think that leather and the caning is so lovely. I think that it might actually be too busy and a simpler chair would let the lines of the table stand out.

Easton Dining Chair

I’ve GOT to use this chair somewhere – incredible. Out of our budget here but my goodness it’s awesome.

Ambrogio Dining Chair

I mean, the joinery on this one… so simple and pretty. We might actually use this in a different project stay tuned.

Biscoe Wood Dining Chair

We shopped for more budget options and Studio McGee/Target is killing it. I want to see one of these in person to better understand the scale (again, three big boys in this family).

Lana Curved Back Dining Chair

Another great and affordable Target option. The lines are simple but elegant. Comes in black too which I might prefer.

Enzo Solid Oak Wood Dining Chair

My SIL just bought these for their house that is super high-end, and these (very affordable) look so good in there. They look far more expensive than they are and are super comfy and classic. Pottery Barn also has a version that is much more expensive but looks very similar.

Sandia Leather Dining Chair

I LOVE these chairs. They seem like a modern version of a cozy pub or library chair.

Ida Dining Chair

Now these might be too simple for you, but remember that the rest of the room isn’t designed yet and we are likely putting a wallpaper, and adding darker paint. So the room will have a lot more going on and thus the dining chairs (at least the side chairs) could be simpler.

Byers Arm Chair

This is a solid contender because not only is it beautiful but we sat on them and they were a really good size, super ergonomic, and substantial. Plus the curve is pretty and will stick out a little bit – enough to see it, but not so much that it obstructs walking.

More to come on this project. I’ve been soooo busy (lots of trips) and very busy in life, so hopefully you’ll see more of this very very very very soon. xx

Feel Good Reveal!! Arlyn Surprised Her Parents With A Much-Needed Flash Makeover…In TWO WEEKS

Arlyn Hernandez — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Back in 2020, I dove deep into inspirational non-fiction/self-help books geared toward creative people. One of my favorites was “Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert and I’ve held on to the notion she shared in it that ideas are living things that jump from person to person until they get realized. I’m sure we all get ideas constantly, but I know when I get one that leaves me with no option but to move forward with it. It feels different. Like a pulsing glow inside my chest, a nervous energy that feels as if it’s buzzing out of my skin. It’s the only thing I can think about, determined to figure out how to bring it to fruition.

I had one of these ideas two weeks before Christmas this past December. A little thought that made its way out of my mouth in a conversation with my husband, Charles, which instantly breathed life into it. “What if I redo my parents’ living and dining rooms for them when we go back to Florida for the holidays?” There it was. Alive. I was simply going to have to figure it out…from California…with essentially a week before everyone who might be willing to work with me on this would disappear for the rest of the year. Cool. Easy, right?

You see, my parents were in deep need of at the very least a new sofa. Their two beloved cats had done what cats do best: gone to town on their upholstery. Besides that, their sofa and loveseat were about five years old but looked like they were at least twice that in age. I’d always joke that I felt like I was crawling into a crater because each cushion was so severely indented.

a before of my parents’ living room. they bought these sofas about five or six years ago and the cats have had their way with them. plus, the cushions were in bad shape and everything else just felt a bit too heavy with the beige walls they weren’t allowed to paint per their lease agreement.

I had also heard my mom mention in passing that my dad wanted and needed a recliner, as he had been suffering from some health issues that required him to elevate his legs regularly. (They were fresh off an 8-day hospital stay for said health issues and both feeling very down, exhausted, and burdened.)

My siblings and I had toyed with the idea of pooling some money to just get them a new couch both because they needed it but also to lift their spirits and make them feel comfortable and excited about being home. But, as you already know, I had a better option: work with all the brands that have been so generous to us here at EHD to see if they might be willing to help us go further with a whole new living room setup, a new dining table (which they also needed), and some other decor to freshen things up on the first floor of the townhome they live in.

their dining table was a bit wobbly and only had room to sit four and they needed at least six chairs to seat the number of guests that normally came over. to the left of the space was these barstools that had seen far, far better days. I had helped them pick them out at pier1 imports over a decade ago for a previous kitchen remodel. they had served their duty.

I ran the idea that same weekend by Jess, and by Monday, I got to work emailing everyone I knew was wonderful to work with but most importantly had great furniture that could get to Florida immediately. Our friends at Article came through for me BIG (HUGE!) TIME, and I rushed to get a mood board together to send them final picks within a day or two. The only problem was that I didn’t know any of the dimensions of my parents’ spaces, and I would have to be very creative to make sure everything fit properly without them finding out as the plan was to keep this whole thing secret until Christmas morning. I ended up asking my dad for a video walk-through with the excuse that I was getting “some pictures printed and framed for Mom as a gift,” and I needed to see all the walls to find the right spot and size. Another lie: I needed to know the dimensions of their tile so that I could guestimate how big the frame should be. Maybe he suspected that the request was a strange one, but he played along—18”x18”. From there, I could roughly measure out the spaces and their existing furniture, and make some educated guesses as to what might work.

the entryway needed some more impact. a happy place to land when they walked through the door. so many of the things in the left photo were mine at some point in my design journey: the lamp, the hurricane lantern, the etc. wood sign, the pillar candle holder. blast from the style past.

There were a lot of nerves involved on my part, asking my brother and sister if they thought my parents would be offended I was going to come in and revamp everything without their approval. They both assured me my mom would love anything I did and my dad would be so grateful no matter what (both true statements). Almost nothing in their home was anything either of them cared for. Mostly hand-me-downs from me when I lived back east, thrift store finds that were never quite right, every imaginable sign that read FAMILY! FRIENDS! YOU’RE IN A HOME IN CASE YOU MIGHT BE CONFUSED, or homemade wall art my mom crafted with her Cricut. While there wasn’t necessarily anything wrong with any of that, the space didn’t get very good light and everything felt a bit dark, cluttered, and heavy with the hodgepodge of things; not descriptors you’d want for two people who could use a fresh start.

my parents live in a townhome that’s just one giant open space and nothing felt grounded enough to create distinctive areas. this double bookcase unit tried, but it honestly felt like it was floating in the middle of nowhere. (side note: this is why I don’t like big open-concept homes…unless you know what you’re doing, nothing ever feels like a room, but that’s just me.) also, peep the word art on top of word art (and frames).

The furniture order arrival was going to cut it VERY close, and I had a lot of limitations due to this short delivery window, but we were able to nail down a design, all the appropriate pieces—World Market, Juniper Print Shop and RugsUSA were also on board to help fill out the rooms—and we just had to wait until the big day to tell my parents. The plan was to print out all my designs (see below), put them in a box to wrap, and present them with it on Christmas morning. Then, we’d wait a week until delivery (January 3rd), I’d install and style it all, shoot it and leave on the first flight out January 6.

I was SO excited, nervous, and highly anticipating their reactions. Spoiler alert: They were in such awe and disbelief, and, of course, my mom’s nearly instant ugly cry when she realized what was going to happen was amazing (I’m posting a Reel on Instagram of the whole thing today so check out my profile for it). Seeing their pure joy and appreciation was the absolute joy of not just our entire family’s Christmas, but personally of my whole year. Being able to do this for my amazing parents who truly needed it was an unbelievable gift I was lucky enough to be able to do.

After a week of scrambling, running around to World Market (THANK YOU AGAIN!!), Target, IKEA, Home Depot, and beyond to get the finishing touches, picking a ton of photos to print and frame—my parents’ favorite art will always be family photos—and a marathon two-day install plus photoshoot with Charles, it was finished. Meer hours before we boarded a plane and headed back to California. But the final result is one that my mom and dad are over the moon about. I want to talk you through it all, so let’s start in the main space: the living room.

Creating A Cozy Lounge Area

My parents have never owned a sectional. They were always traditional sofa and loveseat people, but my siblings and I knew they’d end up loving something that was one solid piece so more of us could sit together when we came over. Emily has been singing the praises of the Burrard Sectional from Article for years, and it was just the right size for them. I opted for the forest green color because, if you couldn’t tell from the before photos above, my parents are not afraid of color. Green is my mom’s favorite, in fact, so I knew this would be something she might have picked for herself. It’s 112″ which ended up being an ideal size for this area and by my count, my mom could be joined on it by all her grandkids with room to spare.

Remember that need for a recliner? Well, THANK GOODNESS Article sells an option that actually looks good. A rarity, people. A rarity. The leather version I wanted wouldn’t make it in time but the fabric Ellow Recliner worked out great. My dad was so, so excited about it and it was just what he needed. This sits where the loveseat used to be, so I added in the Matrix Yarrow Gold Chair to fill out the area and also give more options for seating when more people came over. We all instantly fell in love with the chair. It’s cushy, gorgeous, and just the right size for a small corner.

Black Side Table | Blue Bud Vase | Large Canvas Art | Canvas Art Frame | Beige Knit Throw

When the furniture arrived and was set up by the Article team, Charles asked me why I chose a left-facing chaise for the sofa. It was a fair question, as I went back and forth about it. The right-facing chaise would have probably made more sense in a space that was more closed off, as you never want to walk into a chaise when entering a “room” but my parents have one giant great room downstairs that needed some help to feel cozier. The left-facing chaise closes off the living area to the dining area, essentially creating a room without any walls. Plus, I know if the chaise were on the other side, the recliner and accent chair would have to float in the middle of the room with their backs facing out and I didn’t love that. This was the right solution given the circumstances.

I love all these side tables from Article. The wood, glass and leather sling one is SO GOOD, and I want it for myself except that my living room is tight and it wouldn’t fit. The black one between the chairs adds some visual softness.

Dotted Blanket | Geo Pillow | Wood and Glass Side Table

Article’s Agotu Walnut Coffee Table was one of the only ones that could make it on time and it serendipitously worked out because it’s a great size and shape paired up with the sectional and also happens to be SO pretty IRL. It’s massively heavy due to the marble and super sturdy. I noted to my mom that we didn’t have a ton of options in terms of coffee tables but she kept saying, “It’s okay, I would have picked this one!” though I’m guessing she would have said that even if a cardboard box showed up. Moms, am I right? 🙂

Media Center | Woven Basket | Frames (IKEA, Assorted)

Let’s talk about this TV gallery wall situation. So many of my parents’ storage pieces were open, so you could see everything from every angle and it made me itch. I knew they’d love the Oscuro Walnut 73″ Cabinet both because it’s lovely but also the ribbed glass still felt light and open while masking what was inside a bit. Above it, the walls were ITCHING for a statement. The ceilings are pretty high, and again, there is no room delineation here, so I cooked up this gallery wall for a one-two punch of creating a big statement to balance the large sectional, line up the living room, and also satisfy my parents’ preference for photos photos photos. I weaved in some beautiful art prints from Juniper Print Shop, an old Jane Denton x Emily piece I had, and a watercolor of Old San Juan my parents have owned since my youth.

That’s another thing. I really wanted to honor some of the things that were already here that did mean something to all of us. Some art, lots of blown glass pieces (like the one by the TV), souvenirs from their travels, and porcelain figurines my mom has collected over time. None of it is necessarily what I would have picked for the sake of styling the room, but this is my parents’ house, not a model home and it was so important to keep “them” in every little space and vignette. I drew the line at all the random birds and word art though. Sorry Mom, but you’ll have to fish your 17 frames with the words “family” and “grandchildren” on them out of the garage, okay?

WAIT! Before moving on…there isn’t a good photo of it but it’s worth a mention. My parents’ townhome is a rental, and their landlord is very strict against making changes. No painting, no changing out lights, no taking down vertical blinds, no making holes larger than nail holes for art. But the giant sliding glass door in the back was screaming for curtains. After tons of research, I found these brackets-slash-curtain rod holders that attach to the top rail of vertical blinds. They fit the extra-long rod I ordered from Amazon which does a pretty nice job of covering the front part of the rail so it just looks like traditional drapery hardware. GENIUS!!! Especially because they’re like $20. I had curtains I never got around to using that were the right height so I brought them with me in my suitcase and now they hide the ugly verticle blinds.

Make New Friends, But Keep the Old (Furniture)

Moving on…I decided not to replace my mom’s existing cherry credenza (or a display cabinet in the dining area) because I knew she loved them and the richness was nice to add some depth to the new things I brought in. Her beloved Aura frame, which shuffles through digital copies of photos, stayed where it was before but I swapped out the lamp for something better scaled to the piece, added some pattern and color with Juniper Print Shop prints, and fished out some glassware from the China cabinet. A plant was also very much needed.

Cabinet Paint Color | Brass Knobs | Inlay Frame | Rug | Wavy Water Print (Top Left)

Okay, let’s talk about this giant bookcase unit. I don’t know if the story I have of it in my head is accurate, but I doubt it’s too far off. Basically, my mom saw it at a charity shop she used to volunteer at and it sat around forever so she eventually got to take it home for either pennies on the dollar or for free. That, or she got it from her friend who got it from a thrift store. I don’t know. What I do know is that it was painted the absolute worst shade of beige with this bizarre brown brush stroke treatment that took it from blah to very bad.

The area was far too large to get rid of this, plus they benefitted from the storage, so I came up with the idea to paint it a bold mustard yellow (Lamplit by Behr specifically) to make it a feature rather than something we all wanted to hide. I did the whole thing one night after the baby went to sleep and filled in streaky parts the next morning. Some restyling of the shelves was in order, and as easy as it would have been to go to a place like Target, and buy a bunch of random “pretty” things to fill it with, that would have been, uh…meaningless. The top shelf houses some books as well as two vintage cameras that were my grandfathers’ (each belonging to a different one). The metal trio are brass pharmacy mortar and pestles my dad—who worked in pharmaceuticals a great part of his career—has had forever, the gold Elton John-like glasses are a tchotchke my mom insisted we keep and display (“Sure mom, whatever you want”), the snowglobes were all given to my mom over the years by us kids, and the rest can tell a similar story. Porcelain angels from decades ago, collectible plates from cruise locations visited, diecast vintage cars from my dad’s Corvette enthusiast phase…etc. etc. etc. It’s uniquely my mom and dad, and even if it’s still a little cluttered by Instagram standards, I love it because it represents so many parts of their life and our family.

Side Chair | Side Table | Sconce | World’s Cutest Toddler (mine, not for sale)

These units used to be nearly flush with the right wall, leaving too large of an open area to the left of them before the living room area started, so we shifted them over just enough to fit in a little seating area. I grabbed art from the entryway and even the downstairs powder bath to fill it out, and added in this pretty swing-arm sconce from Article in case someone wanted to sit in the chair (from World Market) and read.

Funny story about the rug you see in the foreground. Rugs USA was kind enough to supply me with four rugs for the spaces I needed to revamp. I shopped entirely from Emily’s line for them (more on that in a bit), and I made a mistake with the dining area. I ordered a 5×8 Blue Jay which is far too small for a 6-8 seater table. I know this. I know this without even seeing the size of the table. But everything was so rushed that this one got by me. RugsUSA tried to rush me a new larger 8×10 but it sadly didn’t make it in time for the shoot. I used the small 5×8 rug creatively just for the photos to get it in in some capacity.

A Dining Room Fit For Family

Speaking of the dining room. I could regale you with yet another thrift store find story, but I’ll skip the details just to say that my parents have wanted a 6-seater table for years. However, at the time they moved in here after selling my larger childhood home, they settled on a metal and glass 4-top they got for free (I think) with chairs my mom reupholstered with a friend. It was too small for the space visually but also for their life and needs. I was so happy Article had a large table—the Conan Oval Dining Table—that was available to ship on time so I could give them what they wanted. You’ll notice the table is light wood and the chairs are dark wood, and that’s again due to the limitations of the turnaround time but it actually looks pretty okay in person and brings together all the varied wood tones throughout this floor. The blue chairs tie back to the navy part of the living room rug (the Rowena from Emily’s line which I’ve loved since the first moment I saw it—it’s out of stock right now but there are more on the way!).

Counter Stools | Rug

The stools they had were in bad shape and also just felt too visually commanding, so I opted for the beautiful short-backed leather Sede Toscana Tan Walnut Counter Stool from Article. Honestly, no one really sits here anyway, but the wall felt too blank without them (and these turned out to be so comfortable that maybe they’ll get more use).

Breathing Life Into A Dark Entry

Moving on to the entryway. It is quite dark but at least it’s a good size. The furniture that lived in there originally was not, though. Kind of dinky, tbh (sorry Mom), and adorned with all the metal scrollwork Kirkland Signature had to offer my parents in years’ past. I knew I wanted a slightly larger console table with a place for them to store their shoes and was so happy when I found this Lincoln Wood and Jute Console Table at World Market. It’s really, really beautiful in person; everyone was fawning over it including my dad who normally pays no mind to these kinds of things. The bottom shelf now serves as a landing spot for shoes, while the top shelf houses a mail holder and some options for where to plop keys and garage door openers (they were on the kitchen breakfast bar previously). One of my sole missions in my redesign of their home was to bring in some bright, happy moments since it all felt heavy before, and this great framed canvas by Amira Rahim from World Market livens up this foyer. I love it and so do my parents.

Vintage-Style Brass Mirror | Decorative Urn

In the little wall nook (a builder’s special here in Orlando), I went with a pretty vintage-inspired brass mirror also from World Market to help spread whatever light it can around the space. Another cute rug from Em’s line, this time the Blue Oregon Plaid Wool Rug in a 4×6 works far better than a small red bamboo doormat they had. (HOT TIP: If you don’t like your floor but can’t change it, just get rugs to cover most of it. When in doubt, hide.)

And finally, the hallway leading from the entry into the rest of the home also houses an office nook (to the left in the above photo) where my dad works occasionally. I didn’t get around to shooting it because I didn’t really do much in there but I did add some pretty curtain panels on a tension rod (tucked behind a wall arch) so they could hide it away…and all of my dad’s papers. I moved the original foyer table into the hallway because it fit perfectly, grabbed some random things my dad had in his office nook to style it, and also placed my dad’s laptop, tablet, and mousepad/mouse on the second shelf because he normally just leaves it on the dining table (he has both a work computer and personal laptop for those wondering why he wouldn’t just put it in the office…no space).

Wondering About Emily’s RugsUSA Line?

Oh, and because I mentioned talking more about the rugs, I just wanted to say quickly how much better these are in person than they look online. Not that they don’t present beautifully, but I was pleasantly surprised by both their quality and designs when they arrived. They do not read “affordable” by any means. These are great quality rugs that would sell for probably twice what they retail for here anywhere else. So if you’ve been on the fence about any of them, hopefully, this helps to convince you to give them a try because I think you’re going to be very happy with them. We were. (No one paid me to say this, just thought it would be helpful to share.)

Two Very Happy Parents

Parents (mine)

And that’s it! I think I got it all. These two smiling people are genuinely so happy with their new home, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. My dad ended up in the hospital again recently for just a few days and when he got out, my mom said they were both so happy to arrive home to spaces they loved so much. His medical episodes should hopefully stay in the past now as he’s on the mend and we’re all so relieved. There’s no more helpless feeling than when your parents (or any loved ones) are having health issues, you’re on the other side of the country and your only life line is a phone to check in daily.

This has been one of my greatest pleasures, and while I would have loved a little more time to make even more improvements/swaps, all that matters is how happy my parents are with it all. The two of them have given their kids their everything all of our lives. Constant outpourings of love and support, and I am who I am because of it. Mom and Dad, if you’re reading (I know you are), just know how much we all love you and appreciate you both. Your kids, your grandkids, your cats (don’t let them destroy that sofa PLEASE). Enjoy your new home, and hey…maybe next Christmas I can surprise you with an upstairs makeover! We’ll see… 🙂

Your friend in make-it-work-no-matter-what design,

Arlyn

*Thank you again to our friends at Article, World Market, RugsUSA, and Juniper Print Shop who were instrumental in helping me to pull this off at all, let alone SO quickly.

**Design and styling by Arlyn Hernandez

***Photos by Charles Dundas-Shaw