Monday, August 20, 2007

A Little Dining Drama

Loyal reader Laura recently asked me to post about my favorite colors for dining rooms. Well, I have a lot of favorites so narrowing them down was a bit tough. I favor bold and dramatic colors for dining rooms, and why not? After all, dining rooms tend to be more formal (this is the room where we use our best flatware and china) and are used predominately in the evening (at least this is the way I use mine!). My latest obsession is with deep, dark and glossy walls for this room (think dark brown, aubergine, and even black). How beautiful these colors look at night by candlelight! So, here are a few examples of dark dining rooms done right. And stay tuned for tomorrow's post in which I'll post images of vivid and bright dining rooms!

Suggested colors:
"Bittersweet Chocolate" by Benjamin Moore
"Mahogany" by Farrow & Ball (especially dramatic in a high gloss)
"Brinjal" by Farrow & Ball- a nice eggplant shade
"Noir #24-16" by Pratt and Lambert- a midnight blue shade. A great option in lieu of black.




No, this is not a dining room, but I adore this glossy aubergine room by Mario Buatta. This room served as inspiration for my parents' lacquered aubergine dining room. This is a gorgeous, rich nighttime color!



Here is a chocolate brown dining room by Tom Scheerer (walls are Benjamin Moore Chocolate Candy Brown and trim is Atrium White). According to Scheerer, "Any house can use a chocolate brown room". I couldn't agree with him more. (Photo and quotation from House Beautiful)


Is this not a gorgeous room??? This dining room at "Harbourside", the Bahamian home of The Hon. Lady Baillie, was designed by Maison Jansen. The walls are a deep, glossy dark green with white Chinese Chippendale-style trellis overlay. This room is making me rethink dark green! (Photo from "Jansen" by James Archer Abbott)


Another crisp dark brown dining room, this time by Bunny Williams. The combination of chocolate brown and white trim is truly a classic!

23 comments:

  1. Jennifer I love the Tom Scheerer room trimmed in white!

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  2. I totally agree with you on having drama in the dining room. And I love the glossy walls. So moody and dramatic for dining by candlelight.

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  3. Anonymous11:54 AM

    From the book "Classic Entertaining" by Henrietta Spencer Churchill -- (page 25) -- " My particular favorite colors for dining rooms are dark greens, reds of all shades -- from the oranges to the burgandies -- and dark blue" I love deep dark dining rooms that are to be used to night -- my own dining room here at rosemary Cottage is painted in Old Gold #5 from Laura Ashley -- a dark mustardy gold that I adore -- and makes the gold tones in the wood glow at night. I would use that color again -- or with a teastain glaze in a heart-beat! Or I would do another dining room in Black Satin by Benjamin Moore -- with a gold or silver ceiling.

    Jan at Rosemary Cottage who buys lottery tickets always hoping for more rooms to decorate! LOL!

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  4. Patricia- Yes, candlelight is a must for a dining room!

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  5. Jan- Your dining room sounds gorgeous!!! And I also like the idea of using Black Satin and painting the ceiling gold or silver- very glam!

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  6. I totally agree - a dark and dramatic dining room is the way to go! I love the Mario Buatta dark aubergine. Perfection!

    By the way - congrats on your mention in Septembers' Elle Decor!

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  7. I am so thrilled about your picks here Jennifer! I love the idea of using a high gloss paint or wallcovering to make a dining room feel more dramatic. I have to say that "Harbourside" room is to die for!

    ~Kate

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  8. Thanks Linda and Kate!!!

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  9. These are all beautiful - the Jansen is my favorite. You are such a tease, no "peak" at your folks' dining room?

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  10. Patricia- You know, you're right. I should take a photo of their dining room at night. That's when it really looks glam :)

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  11. Anonymous5:18 PM

    Just in the door here - Sept-Oct. issue of Southern Accents with my fav "the color you need now" section (page 216 or back page) and their winner is Boxwood Green (the color formerly know as hunter green LOL!) A perfect green for a dramatic dining area -- "Arugula" by Sherwin-Williams; "Cactus Green" by Benjamin Moore and "Cottage Green" by Ralph Lauren. Strange co-incidence after reading the color picks by Spencer-Churchill!

    Cheers! Jan x at Rosemary Cottage

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  12. Jan- Perfect timing! Henrietta was onto something :)

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  13. Jennifer, so elegant as always! Love that Buatta room you found.

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  14. I'm obsessed with Miles Redd's black kitchen!

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  15. I agree with everyone. I've always been a fan of deep tones in the dining room. The dark walls make the room womb-like and inviting. I love these rooms you've chosen. In particular the Mario Buatta room. It makes me reminisce back to my "chintz period" in the 80's.
    Jackie

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  16. If you haven't been to Vegas lately you must check out the fabulous chocolate walls and white trim throughout the Wynn resort. Peter Thomas a native Las Vegan and the designer for Steve Wynn's hotels and residences since the beginning of time, did a magnificent job. I'll try to post some photos of it on my blog.

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  17. Love the chocolate Tom Scheerer room and I can't wait for tomorrow's bright dining rooms!
    X
    Anna

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  18. As I have mentioned before I love the idea of a navy room with white trim, especially in high gloss. There is something so dramatic and modern about it, not to mention sensual! Chocolate brown is anothern fav and now I can add Aubergine to my list, thanks! PS love the bottom Bunny room!

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  19. J's Crew- I agree with you about navy and white in a high gloss. That's a beautiful combination :)

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  20. I couldn't agree more, I LOVE dark colours in a dining room. I went through a deep-red faze, but now I'm loving chocolate brown, although Aubergine could be fabulous too. That room by Mario Buatta is stunning.

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  21. Suzy- I think the Buatta room is genius!

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  22. Dark is so chic . Thank you for this post showing us that DRamatic is wonderful.
    mélanie

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