Decorating Dilemmas is a weekly column in which our stylists answer your design questions, so you can tackle your home decorating project with complete confidence.
Dear How to Decorate,
I purchased a new two-toned, walnut wood and dove gray dining table and matching china cabinet a year ago. Since then, I’ve moved into a bigger house with a bigger dining room.
I have been desperately looking for a buffet server, but I can’t find one to match my existing dining room furniture. I recently added a green velvet settee with a cherry wood finish.
So my dilemma: Do I continue to search for a dove gray buffet server? Walnut? Cherry? I want to pull my furniture together although it won’t necessarily be an exact match.
Help!
Meredith
Hi Meredith!
We love your existing walnut and gray dining table and china cabinet, and we think this is a prime opportunity to bring in some darker furniture to balance out the dark green velvet settee.
We have chosen the Dehavilland 3-Drawer Console in Mahogany for your buffet table and paired it with our Maria Buffet Lamps in aged silver and our Black Silk Shades. This will balance out the opposite side of your room with its black and white drapery panels. We’ve also added the Beaudry Mirror, in oil rubbed bronze, because it ties in the French look and adds some drama. By the way, have you seen our Fleur de Lis Glassware? It would be fantastic in this area!
We’ve noticed the art on your walls and love the New Orleans accents in your space. The brick wall in the French Quarter print really pops, and you could easily repeat this coral-red color in your room with a rug like the Casa Florentina Payton Hand Knotted Rug. An added bonus with the rug’s colors would be to pull in the fun green color from your kitchen. You could even use our Rayna Coral Fabric for a custom pillow on your settee. Speaking of your settee, it’s fabulous. We sell our Queens Velvet Emerald Green Fabric by the yard and your dining chairs would look amazing upholstered in it.
Since we added the mirror to the wall where your streetcar print currently is, we suggest you move your French Quarter print 12-18” to the left and hang the streetcar to the right of it. We’ve added our Monogram Art to hang above the streetcar since everything looks better in threes. The narrow Fleur de Lis picture could be moved to the left of your double doors and on each side of your drapery panels, our Allusion Candle Sconces would tie the whole look together.
Happy Decorating!
The Design Team
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