Dining Room.

Wow. It's been a long time. Life has kind of gotten away from me the past months and I have been focusing on other things. But, as sure as my love for HGTV has returned, so has my desire to continuously search the internet and make plans for rooms!!

today - dining rooms! I am in love with the idea of a plain dark table like this one:

Next to my already owned sideboard that I will fill will pretty dishes, bowls and other knick-knacks, mostly gift from my wedding two years ago...

With these AMAZING chairs!!! I will probably get the armless ones, but I love these acrylic chairs for small spaces. They create the idea of weightlessness and open space. The real question is round table or rectangle table??

Key Tip: When you are working with small spaces, like apartments, use alot of clear and reflective surfaces to create the illusion of space. Mirrors (not overdone of course), silver accessories and crystal are all a great way to make your space feel bigger. and GLAM of course.

Chic Cradle Chandeliers

Being a new mom myself, I love nursery design. I have loved designing my little guy's nursery, and I can't wait till I have a little girl to design her nursery too.

One of my favorite trends right now is Nursery Chandeliers. I love the idea of the old-fashioned update to chandeliers, adding them to rooms you wouldn't normally think to put them in. I think they look great in a lot of different places - even master bedrooms!

I love this nursery, and the chandelier makes it very chic.

Something a little more girly - this beautiful flowered chandelier (My favorite):

Or a little more traditional, I like this beautiful crystal chandelier. There are SO many options, and in all price ranges. There is a chandelier to fit any taste - modern, traditional, contemporary, country... It's a great way to dress up any room!

Divine Design

LOVE this dining room, from "Divine Design" (for all your HGTVers). It is beautiful. I love the built in shelfing and storage, the color scheme, the tufted chairs, the beautiful rug and the double chandeliers. This will be the inspiration for my dining room someday!

Want this look for less?

--> Look for a similar rug at HomeGoods

--> Look for similar chairs on Overstock.com

Tufting

Here are some more great pieces that have tufting:

(overstock.com $200)

An oversized headboard is a great way to dress up a large room with tall ceilings.

(more on this to come)....

Contemporary Vintage

I love the vintage look of tufting and funky lines. However, we have come along way since vintage pieces like this:

Tufting has become a beautiful way to make any piece of furniture look timeless and chic. I LOVE this sofa from Macys. It has contemporary lines but a classic look at the same time. It is also a steal at $699 (0n sale).

It would look great with some awesome pillows like these:

*TIP: Take you color inspiration from everywhere! I got my love for orange from these orange shoes:

You can find things all around you to inspire you in your decorating - shoes, clothes, flowers etc.

Ikea Upgrade

Ikea is a great place to find affordable and stylish furniture. They have a lot of variety and even great food to add to the experience! Here are some of my favorite recent finds with a little twist:

This sideboard would look great in a dining room or as a t.v. console. Very sleek, modern and a steal at $249!

I plan on finishing this piece in a shiny lacquer clear finish. It will give it the expensive look with about 1/3 of the price tag. Depending on the finish you buy, you should be able to just overlay the lacquer without sanding (which you wouldn't want to do on particleboard).

They even make lacquer spray-paint these days! Try this:

Rust-Oleum Specialty Lacquer Gloss Clear

This dresser looks pretty plain jane how it is... but by simply switching out the hardware you can totally change the look of any piece. It is only $300 and once you add some awesome hardware it will look like its worth triple that.

Crystal hardware is a great way to get an expensive and vintage look. Knobs like these retail for about $6-8 and can be bought at your local hardware store or online. There are a million options and colors!