My Bestie (aka Tia) recently moved into her forever home with her love. She is over the moon excited to have finally found her person. On top of that, they are melding styles and two lifetimes worth of collected treasures. Uncle T and Tia (as the munchkin calls them) both have different design styles and agree on the furniture and decor in all of the rooms except their offices and the man cave. Early on, it was decided that Tia got full reign of the dining room.

This is a huge deal because they both love to entertain and cook. Bring on the gourmet burgers and turkey if it’s Uncle T in the kitchen. Bring on black beans and rice or smooshed sandwiches if Tia is at the helm. It doesn’t matter who is the chef, they love to entertain guests. While COVID has really gotten in the way of their gatherings, they want their space to be ready when the world goes back to some level of normal. In the meantime, I’m thankful that our families are in the same bubble. I don’t think I could live without my bestie.

Back to design. Since I love decorating, Tia asked me her design the dining room. Since My Little House that Could is under major reconstruction, I get to help her. Yes, you read that right. It probably was more fun for me. Plus, I got dinner. My motto is… will work for food. The gourmet burgers were delicious, BTW.

The Inspiration

We started with the inspiration. Tia had a painting from a dear friend that she wanted to showcase. Here’s the kicker. The painting is predominately blue. And Tia actually doesn’t like blue. Luckily, the painting has some blue-grays and yellow. In Ohio, we don’t do yellow so I called it gold. (That team up north prevents us from liking all blue and maize). So gold it is, not yellow. I jumped right on creating a special board with inspiration from rugs to buffets to wall decor. Of course, I created a Pinterest board. But Tia doesn’t really use Pinterest, however she quickly figured it out. She even started saving things on our shared board. Tia fell in love with the idea of a mirror gallery wall.

Gathering Ideas

Finally the day came and we went shopping. We looked around at several home stores such as Homegoods, Target, Hobby Lobby, etc. Being frugal, I am always game for a good deal even if I’m spending someone else’s hard earned cash. 🙂 We ended up buying a few extra mirrors that we knew we could return if they didn’t work out.

The Blank Canvas

Arranging and rearranging…

When doing a gallery wall, I always like to lay out the items on the floor in front of the wall. I feel like you get the best idea of how it will look in the space. You literally can spend hours rearranging to find the “perfect for you” look. Of course, I called Uncle T and the munchkin in a couple times to get the go ahead. Even though Tia had full reign on the look, you never want your person to hate it. Uncle T was hesitant to give his opinion because he made a deal, but he gave some good feedback.

The Final Reveal

Here is the final look. Tia and Uncle T love their dining room. The best part about inspiration is that you can use it as a jumping off point and add your own touches to it. We opted for not all mirrors and added succulent planters and gold accents. . Do you love to help friends with home projects? How do you use inspiration? Tell me what you think of the final results.

On to the next project. Make it simple, but significant.

-xoxo

Kelly