{Spring Detox} About that Dining Room Wall...

The wallpaper that I had my heart set on was discontinued. Boo! Searching for wallpaper has to be one of the most frustrating tasks on the the Internet. (Seriously, if they gave Razzies for Web design, I'd bet my insurance copay that a wallpaper company would at the very least place.) So, after blowing about $60 in wallpaper samples, I gave up on wallpaper.

 

The wall sat like this until New Year's Day, while I obsessed on paint colors and wallpaper options.

Thirty dollars in orange paint samples later, all of which Andy nixed, we ended up painting it with the brown paint that I had picked up last October. I was getting worried about how naturally dark the area is and being overwhelmed with brown, so I decided to paint a rectangle to lighten it up a bit.

I'm not wild about the brown, but am forcing myself to live with it and move on. Andy loves it. I've gotten a lot of compliments from friends, which has me feeling more reassured.

The brown rectangle posed some problems that I hadn't foreseen:

1. Our table and light aren't centered on the wall 99 percent of the time. (Thanks, developer!)
2. We needed art* that worked when the table is "tucked in" daily and "pulled out" for guests and parties.

We decided to use the light as an anchor point and staggered CB2 Perspective mirrors across the rectangle.

I love, love, love these mirrors. I was slightly hesitant to hang mirrors across from the kitchen, but they were just what we needed! Our condo is pretty vanilla (as are our decorating and DIY talents). These mirrors give us just the smidgen of personality that we need and widen and brighten the space in the process.

(*As a total aside and much to Andy's chagrin, I refuse to hang a giant Chicago skyline picture in any home in which I hang my proverbial hat, including this space.