I’ve dropped a couple hints on Instagram about doing a little farmhouse dining room refresh so today I’m sharing the deets. Since we’re redoing the floors in the dining room as part of the big kitchen renovation, I figured now was a great time to make some changes.

Dining Room Before

First things first, let’s take a trip down dining room memory lane. The dining room was one of the first rooms we completed after moving into our house. I shared the reveal of the space in February of last year. Here’s what it looked like then:

Whoa mamma, look at all that stuff. Since then I’ve pared the decor way back. I eliminated the bar cart and simplified the gallery wall. Here’s a more recent look:

Farmhouse Dining Room Refresh

So what do I want to change, you ask? Just the light fixture, the rug, the chairs and maaaaybe the buffet! (Insert monkey emoji with hands over eyes). Here’s the direction I’m headed:

More simplistic, less colorful, more farmhouse-y.

Light fixture: I want a fixture that is grander in scale so I’m replacing the current 3-tier vintage fixture with a large brass dome light fixture which just may become my new favorite in the space (the house?). The new fixture is on order and I can’t wait to see it and get it installed. It’s 40″, so undoubtedly it will make quite the statement.

Rug: The rug is going too. The old one is white and gets dirty easily, is low-pile and tough to clean. I’m planning to replace it with a large faux cowhide rug. I think the movement in the irregularly shaped cowhide will be a nice for the room. I’m on the lookout for a large scale cowhide but I’m also open to the idea of layering two cowhides. 😉

Dining Chairs: I would like to change the dining chairs to leather vintage ones, which is an exercise in patience because I’ll have to wait for the right ones to come along. I am even considering a bench on one side of the table and chairs on the other.

Buffet: I am entertaining the idea of swapping out the buffet for a painted vintage hutch. I still love my existing buffet but think some color on a large-scale piece would be great in the room. I’m not in a rush on this one. Mainly because the painted hutch I fell for is not cheap and we don’t really need it. :/

Decor: I have been eyeing that bison and calf photograph by Samantha Fisher, a photographer that travels to animal shelters worldwide to photograph animals. I love it so much. Is it weird to have a photo of a rescued cow and a cowhide rug in the same room?? The cowhide will be faux! And I don’t eat beef. Does that help ease the awkwardness? I also want a huge houseplant or tree in the space.

New floors go in next month and then we can start moving the furniture back in and get our farmhouse dining room refresh checked off the list! Stay tuned…