Hello, friends! It’s the big day around the blog world for all of those who participated in the One Room Challenge. Over the course of the last six weeks, 20 designers and over 300 guest participants like myself slaved away to create beautifully transformed spaces. Reveal week has always been a favorite time of mine, whether I’ve participated or not. It’s like Christmas morning, opening all of the links to see the rooms people have created. During this challenge, so many people push the envelope and come up with clever and innovative ideas for the home; visiting those links inspires me in so many ways. This time around, I had a new to me home in need of some love, and was thrilled to be able to join in the fun that is the ORC. With the help of my husband and several amazing artisans and sponsors, our earthy California mod dining room was born, and today I am thrilled to share it with you. (Thank you so much to Linda at the One Room Challenge for putting this together, and thank you so much to Better Homes & Gardens for sponsoring the event. There is a source list at the bottom of this post for your convenience. This post contains affiliate links).
Before I show you more of the reveal, let’s take a small walk down memory lane so you can see where this room started. When we looked at this house almost exactly one year ago, this is what the dining room looked like.
After changing out the light fixture and moving in our own furniture, we were here. (By the way, that light fixture is only $70!)
My structural plan was to remove the wall between the kitchen and dining room, add a banquette, and move the light fixture- work done by our kitchen contractor, and then we would take care of the rest. In case this is your first time visiting my One Room Challenge progress, here is my design plan.
While the One Room Challenge has been stressful at times (wouldn’t be the ORC without it!), we did it and I am so proud of the space we have created in our home. (And there is a little peek of my kitchen for you- it’s not yet done, but we are SOOOOO close).
As I mentioned, we had our contractor build the banquette and we painted it with Sherwin Williams Pure White. You can read all about that here. While I would love to tell you that I DIYed the beautiful faux leather custom cushion, I am not that talented! In my search for a local craftswoman to create the cushion, I discovered Ruhani at Naptimes & Notions. I approached her because she also can ship her cushions, and I wanted to be able to make it accessible for my readers. I don’t know many people who will ship custom banquette or bench cushions, and I am lucky that I stumbled upon her. Additionally, Ruhani is offering my readers $25 off your purchases with code CASSIE25, so be sure to check her out here.
I sourced the faux leather for a steal here, and had it shipped right to Ruhani who created the perfect tailored cushion for our banquette. As you can see, I opted for square edges with no piping, but she does offer piping… I just know kids and crumbs. I would be picking crumbs out until the day I die with piping. 😉
As you can see, the color of the faux leather perfectly complements the color in the mural.
With the new banquette, we were in need of pillows to lean against, especially in front of the window sill. Our gorgeous new pillows (with exception only to the gray one I had on hand) were all made by Victoria Sturup, who fabricates the most beautiful pieces with an organic and earthy vibe I love. I had SUCH a hard time selecting pillows from her shop because I wanted one of each please!
They are so beautiful, well made, and the colors are perfect in our space. The lumbar is so perfect in front of that window.
Now, one of the items we desperately needed for this space was a new dining table. While I loved our old one, it was too large for the new arrangement, and even as it was before it just ate up the entire dining room, so the person in the head chair was either shoved against the wall, or halfway into the living room. I wrote in more detail about our new table here, but I cannot say enough about it! This live edge piece is the handiwork of Woodworks by Jared, and it’s a true show stopper.
Where the slab had natural voids, Jared used gold resin fill, and oh my gosh, I just can’t capture how beautiful it is in person! 
The black iron X legs for the table were created by another artisan for Jared, and they are just perfect for our space. We can easily get in and out of the banquette bench without hitting our legs on the table base, which is exactly the effect I wanted.
Another addition to this window wall, as you can see in the photo above, is the bamboo blinds from Blindster. I have long been a fan and user of Blindster blinds, and love the organic and warm feel that their blinds offer. Because we now have a little one who gets into everything, we used the super value cordless blinds in Hatteras Camel, and they are just perfect! They were easy to install and are the most affordable custom blinds I’ve ever found.
They complement the wood floors, the pillows, the mural and the banquette perfectly. A couple of weeks ago this space was feeling pretty sterile, but all of these cozy textiles and blinds really gave this space warmth and life. 
The rug also helped ground this space. Since we were shifting the table away from the center, I really needed a rug that would help us define this as a separate area from the kitchen. Ruggable was kind enough to provide me with this rug which is machine washable! With 3 kids, 2 dogs, and, let’s be honest, a messy parental unit, we needed this rug! I chose gray because it’s neutral and flows well with the spaces directly off the dining room. And as luck would have it, I ended up choosing a mural with the perfect gray for this rug.
Ah, yes, the mural… you may have noticed that. 
I mean, the mural pretty much makes the room, doesn’t it? When I spotted the Celeste mural from Anewall, I knew it was the one. I loved the hand-painted look, the earthy colors with a touch of pink and gray, and the mood I knew it would set.
What I really love, and what I had hoped would work to my advantage, is how the mural sort of flows right into the banquette and really fits the nook perfectly.
Finally, I want to talk a little bit about the styling of this space. With a toddler on the loose these days, I keep things a lot more minimal than in my former house and life. I added a couple of plants to fill that corner, but they might not be staying since Wilder loves to whack the spider plant. He’s actually getting a play kitchen for Christmas, so buh-bye pretty plant babies, and hello toy kitchen (real life).
On the table, I can have things in the center, but too close to the edge and little fingers start to reach, so again I kept my styling really light.
I made those wooden candlesticks 5 years ago, and I still love them as much today. I also added a vintage copper tray a friend gave me a few years ago. I cleaned it with Barkeeper’s Friend to bring it back to its rosy shine.
On top of the tray I added our favorite Trader Joe’s French pink lemonade, vintage pink glasses I found at a thrift shop, and a vintage wooden bowl filled with mandarin oranges, because that’s what was in my refrigerator. 😉
Funny story about those glasses… When I bought them there was glass on the shelf like one had broken, but I didn’t think much of it. I put them in my cart and headed to the checkout. On the way to checkout, one seemingly just exploded. I chalked it up to a hairline fracture I hadn’t noticed, and assumed something got it just right to finish the job. That was back in early Spring. Well, when I was setting this up the other day, I put them on the table, and was standing a few feet away when one just exploded! We’ve had them in our house for at least 6 months, so I don’t think it’s the temperature… perhaps a ghost? All I know is that these glasses are probably headed back to the thrift shop where I found them!
Lastly, I added this sweet nesting doll vase I scored at Anthropologie last winter in the after Christmas sale. I filled it with fresh eucalyptus, and just love the way it cascades from her head.
And with that, we wrap up my third One Room Challenge. I am so incredibly happy that this challenge pushed me to create the space I’d been dreaming of for our family dinners, game nights, homework sessions, and more! It came out better than I had hoped and I am so grateful that this is my home.
I would like to once again thank all of my project partners who made this possible. You can find their links as well as all other sources below this graphic.
Modern black and gold chandelier- Home Depot
Custom banquette cushion- Naptimes & Notions
Faux leather banquette cushion fabric- Amazon
Pillows- Victoria Sturup
Live edge table- Woodworks by Jared (with legs from here)
Bamboo cordless custom blinds- Blindster
Rug- Ruggable
Celeste mural- Anewall Decor
Nesting doll vase- Anthropologie
Pink glasses- Vintage (similar here)
Wood bowl- Vintage (similar here)
Copper tray- Vintage (similar here)
Wooden candlesticks- DIY (tutorial here)
Thank you so much for taking the time to visit me today. I hope you enjoyed checking out this space as much as I enjoyed putting it together.
And now, we sleep. Unless daylight savings just happened and you have a toddler who doesn’t get it. 😉
