If you follow along on Instagram, you saw I sold my year-old black ladder back chairs – that I loved. I did so because we got a traditional farmhouse dining table, and the vibe was getting a bit too country house–a style I love but not right for this traditional urban greystone. Let me show you…

The Old Chairs

I actually just got these chairs last year. I know. I’m crazy. But hear me out…

I love them and they were in great condition, but paired with the farmhouse table, the whole room had too much of a Nancy Meyers’ It’s Complicated Santa Barbara ranch, vibe and I needed a slightly more formal a la Nancy Meyers’ The Intern’s Brooklyn Brownstone.

I can only assume if you read this blog you now completely understand. 🙂 Moving on…

The Inspiration

Step 2, I did what I always did and started researching the exact style of chair I wanted. I already had an inkling it would be a French style upholstered chair but I wasn’t sure about shape or color.

Of course… there’s Ali Cayne’s house. Which as I’ve mentioned before is my absolute favorite home tour and the overall inspiration for the decor direction I’ve gone in.

But then I remembered loving Erin Hiemstra’s dining room makeover. She and her husband have been remodeling a Victorian home in San Francisco for the past two years (how gorgeous are those new floors?!), and she revealed her new dining room design a couple of months ago. Her dining room has an almost identical layout to ours and they have a similar style dining table so I took note. I loved how striking the black was in the room and started the hunt for upholstered French style dining chairs.

Of course, I didn’t have to look far. Wayfair had the exact style I was looking for. But I was torn–do I go chic black like Erin did, or soft and airy with a light upholstery color?

Enter the greatest thing ever.

Wayfair’s View in Room App

I get so many questions about what program I use to do my design mock-ups, and the answer, unfortunately, is a rather complicated process in Photoshop.

Well, your prayers have been answered, people. Wayfair’s app allows you to see what pieces will look like in your home with the touch of a button. And it ultimately aided in my decision on what color to get.

How it works:

1. Download the Wayfair App (and new users get 10% off if you do!)
2. Search the product you want to see in your space.
3. Select the View in Room button and hold your phone up to the spot you want the item to go. The camera automatically turns on so it can view the room and it places the product over it. Save the image and voila!

Here’s a close-up of what the View in Room feature looked like for me. Ultimately, it helped me decide I wanted the pop (and non-staining security) that came with the black upholstery.

DOWNLOAD THE WAYFAIR APP WITH THIS LINK
and get 10% off your first purchase

The chairs magically arrived a few days later thanks to Free 2-Day Shipping (greatest thing ever because we all know the additional cost of furniture shipping can be a real pain in the patootie). Dan and I easily assembled the six new chairs while watching an episode of Veep and that was that. The dining room was transformed.

We absolutely love how they turned out – they’re comfortable, a great height, and like I said – won’t stain!

So that led to the dining room officially being finished. Cross it off the list, it’s done.

SHOP OUR DINING ROOM:

DOWNLOAD THE WAYFAIR APP WITH THIS LINK
and get 10% off your first purchase.