Room Redux: It's New!

I'm introducing a new weekly post - Room Redux! And I'm hoping you'll all get involved. Each week I'd like to choose from images y'all send me of a room you may have seen in a magazine, the web, or just out in your travels, that you'd like to me to reproduce for you, but much less expensively! I'll try and do as many rooms as I can and after we have a dozen contributions, we'll hold a contest, and readers will vote for the Best of Room Redux (I'll announce a dreamy prize later!). The idea isn't so much to exactly replicate the room, but to help you to see how you might go about resourcing your own dream rooms.


This week I'm going to begin with a room I loved in the February issue of the UK magazine Living Etc. It's a beautiful dining room with a fresh, white Scandinavian feel. I'll always take a few liberties here and there with the decor, but try and get across the same atmosphere you feel from the photograph, only my Room Redux will be a lot more affordable.

To see this image in detail, click on it.

Here's what I came up with: The dining table in the magazine spread is a custom made, our redux is the Ikea Bjursta Dining Table in Birch ($299) - I think a coat of white semi-gloss paint will make a pretty good match. The wicker pendant lamps are also an Ikea find - the Leran Pendant Lamp ($40). To replicate these chairs, I found the Ikea Harola Dining Chair ($49 each). I found the bench to be a little too dark for my taste and settled on this fun Chipped Vintage Bench from eBay. I'd like to cover it with a box cushion from a similar floral from Cath Kidston, too. I like this Dotty Jug ($24)! And don't forget the fresh flowers! If you can't have pretty bleached floors like this, a nice Sheepskin rug will finish the room off well!

NOTE: When sending in submissions, please enter 'REDUX' in the subject line. Simply send me an email, along with a photo of the room you'd like me to replicate (the only rule is, all photos have to be 600 pixels wide or less), and tell me what about the room you like, and what you'd like me to focus on finding. Thanks! I look forward to your submissions and taking on the challenge of your Room Redux!