“Dark and uninviting” is how Nancy de Bin describes the dining room in the Little Rock home she and her husband, Chris, purchased a few years ago. Eager to create a space better suited to their lifestyle, one that was elegant enough for formal entertaining yet relaxed enough for family meals with their young son, they decided a renovation was in order. And with the help of designer Scott Paterek of Massimo, they got exactly what they wanted—beginning with a heaping dose of red paint. “The color is warm and inviting but also dramatic,” Nancy explains, “and it blends with all of the warm earth tone colors that I am drawn to for tablescapes.”

To complement their choice of color, the couple also kept the other elements of the room colorful and interesting. Silk draperies in a similar bold hue line the two windows that flank the fireplace, and the mantle features brilliant rusty-colored glass tile. The de Bins, who are art collectors, also opted to hang a graphic painting found in Italy, as well as a mother-and-child painting by New Jersey-born artist Gino Hollander, to punctuate the color-saturated walls. As for the dining table, while long and simple lines give it a formal feel, tall chairs with copper backs lend a touch of whimsy, and a statement-making crystal chandelier, which hangs centrally from above, emits a warm and relaxing glow throughout the space. “The room looks lovely at night because it shimmers,” Nancy says.

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