Creating a dramatic dining room inspired by candlelit dinners

A moody-blue lacquered ceiling sets the tone in a designer’s family home.

“I imagined candlelit dinner parties with the glow of flickering flames bouncing off the glossy ceiling,” the designer says.Tamara Flanagan

Expecting their first baby, Colette Archambault and her husband moved from the Seaport to a home in Wellesley, excited to begin life as a family. Archambault, who cofounded Hunter Hill Interiors with her mother, Karen Cacciatore, also looked forward to having a proper dining room for entertaining. Inspired by her favorite hotel, The Ned in London, Archambault set about to capture its moody intimacy. She set the scene by painting the room’s ceiling and millwork in Sherwin-Williams’s Loyal Blue, a saturated mid-tone blue that has more pop than navy. “I imagined candlelit dinner parties with the glow of flickering flames bouncing off the glossy ceiling,” the designer says.

1 To counterbalance the energetic wallpaper, Archambault selected an oak dining table with clean lines by Theodore Alexander. Its herringbone parquetry top adds another layer of interest to the eclectic mix. Bamboo fretwork chairs with chinoiserie flavor surround it. “Black pieces in a room are grounding,” the designer says.

2 The sideboard from Frontgate, which is modeled after an 18th-century French antique, has a honed marble top that makes it ideal for serving. “The creamy finish brightens the space,” Archambault says. “That’s also why I chose a light rug.”

3 The Hollywood Regency-style mirror came out of Archambault’s childhood home and the Currey & Company porcelain lamps were in her living room in the city. “The mirror reflects sunlight from the windows during the day,” she says.

4 The vintage travel poster that Archambault found at Details, Inc. in Harwich Port reminds the couple of their Monte Carlo, Monaco, honeymoon.

5 Peter Dunham sisal grass-cloth wallpaper with a large-scale block-printed paisley pattern wraps the room. “I love how the texture juxtaposes the high-gloss ceiling,” the designer says.

6 For a hint of playfulness, Archambault opted for two brass-lotus pendant lights by Jamie Young Co., rather than a single chandelier. “The design directs light downward, which lends a more intimate feel than a light that diffuses outward,” she explains.