Explore Betsy Mikesell's TN Home & Shop Our Finds - The List & Found

Mikesell Ranch Reveal - The Formal Dining Room

Every client has their favorite room in a home at the start of a project and for Betsy & Gentry Mikesell, their formal dining room - and the incredible picture window view that overlooks their beautiful property - was *the* reason they bought this home. So knowing this, we wanted to make every effort to create a warm, welcoming space for entertaining that didn’t take away from this picture perfect view, while tying in with the adjacent Family Room & Kitchen spaces.
After refinishing the red oak hardwoods & adding a fresh coat of Sherwin Williams Greek Villa for a gallery backdrop to our picture window, we upgraded the original visually heavy light fixtures to a streamlined two light brass pendant chandelier with saddle leather wrapped shades and oversized brass wall sconces that mimicked a gilded horses’ tail for that touch of equestrian style that Betsy loved to see throughout the home.
In keeping with the airy & open meets textured organic feel for this dining space, we chose to have matching indigo barn swallow bandanas by Kate O’Hara framed in oversized acrylic floating frames with brass peg details over the console - and oversized vintage saddle prints decked & floated on off white mats with a barnwood finish frame. So much of the art for the Mikesell Ranch project is one of a kind & custom but we did find some very similar options for you to explore below!
The rug for this space, a 9x12, was one of the first we found for this project and ended up being one of our and Betsy’s favorite finds - the Lulu & Georgia Kate Hand Knotted Wool/Cotton Rug. The mix of colors on it were absolutely perfect and photos just do not do it justice.
My favorite find for this space - and the absolute first item we purchased for the Mikesell Ranch project - were the incredible vintage 19th century Belgian Oak & Saddle Leather dining chairs, a set of three side chairs and two armed chairs, found at one of our favorite vintage shops in Nashville, Patina & Co. These chairs were not only the first item we found for the Mikesells *but the very first antique* *they’d ever purchased*. We absolutely adore a mix of old and new in every space and the finish on these chairs is incredible. In fact, they’ve been asked about so much that we scoured the internet and found some alternatives to these one of a kind chairs below!
Our table is a solid oak key hole style trestle table, built to comfortably seat 8. We love the mix of oak finishes throughout the space and how it creates a lived in, welcoming appeal to this dining room. And the custom hair on hide & leather bench? Well, that’s a story for another day but we can guarantee it has a story! And one that, thankfully, had an amazing happy ending.
We kept decor simple and statement size with textured stoneware vases & faux moss springs by The Crowded Table Co, a copper hand embossed tray by Arhaus, an oversized brass horse sculpture found at HomeGoods and vintage books.
We are absolutely thrilled with how this dining room turned out for the Mikesells and love the organic process of how so many of our designs come together for clients. We know this space will welcome many Mikesell guests for years to come & we’re so thankful to have been a part of it. Shop products from the Mikesell Ranch Dining Room below and explore alternatives to the Saddle Art & Vintage Leather & Oak Dining Chairs. And for more links to this project, follow along on our Finds Journal as we’ll be featuring each of the rooms and product links over the next several weeks!
Always On The Lookout,
- Miranda King, The List & Found

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Some of our favorite finds throughout this project have been the art and so much of it was custom, vintage or one of a kind. However, we couldn’t leave so many of you hanging who have been asking for links to all of Betsy’s amazing art so we’ve rounded up some pretty incredible dupes that you can shop to get that Mikesell Ranch style! For the Formal Dining room space, we had two oversized Saddle prints decked and floated on an off white mat, and then framed in a shadowbox barn wood style frame. Shop similar finds below and size to fit your space!

Restoration Art Prints - Vintage Horse Saddle Print

Emblem Art - Set of Equestrian Saddle Prints

Another favorite find for this space - and the very first pieces of furniture we found for the entire Mikesell Ranch project - were the vintage 19th Century Belgian Leather & Oak Dining Chairs - two arm chairs & three side chairs, found in one of our absolute favorite vintage furniture shops in Nashville, Patina & Co.. And quite literally, the patina on the leather and the finish on the wood was absolutely perfect and the nailhead detail along the leather edge truly made these one of our favorite finds, albeit truly a one of a kind set. If you’re looking for the same arts & crafts ranch style, shop the options we found below!