5 min read
The daughter of acclaimed filmmaker Nancy Meyers, Annie Meyers-Shyer grew up around beautiful design—both in her own home and on movie sets. When it came time for her own renovation, she chronicled the nuts and bolts on her Instagram account, @ThisOakHouse. It took off. She soon obtained a six-digit following and an avid fanbase asking for recommendations on everything from sheets to hardware. Now, she’s revealing her completed home, created in collaboration with interior designer Mike Moser, in her upcoming book, This Oak House: A Renovation Story with Interiors to Inspire Your Own Home, out September 15.
Below, in an exclusive excerpt, she takes us through how she put together her dining room, her favorite room in the house.
The dining room is my favorite room in our home. Admitting that feels a little like picking a favorite child, but the truth is, I’m very proud of what we achieved in this space. It embodies everything I hoped for when we set out to design this house. It feels serene and peaceful, with beautiful details to admire wherever your eyes wander.
Like many rooms in older homes, our dining room came with its fair share of quirks. The most noticeable was the ceiling. Like the snug, half the room was once part of a porch, meaning there are two different ceiling heights, with one side significantly higher than the other. Rather than attempting to fix this structurally, we opted for a simple yet effective solution: paint. Once we painted the entire ceiling the same color as the walls, the eye no longer registered the discrepancy, and the room felt cohesive. The paint we picked for this room is Slipper Satin by Farrow & Ball, which gets its name from the delicate color of silk used in traditional ballet slippers; it’s truly spectacular.
Roger Davies
“We chose to simply run curtains the full length of the room, ignoring the funkiness of the windows and doors altogether.”
The layout also needed some refining. Originally a library, the doors to the room were in the middle of two long facing walls, almost making it feel like a passageway rather than a singular space. We shifted the doors away from the middle toward the end of the room, allowing the space to feel more defined and enclosed. To maintain airiness and natural light, we added glass-paneled doors at the end of the room leading into the kitchen and living room. These allow for visibility and connection, so even when they’re closed, keeping the sounds of a bustling kitchen at bay, the room still feels airy.
Roger Davies
Annie Meyers-Shyer
The windows and doors leading outside came with an unusual architectural challenge. Instead of stretching the full length of the wall, they stop about 3′ short on one side, leaving an awkward mini wall there. So the question when figuring out the curtains was this: Do we only cover the windows and doors, or treat the entire wall uniformly? Rather than overcomplicate things, we chose to simply run curtains the full length of the room, ignoring the funkiness of the windows and doors altogether. The result is a seamless wall of fabric that softens the space. You’d never even know there was a strange window configuration beneath.
After figuring out the furniture plan, the next step was determining the fabric scheme. The first thing Mike showed me for this room was a Rose Tarlow floral fabric for the curtains. At first, I worried it was too “bedroomy,” but Mike assured me it wasn’t. He was right, and I’m so happy I listened. The soft florals immediately brought an old-world feeling and romance to the space that set the tone. From there, we pulled out the delicate blue tones in the pattern to inform the rest of the palette.
Roger Davies
The dining room mood board, featuring Rose Tarlow’s Avignon Alpine Stripe Natural for the curtains, Rogers and Goffigon’s Skye in Breeze for the chair cushions, and Lawrence of Labrea’s Jute Dhurrie for the rug.
The dining chairs—one of the most expensive elements in any dining room—were an area where Mike got creative. Instead of going the traditional route, he found a more affordable rattan option sourced from Belgium. The chairs bring an organic texture to the room, keeping it from feeling too formal. To elevate and soften the look of the chairs, we added light blue fabric cushions that call back to the curtains. The dining room chairs are very comfortable, allowing us to linger longer over meals. I highly recommend doing a sit test on any chair you’re considering for your dining space to ensure that’s the case.
Roger Davies
The dining table set for a holiday dinner.
At the center of it all is our custom dining table, made from solid oak with a reclaimed oak top procured by our woodworker. The reclaimed wood instantly gives the table soul. Dings and marks from years past only add to its charm, making it feel like it has been there for generations.
I often see people purchasing matching tables and chairs. I strongly encourage you to mix things up instead. To me, the best spaces are those that blend eras and materials—antique and new, hard lines and soft textures—creating interest through contrast.
“Say it with me now: All rooms need antiques!”
One of my favorite elements in the dining room is an antique Swedish cabinet painted in a worn blue-gray that anchors one wall, illustrating my theory that every room should have at least one antique. I’m particularly fond of this piece—it has the perfect amount of wear and ample storage, beauty and function, making it a win-win. (Say it with me now: All rooms need antiques!)
Roger Davies
An antique Swedish cabinet painted in a worn blue-gray.
Roger Davies
A tassel hangs from the knob.
Above the table, a verdigris-and-glass lantern ties into the room’s blue hues with its verdigris patina. A custom-built buffet with a soapstone top, left over from our laundry room, adds another texture to the space. In a corner, a light oak plinth serves as a pedestal for seasonal branches, offering a simple, sculptural element that changes over time. A dhurrie rug from India, along with the rattan chairs, brings in an organic feel, helping ground the space and make it feel welcoming.
Roger Davies
A custom-built buffet with a soapstone top, left over from the laundry room.
Soapstone, verdigris, antique painted furniture, reclaimed oak, and rattan—each piece has its own distinct texture, yet they all work together harmoniously. At its core, this dining room is a study in balance between old and new, refined and relaxed, formal and casual. It’s a place where we gather, celebrate, and linger over meals, and that, to me, is exactly what a dining room should be.
From This Oak House by Annie Meyers-Shyer © 2026. Published by Chronicle Books. Photography © 2026 by Roger Davies.