FINE DINING

Dining rooms morph into multiuse spaces

The dining room has seen quite the evolution over the last decade. Once a stuffy, formal area that barely got used, today’s dining rooms are not only multifunctional but they’re stylish and completely customizable, too. And you’re not just eating in the dining room anymore; you can entertain in there, plus have it pull doubleduty as a work area (for homework and homeowners who work from home).

“We see the dining room as a communal space — a critical space in your house that when you invite people over, it starts and ends in there,” said Nicole Hunt, case goods product developer at EQ3. “We have also found that people want their dining table to have a cross-functional use as a workspace, especially in small-space living. So we are always looking at how the dining-room table, for example, can adapt to that.”

That means offering customers tables that are customizable. Modern dining rooms can include a table that is made from different materials and in a wide range of configurations, all based on the homeowner’s individual needs.

“The dining room has become more fun because we can create different looks by mixing and matching the tops and the bases,” said Johannes Kau, CEO of Mobilia.

“You can have a beautiful mix of materials, like marble with wood, or glass with chrome or black metal.”

Hunt agrees, noting that EQ3 offers customers a myriad of options when it comes to customizing their dining rooms, particularly when it comes to the furniture.

“The idea of wanting to express your own individuality means that we offer a lot of customizable tables, so you can choose your top along with your base,” Hunt said.

Solid wood continues to be their No. 1 seller because of its traditional use and durability. Marble is also popular, as well as walnut, which never loses its value.

“People see walnut as quite luxurious — the colour, the grain, everything about it makes it a trending material in all case goods, including dining- room tables,” she said.

The size of the table can also be personalized, which is a huge advantage for those who live in more modest spaces. Customers are no longer forced to use massive pieces of furniture; today’s tables can be made-to-measure so each fits well in its given area.

These customized looks can be carried through to other pieces of furniture, such as kitchen bar stools and bar-height chairs. This creates continuity throughout the house.

“Given the incredible popularity of the open-concept dining room, and the island becoming more present in homes and condos, we’ve noticed that the customer wants to mix and match their dining-room table with counter or bar stools,” Kau said. “We take the dining-room chairs and do the exact same version in a counter or bar stool, or we combine it so the colour matches the esthetic and look.

“Everybody has a dining table but not everyone eats there every day, and it’s practical to sit at the counter to have breakfast or coffee. So we make sure we have a good selection so, esthetically, it flows really nicely.”

In celebration of the return of the dining room, companies are offering furniture that can be adapted to any space. For some households, the dining room needs to be flexible and double as an additional work space; for others, it’s a space to truly showcase a particular look. Either way, modern dining rooms are just as useful, and beautiful, as other main areas of the home, and they’re getting more use than ever before.

With today’s preference for open-concept layouts, the dining room often serves a multifunctional use as workspace as well. The furnishings in this photo, for example, can be used for both dining and home office use.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MOBILIA Seating in a dining room these days is not necessarily uniform, with people mixing upholstered chairs with stools and the kind of bar stools used at a kitchen island.