SERIOUS STYLE MEETS SMOOTH FUNCTION
There’s a lot of home decorating advice out there on how to create the perfect kitchen. But what goes into designing a truly great dining room? As the holiday entertaining season approaches, it’s worth reexamining the dining area.
In homes that have formal dining rooms, they often serve doubleduty as homework headquarters, libraries or home offices.
These rooms are a decorating challenge, especially if they’re directly in view of the front door.
Here, three interior design experts offer ideas on designing dining rooms that mix serious style with smooth function, and encourage holiday guests to linger over a memorable meal.
IT’S ABOUT THE CHAIRS
We notice dramatic dining tables and beautiful tableware. But if the goal is to have long, lovely meals, comfortable chairs are vital. Highend custom dining chairs can be expensive, says Los Angeles interior designer Betsy Burnham. Prices can easily climb above $800 per chair even before you choose upholstery fabric. But they are made for comfort and meant to last a lifetime.
Some homeowners opt for less expensive chairs from online sites like Overstock.com, and customize them with better fabrics. This can achieve a great look. But for comfort, Burnham recommends trying out dining chairs in person. Visit stores and showrooms, she says, and ask yourself: Is someone going to want to sit here for three or four hours and enjoy a great meal in my home?
“You want them to want to linger,” she says.
Comfort means different things to different people.
“My least favourite thing is sitting down in a metal dining chair,” says interior designer Jaclyn Joslin, founder of the retail store Coveted Home in Kansas City.
“It’s always cold and hard.”
CREATIVE RISKS
Dining rooms that aren’t used every day can be the perfect spot to take decorating risks.
“Frequently, clients will say OK to wallpaper in dining rooms, and that’s a bit of a departure,” Burnham says. “They’re afraid to wallpaper a space they’re in all the time because what if they get tired of it? What if it’s overwhelming?”
It’s also a great room for incorporating family heirlooms, perhaps with a style update, says interior designer Abbe Fenimore, founder of Studio Ten 25 in Dallas.
If you have a sideboard or hutch that belonged to a family member, what better place to display it than where you’ll have relatives over for family dinners?
TO RUG OR NOT TO RUG
It’s a subject of debate among designers: Some people see a dining room as unfinished if there’s no rug under the table. Others see a dining-room rug as more of a challenge than a benefit — especially if the home has children.
If you use your dining room more for work or relaxing than for eating (and if you don’t have little kids eating messy food at your dining table), then a rug carries little risk and lots of potential reward.