Fine Dining!

The Dining Room 　

Blimey - the humble dining room. In and out of fashion like Brittney Spears, but an important room, nonetheless, which we love to celebrate whenever possible. For generations, the dining room was the preserve of those with enough money to enjoy the extra space their incomes allowed. In Victorian times they were richly decorated spaces but were for the most part kept closed over and used only on special occasions. This ‘closure’ led to the dining room being viewed (especially by those who didn’t have one) as hallowed ground or a secret space that would remain forever out reach.

　

Over time, however, the dining room’s popularity rose and fell as modern lifestyle needs changed. Throughout the early 1900’s, as property prices elevated, the dining room’s presence waned due to the fact that allocating rooms in which simply to eat became a real luxury. Cash went on optimum living spaces - such as kitchens and bedrooms - and thereafter the notion of ‘dual purpose’ took over as a means by which to provide dining function. Living rooms with dining areas became common and kitchens tended to be built a little larger to accommodate tables and chairs. Obviously, those people with higher incomes were still able to secure homes with dining rooms, but, as a general rule, home users learned to enjoy dinner on their laps, particularly as the TV era dawned.

　

By the 1960’s - as building costs became more competitive - the dining room, once again, started to nudge its way back into peoples affections. And, what’s more, language started to change to describe the space that was fast becoming de rigueur. The word ‘dinette’ became common parlance - particularly in reference to ‘open plan’ or ‘linked’ spaces - and the fact of the matter was simple; people now enjoyed having this dedicated dining zone as part of their home.　

Throughout the 1970’s, ‘the through lounge diner’ (as we call them in Britain) became a staple of British homebuilding, and manufacturers everywhere sized the opportunity to sell ‘matching’ sofa’s and dining furniture to furnish these connecting rooms. Companies such as Knoll, G Plan and Ercol championed this surge and capitalised upon people’s obsession with everything looking like it had been bought at one time, from one shop! Yup, it all (in the eyes of the consumer, anyway) had to match!

　

Then, just as the 1980’s dawned, people began to get richer. Consumers travelled more and took in, as they did, many more design influences. The European ‘open concept’ look (FYI - we call it open plan in Britain) began to take hold and spaces were designed to interconnect in a much less regimented way. Gradually, boundaries between living and dining became blurred.

In homes of an older nature it became more and more common to remove walls that connected rooms at the front of the house with others at the rear to create large sharing spaces. 　

As markets subsided and as the Yuppie phenomenon began its decline in the late eighties, a cash strapped economy (once again) determined what was hot and what was not in the home. And so it came to pass that the dining room was often lost. Many were converted into extra bedrooms - or even rented to ease financial burdens brought on by higher interest rates - and at the same time many new construction homes were built short on this valuable social space. 　

So, as you can see, the often maligned dining room has had a very chequered past. In one minute and out the next it became, frankly, difficult for builders and developers to keep abreast of opinion. Mais plus ca change! These days, as far as we’re concerned, the dining room - or at least the dedicated dining space - is officially back! Yup, in virtually all of our projects (whether private, commercial or on TV) good dining space is one of the first things we consider. As demand for good entertaining space increases, condo developers and suburban home builders are once again adding this valuable asset to their floor plans and, as such, we celebrate!

　

What makes a good dining room?　

This is a difficult question to answer as the needs of one project can be entirely different to those of another. An average family, for example, will need more space than a young couple who have less people to accommodate on a daily basis. However, this said, the same young couple might entertain more and, accordingly, their dining requirements might be more formal than the aforementioned family who could be sufficiently comfortable around a kitchen bench. We find that the best spaces are those that offer ultimate flexibility, and with this in mind, preparing your dining zone to be changeable, on a whim, can reap dividends. 　

If you have a room which can be devoted, exclusively, to dining, then that puts you in an enviable position. As much as today’s drive towards open plan eating has great appeal (if, that is, all connecting spaces are well planned and attractive) there are many people (us included!) who appreciate the optimum flexibility of a fully separate dining room. For starters, separate dining rooms allow their creators to design whichever way they choose, rather than being forced into assembling ‘linked’ spaces because they have to visually connect different zones. Plus, with the kitchen arranged in another part of the home you can leave all that dinner party washing up until later… without feeling you’ve got to clear up before settling back down!

Size is everything

The scale of your dining space is important, but that doesn’t mean if you don’t have great square footage that options are limited. In smaller homes it does actually makes sense to have an open plan kitchen and diner due to the fact that ‘breathing’ spaces have less walls and of course walls consume valuable extra inches. To understand this, imagine a compact dining room, next to a small closed kitchen. Both rooms, potentially cramped, huh? Now imagine the same two spaces but with the main dividing wall removed. The benefit to each previously restricted space is the extra perceived space created in the new open arrangement. OK, so you’ve only added an extra foot of floor space to the combined area but the open plan nature makes it feel like so much more. As always; consult with your planning department before doing anything structural and work out a precise costing. But it‘s not all financial doom and gloom - you might just be surprised at how affordable this type of project can be. OK, so it’s possible you might need to install steel beams to provide support where wall sections have been removed but just think of the ‘lifestyle’ return!　

Kitchen / Diners

If there’s space sufficient in your kitchen, then adding a dining table and chairs is a lovely way to draw hospitality into your cooking zone - great news if you’re the social type who doesn’t want to miss a trick as guests gather and gossip round the table! From a design perspective, we’d recommend mixing up the style of cabinetry and furnishings, otherwise the overall look can appear a little ‘off the shelf’. So if you have shiny glossy white cabinetry, for example, then consider adding a more natural element such as a timber table to provide lovely balance. Flip this notion if you have timber cabinetry to achieve similar contrast.

TIP - in a dual purpose room like a kitchen / diner, try to ensure that added function doesn’t get in the way of primary function. Search out chairs, for example, that slip neatly under your table when not in use or look for tables with extendable leafs so size can be reduced or extended as required. Could even be that your table, with proper protection, could ‘double bubble’ as a secondary food prep work top when dining isn’t required.

- in a dual purpose room like a kitchen / diner, try to ensure that added function doesn’t get in the way of primary function. Search out chairs, for example, that slip neatly under your table when not in use or look for tables with extendable leafs so size can be reduced or extended as required. Could even be that your table, with proper protection, could ‘double bubble’ as a secondary food prep work top when dining isn’t required.

Lighting

Good lighting, as we always say, will make or break your decorative scheme, but, in spaces such as dining rooms, it’s even more important to get it right as these spaces particularly benefit from the setting of good ‘mood‘. We tend to opt for a combination of overhead lighting, via elegant chandeliers and shaded pendant lamps, and we add side lighting via wall washers and table lamps, positioned to add warm pools of light where required. TIP - before planning your lighting, first position furniture so that overhead pendants hang where you need them to, rather than off centre. Remember also that good lighting should enhance your scheme (and not overpower it) so avoid fittings that hang so low over your table that diners on one side cant see those on the other. Remember those eye lines!　

Flooring

If you’ve watched any of our various shows in any one of our twenty five TV territories, you’ll know that we love a layered look as far as flooring is concerned. Which is why we generally favour hardwood or Karndean as a starting point with area rugs to properly delineate space. Where dining rooms are concerned, this works particularly well. When sizing your area rug, allow for it to project perhaps a foot beyond the rear of chairs as they would sit, when in use. This avoids the front legs on, bag legs off problem that often occurs when sized incorrectly. And don’t think you need to spend a fortune on rugs - Ikea have some of the best options available and their price points are incredible. TIP - trawl carpet mills and end of roll outlets to find good value off cuts and ask for your choice to be cut to size and then ‘whipped and bound’. This naughty sounding service is simply an edging technique that turns inexpensive remnants into great value rugs! Maybe it’s the Scottish in us but if we can find a way to save a few dollars… we will!　

Colour scheming

Since time immemorial there have been preferred dining room palettes, yet these fall into - and out of - favour on a regular basis. During Victorian times, for example, dining rooms were afforded dramatic palettes although, interestingly, many people wrongly assume they were painted in muted shades. This, however, is because the photographic evidence which remains is predominantly faded black and white and because retrieved fabric and wallpaper samples have been bleached by sunlight over the years! Victorians painted their rooms red because they believed the tone would promote digestion and conversation - a belief which has been supported by colour psychologists over the years. Green, too, was popular back then and was considered to promote concentration, which goes some way to explaining why so many libraries are painted in rich verdant tones.　

These days, as modern tastes dictate, we tend to use less block colours in the dining rooms we create. We prefer to use accent walls and feature zones and to pick up (and temper) dramatic colour schemes via table wares and linen. It’s amazing just how much visual punch can be added with a few bold shots of colour rather than by overwhelming the room with your preferred tone. And of course the good old accent wall is easier to re paint when tastes change. 　

Wallpaper, too, will provide huge decorating impact but our secret, as always, is to choose the background of your chosen paper as the colour for two or three walls and to limit paper application to perhaps one or two impact zones. That said, when a project merits full room application, we’ll plan other elements in such a way so as to pull it all together successfully.