Dining rooms are fast becoming the forgotten room in houses across the country. The area that was once reserved for your Sunday best is now an enigma, a puzzle begging a solution. So how best to use this space?
Here are our top tips on how to make the most of it:
Size matters
Filling a small room with a table that dominates the space won’t help. Make sure each piece of furniture is to scale to allow diners to eat comfortably and easily.
Use fabrics
Dining rooms are often defined by a landscape of hard surfaces but adding in some fabrics to give softer punctuation can really help. Blinds on the windows are a popular choice and a rug under the table helps pull the room together.
Make it multi purpose
If you add uses to the room other than eating and drinking you’re more likely to spend time in there. If there’s space, add in some arm chairs and a sofa so it can double as a cosy room in the winter or a place to spend family time away from the TV and computer games.
Dress for the occasion
While place mats, cutlery and crockery are all essential to eating a meal they help set the mood too. They’re also easy to change for the occasion or when you fancy a refresh.
Get the blood flowing
Some psychologists claim the colour directly effects our mood. Red, for example, is supposed to trigger blood to flow around the body and prep our stomachs for food. However, don’t overdo it with the colour. Just a couple of feature pieces, such as an individual wall or some of the artwork.
Illuminate your guests
A pendant lighting is a great choice. It’s a feature piece in itself by day and when night falls it comes in to its own throwing light across the walls and ceiling.
Style is passing, class is permanent
An age old saying but a true one. The table is likely to be the single biggest expense in your dining rooms so consider it an investment. Buy something that you are comfortable with and you are going to keep for years to come.