They say the kitchen is the true heart of the home, but they’re wrong. If you’re lucky enough to have a dedicated dining space, you’ll know that this is where the real magic happens.
A dining room can be far more than a practical space for serving meals. It can be an inviting, inspiring, comfortable and cosy place to spend time. If preferred, it can be as quaint or quirky as you want it to be.
As with all rooms of the home, it’s a case of considering how everything comes together to form one collective whole. This is where the key to achieving the perfect ambience lies – creating a dining space that’s far more than the sum of its component parts.
Choosing the Right Furniture for your Dining Space
Comfort and a sense of spaciousness go hand in hand. It can be difficult to create a truly comfortable and welcoming dining space that feels cramped, cluttered and congested. This is where strategic furniture selection and positioning can make all the difference.
Avoid anything that is out of proportion with the space as a whole – nothing too big or too small for its surroundings. An extendable dining table can be the ideal choice for most dining spaces, which can be adjusted as required to accommodate additional guests.
Furniture and fixtures that double-up as discreet storage solutions can also be great for keeping clutter under control. As can movable trolleys, foldable guest chairs and so on. Keep the added extras to a minimum when dealing with a particularly small dining space, in order to avoid a feeling of chaos and congestion.
Prioritise Appropriate Lighting
Lighting selection really can make all the difference in a dining space. This is what will set the mood, tone and ambience to a greater extent than anything else in the room. What’s important to remember when illuminating a dining space is that you do not need to rely exclusively on one central fixture.
More often than not, it can be far more effective to position supplementary lights and feature lights strategically around the space. A central pendant light, chandelier or dome can be great as the main source of light, but is often better when complemented with other sources of light.
Consider carefully where your chosen fixtures will result in shadows being cast on the table and across the rest of the room. In addition, it’s worth considering the installation of dimmer switches, enabling the mood and ambience to be altered radically at the turn of a dial.
Make It Personal to You
Following the latest interior design trends is all well and good, but do you really want a carbon copy of everyone else’s dining room? By all means, seek inspiration online and consider the input of an experienced professional. Though while doing so, remember that it is your dining space, which should be a reflection of your personality.
The colours you choose for the walls (and ceiling) of your dining space will have the biggest impact of all on its character and feel. Don’t be afraid to stray from the usual neutrals, or even paint a feature wall a bold contrasting colour. If the quirkiest retro furniture is what suits your own personal tastes, go for it!
The very worst thing you can do is invest heavily in an ultra-luxurious and overly-formal dining room that simply isn’t ‘you’. It’s your space to do what you want with, so do away with convention and let your imagination run wild.
The Final Touches…
Last but not least, even the simplest minimalist dining space can be transformed with a few strategic tweaks. More specifically, the finishing touches that that can single-handedly alter the entire dynamic of a dining room.
Again, it’s entirely up to you which added extras you bring in. Popular choices that never fail to make an impact include vases with fresh flowers, candle holders, fruit bowls, decorative wall-mounted mirrors, floor rugs and even chair cushions.
Of course, there’s also nothing wrong with keeping a minimalist dining room exactly as it is. Nothing but an ultra-modern table with corresponding chairs and neutral tones throughout can be just the thing for some homes. Though again, you’ve every opportunity to create a unique space that reflect your personality – so you may as well go for it!
Read more:
Create the Perfect Dining Space with the Right Ambiance and Trendy Furniture
