Dining rooms have slowly changed from being a statement room in every home, to somewhere that can now often be found adjoined to the living room or kitchen. The dining room is still as important as it always has been, however it’s no longer specifically a dining ‘room’ but a dining area or space. This new style of dining has become extremely popular, and encourages social interaction, as you’re adding two frequently used spaces together, creating the ideal space to enjoy your living areas. Here are a few ways in which you can create a dining area full of character and life, no matter where it may be located.
As with any room, the overall theme is really important, especially when you’re wanting to create a specific atmosphere. For the dining area, you want the atmosphere to be calm, relaxing and inviting. To create the perfect atmosphere, you need to consider your décor. Choose a specific theme to work with, this can either be a colour theme, or a style such as modern, country or traditional. Having a theme or colour to work with really helps to design the perfect space, and capture the ideal feel. You can introduce your colour or theme to the rooms décor in a number of different ways. One of the most popular ways is through paint, adding colour to your dining area through paint will really help to lift the atmosphere and add a bright feel to the room. If you have a dining area that is open plan with your living or kitchen area, then you may want to emphasise the current colour scheme through your detailing.
Image Source: Furniture Plus Online
The layout of your dining area is another important aspect to think about, as this can have a large impact on the overall feel of the room. How you decide to position your furniture is down to personal choice. There are loads of different ways in which you can utilise the space you have, and create the ideal layout for you. If your dining area is a dedicated room and you have lots of space, you may want to have your marble, glass or oak dining table positioned in the centre, with units such as a bookcase and chest of drawers or dresser neatly placed around the outskirts of the room. If your dining area is open plan, it may work better to have the dining table positioned in the largest area of space, this way your enabling there to be plenty of room for anyone who is using the table, as well as keeping space for the attached rooms too. You don’t want to overcrowd or cramp the rooms up, as this will eliminate the positive atmosphere and create a cluttered, messy feel.
Having open plan living spaces are ideal for creating the perfect social space. The difference between having a nice dining room, to having a dining area opened up to your kitchen or living area is that you’re not only creating more space to enjoy, but also lifting the atmosphere by opening up the areas. Having open plan living areas allows additional natural lighting to flow through, which instantly creates a warmer, welcoming feel. It also enables you to combine social spaces, giving you plenty of space to host a dinner party or gathering. You can then keep things nice and simple, for example, a dining area neatly positioned within your kitchen eliminates the struggle of having to carry food to and from the kitchen to the dining room, as well as allowing you to chat to your friends and family who can sit at the table whilst you continue with preparing the next course!
After taking these elements into consideration, you can then think about additional features that you can include to create the perfect space. Lighting is one of these features, and as mentioned previously, plays a huge part in a rooms overall atmosphere. How you choose to light your dining area is entirely down to the layout of the home, natural light sources and also how you want the room to feel. If you have lots of natural lighting, you may only need to invest in some smaller lighting in order to light up the room once the sun has set. For rooms that lack natural lighting, you may want to invest in some yellow-toned lighting that will help to give the dining area a warm, homely feel and add to the inviting atmosphere you want to create. Candles are also a really good feature to include in your dining area, as these emphasise the calming feel that you want to create, as well as looking pretty and stylish.
If you feel your dining area is slightly crowded or lacks space, you might want to consider some storage to help keep things neat and tidy. We all have a set of beautiful tablecloths and napkins to use on Christmas day, but it’s not always easy to keep them neatly stored away for the rest of the year. This is where additional storage comes in handy, as you never know what you might need to store away until those unexpected evenings! Having storage located in your dining area will make life much easier. You can keep all kinds of different things, from crockery, glasses, cutlery and linen, keeping it all safe and secure for those special occasions.
The final thing to consider when it comes to creating a decorative, stylish dining area is your personal touches. Your personality will shine throughout your home and interiors, and it’s important to keep up with these personal touches when you design a new room. Introducing exciting features such as artwork, family photographs and even candles or flowers will really add to the atmosphere of the room and inject character. These features will create a look that will reflect your personality and that is what your guests will take away with them after being in your home!
