Designing A Dining Room - By: Justin Davis

Choose a table that will seat the whole family. The dining room is the single place in the house where all the members of the family are present at a single time. (Of course I am assuming that your family has the culture of dining together.) When you are trying to save space, a circular table would be ideal. Round tables usually seat four to six people, but if the total number your family is more than that then I would have to suggest a rectangular table. It would defeat our primary concept of saving space because a table of eight or ten would be wasting a lot of space within the center of the table. In effect, a rectangular table would save more space. Of course, the shape of the table could also depend on the floor plan of the house. (This is why it is always best to have an architect design the house from scratch.)

The dining table should have adequate lighting so that dining would be a pleasant experience. It should be bright enough so that the diner can see the food clearly. However, don't overdo this by putting overly bright lights that the diners would be squinting to see the people across them. A drop light would be appropriate because the bright light is directed at the table and not at the diners.

Chairs should be comfortable enough to encourage extended conversations during dinner. Seats should be padded with foam firm enough to support the posture but comfortable enough for the buttocks. Dining chairs made of wicker or its equivalent can get away without foams since the wicker is flexible enough for comfort. Arm rests are not really necessary unless there is a differently-abled or a geriatric person in the family. Arm rests could provide the extra support to such people. But, psychologically, it limits intimacy as it acts as barriers between the diners. Install chair leg caps on wooden chairs so that you can prevent scratches or funny noises when dragged across an uncarpeted floor.

If your tabletop is made of glass, never cover it with a table cloth. Although you can place some accents like indigenous cloth from say, Indonesia but leave more than 75 percent of the glass uncovered. The tabletop is one portion of the room that you can decorate according to your personality. Try placing flowers, candlesticks, or any other kind of centerpiece, the choices are limitless.

The other day some friends and I were sitting after dinner with a glass of wine in hand, discussing the rights and wrongs of dining room furniture design. Well, as chances would turn, altogether we came up with 5 key points which should be kept in mind when it comes either to buying new furniture or rearranging.
1. Know your style: Style was by far the first point that came up amongst us all. Everyone has likes and dislikes, a certain taste for things, and preferential uses. Some people prefer more traditional makes such as Amish made furniture, while others prefer a more contemporary and simplistic look.
2. The Use of Color: When it comes to design, color came in second. Even after choosing your preferred style, you should be careful that you don't have too much mismatching of color. You don't want a dark wooden dining room table and a very light finish dining room hutch next to it. Likewise, avoid too many loud colors at once if you're more of a contemporary minded person, such as bright red, pink, and green. Each of these colors can have their place-but not all at once. You can mix, yes, but be sure to match.
3. Awareness of Space: I spoke of the use of space in a previous article, but a few more points are always useful. Awareness means understanding how the space within your house flows. Is it open, curved, closed, straight, wide, narrow? Being aware of the space means that you will also be able to use it correctly when it comes to design - whether in the dining room or anywhere else, such as the in kitchen, bathrooms, and bedrooms.
4. Proper Arrangement: This follows from the previous point. Once you've increased awareness of the space, you will then need to consider the arrangement of furniture within the house, and in accordance with the space. Arrangement is like becoming a conductor in an orchestra. It is not enough to know that you have a large orchestra (e.g. space) or that you have four violinists, a pianist, and two trumpets (color and style). You need to also know how all these musicians can work together to form a single harmonious sound. Likewise, when it comes to arrangement in the house, you will want to take all the pieces and situate them so that they work as a single whole.

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