In many residential buildings today, the dining room has been a long neglected feature. We tend to lean into an open plan kind of living style, which means that people are not going into a separate room with a concrete dining table and setting up the dishes and cutlery the way that they used to. The dining room was always a formal place for the family to get together, to eat, to talk, and to enjoy each other’s company.
But now we tend to have the dining table in the living room just off the kitchen. It doesn’t mean that you can’t create a dining table or a dining room that has a great atmosphere, but you really do want to create a dining room that your family is actually going to use.
- Think about function. If you want to create a dining area in a compact space, you need to think about built-in furniture and even a built-in booth for your seating and your table. You have to be creative with the space that you’ve got, and if you’ve got a large family, you even have to think further ahead than that. Your dining area should be a space that engages your senses and makes you and your whole family feel like you should be there. A freestanding booth seat or a dedicated lamp over the table can give you more of a feel from space, especially if you are renting.
- Consider comfort.The dining room being a part of an open plan space is easier when you have children, especially if they like to watch TV while they eat their dinner. A closed off dining room that allows you all to concentrate on each other as a family may not be as comfortable as you hoped it could be. A few practical ideas that can make your dining room more comfortable include the way that you add cushioning to the seating and the pieces of furniture that you choose to use in the space. The chairs that you sit on should be practical, they should look good, and they should last for years. Not only that, but they should fit within your budget. You should think about upholstered or polypropylene plastic chairs or even a bench seat, but just make sure you have cushions.
- Think about the sounds you hear. The dining room should be somewhere you can concentrate on eating your meal and talking to the people around the table. If it’s an open plan layout with noise from an exhaust fan and air conditioner, ATV and other cooking noises, think about using soft furnishings such as curtains, cushions or even a floor rug to be an acoustic buffer.
Consider the way that your family sits at the table and how many people you have in your family altogether when you are planning out your dining room space. There should be more than enough space for you to move around, to talk to each other, and to enjoy your meal without having to feel squashed in.
