Dining Room Personalities

Choose one dining room style feature as a core idea — call it personality — for maximum visual success.

The dining room can be the most romantic place in the house or the most dysfunctional. It depends on the dining room style. Too often it’s infrequently used because it’s not been updated or it doesn’t have a visual point of view. All too often it’s a repository for outmoded furniture so it defaults to a mini-museum for  display.

I’ve written about breaking the dining room mold to increase functionality. One solution is to make it a multi-purpose space. In response, I received a variety of comments from “it’s true” to “we eat in ours every day” to “I have extra space and want a formal room.” Fair enough.  Still, the simpler the dining room style, the easier it is to see what makes it tick.

Glass – The dining room [top] looks surprisingly comfortable despite the stripped-down architecture. The windows bring in natural greenery as a “wall” plus they provide the openness of a view. The combination of armchairs and a sofa (on the far side) is contemporary but cozy — often a difficult combination.

Stone – Walls and floor set the tone here and the steel rim doors and windows scream “industrial.” However, those elements are muted and pushed to look Euro-rustic by virtue of the rough and natural wall texture. The addition of a wood ceiling and a fabric-draped table play off against the smooth floor. With a neutral chair style, the key to countrified is the wrought-iron chandelier inset with glass votives.

Paneling and Wallpaper – There’s a subtle blend of updated Arts and Crafts in this Midwestern dining room with a new white-oak herringbone floor and and paneling that says “old house” although it’s new.  Scenic wallpaper embellishes the space above the wainscot with a light, less expected style than heavier period papers would provide. It also contrasts well with the blockiness of the buffet. The mid-century drum pendant and iconic Nakashima chairs are an unusual mix, but one that modernizes.

Intense Color – Tuscan-yellow walls as a backdrop for ’70s vintage, high-back violet leather chairs and an Edward Wormley metal table say it all. Violet and yellow are opposites on the color wheel so it’s no surprise this lively combination, in an L.A. dining room, pops.

Wood – Brazilian cherry floors set the warm tone in a room some might find bland while others deem it soothing. The walls appear to be paneled but actually are painted in a Donald Kaufman terra cotta color that blends seamlessly with the woods. Klimos chairs, from Holly Hunt, and a zebra wood table are new but the look is purely mid-century.

(Source: Met Home, Elle Décor)

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