Dining Rooms

A great dining area can create that sense of wonder and leave your guests with the experience of having shared one of life’s special moments.

Dining should be a special occasion, a time to enjoy the company of others and to celebrate life. Whatever the event, an everyday family dinner or a larger gathering, which may need that element of the extraordinary, nothing can set the scene as well as a room dedicated to eating and entertaining well.  Ideally your dining room ought to be an intimate space in which your guests must feel relaxed and be an area which has the capability to pump up the atmosphere when the need beckons.

Aside from the actual location, one of the first considerations when starting out on a dining room project would be the choice of table and chairs; these come in a variety of shapes and sizes and ideally should allow some flexibility in their settings. Find a table which is appropriate for the space in regards to size and materiality. Ask yourself: Do I require a table to be purely functional or is it a sculptural centrepiece for the room? The chairs must be comfortable as the best dinner parties can find us sitting for prolonged periods of time; it really does pay to spend some time getting this right. If space is an issue you may even consider a stackable arrangement, but again, comfort should be paramount. Lighting should be layered to create the required ambience; consider a mixture of spot lights, an overhead centrepiece in the form of a chandelier or pendant, this creates a focal point and can add a sculptural element to a room, up-lighting, candelabras and even individual candles complement the overall effect. Whatever the arrangement, all lighting should be controlled for greater results (read more about Lighting Design).

The dining room is the ideal area to display your best artworks or photographs; this may be directly onto the wall, on a floating shelf or for greater effect incorporated into bespoke storage and display cabinetry. To have a custom built piece offers the luxury of concealment and exhibition making the area functional as well as distinctive. Get creative; the solution could be as discreet as building storage into a space behind wainscot panelling or to give the appearance of building into the actual fabric of the interior, always keeping in mind the architectural details of your building, as this will benefit the interiors integrity. Window treatments also need careful attention as these can enhance the overall mood and add weight to that theatrical element of the room allowing the injection of colour and texture, drapery softens the interior and makes it feel more comfortable and luxurious, particularly in the evenings. You may have the amenity of an indoor and outdoor space, but whatever the area, with a little careful planning you could turn  an often unused area interior into a veritable banqueting hall.

Indoors or in the open-air, dining doesn’t always have to be on a large scale, in the outdoor room above Groth and sons have created a theatrical space for a more intimate dining experience. Read more about dining room ideas here.