Tis the Season for Dining

Featuring 14 Favorite Dining Rooms

Blue Egg Brown Nest Blog

This is a beautiful dining room, formal yet not stuffy. It has a warm, friendly feeling.  Neutral colors with lots of different textures make the soft color palate work well.  The touch of accent color is a soft turquoise, which is a color that will set the stage for adding decorations in the holiday seasons.

Designed by Jay Griffin

This dining room is a well appointed mix of contemporary, antique and electic things.  The chairs look like metal outdoor chairs, but look how inside and dressy they become mixed with this interesting antelope table.  The use of colored glass give a slight color pop and is a nice accent with the piece of art.

Designer Chad Eisner

Love the mix of art pieces.  This talented designer from Venice Beach, California used a neutral dining set and added the color and interest in the room with his choice of window treatments, and art pieces.  If these clients updated anything years down the road, it could easily be done with different art pieces.  The dining set is very classic and is timeless in style.

Designer Jonathan Adler

I have to stand in line to claim this talented designer as one of my favorites.  His use of color has dragged our neutral rooms into an enjoyable, happy, and comfortable style.  His rooms are just fun to look at, and they always appear ready to be used for entertaining.  He is a master at mixing patterns and strong colors, yet no one color takes over a room.  I have his number on speed dial, ready for when I win the lottery!

Help me name this designer

This is a warm dining room.  The mix of many colors of whites against the mocha brown walls is a great mix.  There is plenty of lighting to allow any sort of mood set when dining here in the evenings.
I can just see 6 friends dining and sitting for hours talking the night away in this comfortable room.

Help me Name This Designer

This is a casual dining area that is part of a living room-dining room combination.  The slip covers on the chairs are linen and the texture, plants, windows and flooring make this a very organic space.

This is a sophisticated and appeal dining room.  Use of black and white in design is very popular, an the touches of lime green keep it from becoming dark, even with the black walls.

Designer Tom Schereer

This is a very family friendly casual dining room.  The gallery wall and the blue and white platters dress up the room and create some interest.  The use of navy walls with the wood ceiling create a warm, inviting room.

Jennifer Mabley

This design firm specializes in Interior Design in the Hamptons.  The use of color is very dynamic and conducive to a vacation home on the water.  It is sure to be a lively dinner party at this home.

Color, comfort and interest, this simple dining room has it all.  The blue strie walls are color and texture and a great backdrop for the impressive art.  The chair mix and the white table legs are a classic style and the color keep it from becoming too formal.

Fox-Nahem Designs

 Simple classic lines on the table and the accessories create a style background in the dining room, and it is finished with perfect soft orange comfortable chairs.

Kirsten Kelli Designs

This dining room is stunning, created by the 2 talented sisters Kirstin and Kelli.  Featured in Veranda magazine, the Design Firm operates in the Dallas, Texas area.  There are so many areas of interest to enjoy here, that you simply must be invited to dinner, so that you have time to take it all in.

Michel Niehn

This dining room is from a French farmhouse that has been restored by Michel Niehn in Provence.  The colors and texture mix are classic styling of this type of property.  The use of large pottery pieces are so appropriate and then it is finished off with a dazzling crystal chandelier.

This is a really eye catching modern dining room.  The shantung wallpapered wall is a great backdrop to the fab hanging balls chandelier.  The turquoise chairs are sophisticated and comfortable looking, and colorful enough to be present in this very artfully created dining room.

Now all you have to worry about is the cooking, the flowers, the guest list..............

Selecting a Coffee Table

The coffee table is one of the most important pieces of furniture in a room. This is a piece of furniture that can have many jobs to perform. The selection you make determines if it does it's job well.  

Ten things to consider on selecting a coffee table 

 

1. Distance from sofa no more than 18" away 

 

This position gives you space for your legs, also close enough to be reaching for your drink, snacks, book or anything on it. 

 

2. Height of table 

 

The height of your coffee table should be about 2" lower or higher than your sofa. It should not be the same height as sofa. This is for comfort and best visual appearance. If you need a spot for appetizers when entertaining, a table 2" higher serves this.

Jonathan Alder $1750 42" wide

 

3. Storage 

 

Do you need extra storage in the room? This is a good place to put a piece that will accomplish that. Drawers in a table are good for holding remote controls, coasters, pens, book or other items that you do not want out on the table, but you want to easily reach, a bottom shelf can help with storage. You can use a couple of the decorative boxes you find at Home Goods or other type of store use it to contain stuff you do not want to leave out on the table. 

Bunny Williams red art table $1900 40" wide

 

 

4. Give your room a Designer's touch

 

If all your furniture is of one style, this is your change to mix it up a little for more interest. A metal frame with a glass top looks great if all your furniture is woods. If your room is looking too formal for you, is a good time to use one of the large ottomans for a more relaxed style. If you actually need a table for both ends of the sofa you use a pair of matching bunching tables, or a pair of smaller ottomans. 

 

5. Need extra seating 

 

Use a larger coffee table that will look well with a pair of small ottomans pulled up to it to give you extra perching spots for entertaining. 

Grandinroad $299 and 30" wide

Grandinroad table above, use 2 of these for large sofa, makes a real statement look for $600!

 

6. Create interest using color 

 

 Every room should have one additional color to contrast with the rest of the room. You can do this with a contrasting pillow, or ceramic garden stool, you can also do this with a splash of color in your coffee table. Don't be afraid to make this your statement piece. 

from Zinc Door $499 and 45" wide

 

 7. Consider size and shape 

 

If all your hard furniture pieces are with square edges, making your coffee table round creates extra interest. For size, larger is better looking than smaller. Do not go larger than 2/3 the size of your sofa, but a common mistake is using a table that is too small. If your room is small, still use a larger table, you can use fewer pieces of furniture to compensate for space. 

 

8. Coffee table as an art statement 

 

You can really make a statement piece out of a coffee table. You can use a hand painted Asian trunk, a funky glass table with twisted legs, a Family Room piece with each leg a different color, a homework spot with colorful small ottomans that are 5 to 6" lower than the table, and the coffee table becomes the star of the room. 

 

9. Coffee table as a Butler  

 

When you are entertaining, a larger coffee table can hold enough appetizers for about 10 to 12 people. Also keep plenty of napkins & plates on the table and you will be a hostess that can actually sit and enjoy your guests. Using the table keeps people out of your kitchen, since guests follow the food. If you have a dinner party, you can serve dessert and coffee from the table, thereby letting your guests have a place to sit comfortably and linger for conversation. 

 

10. Coffee table as a game table

 

This is a great spot for a family gathering. Drag out the Monopoly game or Uno and remember how much fun it is playing with your kids.