Home Entertaining: Part 2: Dining Room Furniture
What to Consider when Planning the Layout and Design of your Dining Room
By London Interior Design Expert, Irene Gunter
Having discussed entertaining in the kitchen-family-living space – where it’s likely to be a casual, relaxed gathering with guests moving around and mixing in groups, here we move on to the Dining Room as your key home entertaining space, where things may be a little more formal.
The Dining Table
Let’s start with the dining table… it needs to be intimate enough to fit the whole family around, but also large enough to accommodate guests. An extending model is often a solution, but of course, that is entirely dependent upon the space available. It’s worth working out how the dining table will work within the room when fully extended; consider if there will still be enough moving around space, and if the extended table will still look good within the room or if it will ‘take over’. Think about rugs and ‘elbow’ room too! Will the extended table still sit comfortably on the rug, if you have one, and is there sufficient room for guests to still feel comfortable when seated – and not hemmed in! Storing your rug for a big get-together is an easy answer to avoid anyone tripping over it if it’s too small for the extended table size. A circular dining table is a lovely choice and works well in a square, elegantly-proportioned room. Oval tables also work well, there is still a feeling of intimacy, but an oval shape is more organic and friendly. Check the width of the table as well, if you’re searching for one – if you lay the table with lots of platters and sharing plates, (as well as everyone’s individual dinner plate, of course!) then a generous width is desirable, to allow room for all the extras. As a guide, we always suggest that a dining table should be at least 1-metre wide and allow around 60cm-70cm per place setting, as most comfortable dining chairs will be at least 55cm wide. Use some low-tack masking tape to set it out on the floor to gauge how much space you need for you and your guests to feel comfortable staying at the table for a few hours.
Gunter & Co’s 3 Top designer Dining Tables
The Riva Extending Table by Fiona McDonald is made to order, so sizes can be specified, and it has a removable extending leaf.
The Ten Table from DK3 is a simple, elegant design, and also comes in a round version.
Tom Faulkner dining tables are beautifully elegant, with slender lines and gravity-defying design.
The Sideboard
There are two important items that every dining room needs… of course, a lovely good-sized table, but also a sideboard. A sideboard is often under-estimated and even considered old-fashioned, but I genuinely love a good sideboard! A sideboard is brilliant not just for dining room storage, but for display and serving too. It’s nice, as a host, to be able to just turn around and open a sideboard drawer for extra cutlery or napkins. It’s also a perfect serving space for laden dishes or for popping finished dishes/platters/plates on so they’re not cluttering up the table whilst guests are still seated. The sideboard is also the place to stack your dessert and cheese plates, and perhaps to have a majestic display stand for fresh fruit. A sideboard, or dresser (if it has open shelves or a cabinet above) is also incredibly useful for storing serving platters, candlesticks and all the spare table linen. If there are glazed doors it’s also the perfect spot for displaying beautiful glassware and perhaps silver or other precious table accessories that aren’t needed every day but can still be seen and enjoyed.
Gunter & Co’s 4 top designer sideboards
Sideboard with sliding doors by Giorgetti crafted by walnut Canaletto wood.
The Valentina sideboard by Fiona McDonald, customisable and made to order.
Leather Bureau by BDDW, for ample storage
Shake Sideboard designed by Sebastian Cox, available from Benchmark
Dining Room Chairs
And let’s not forget the dining chairs. When you’re having guests for dinner you want them to be sitting comfortably for several hours, so it’s vital to have tested a selection of dining chairs before committing to a set of six, eight, or even more! Over the years, and through trial and error, we’ve realised that a chair that’s comfy for a half-hour lunch break or a ten-minute coffee stop isn’t necessarily going to be comfortable for a whole evening. It’s easy to get carried away choosing a dining table that will when it’s in use, be covered by china, serving ware, and probably a tablecloth, so it’s barely seen. Often a dining table is admired more when it’s not in use and just adorned with a beautiful vase of flowers. We think that one of life’s luxuries is a set of comfortable and beautiful dining chairs. Upholstered dining chairs are usually the best option, and those with an upholstered backrest are always more comfortable than those without. Consider dining chairs that work stylistically with your bar stools if the dining area is adjacent, or open plan and in the same space as the kitchen. We are working with one client at the moment who has chosen a set of ten upholstered dining chairs, but who has also specified the same chairs for other rooms – a couple in a study, as desk chairs, one or two in the bedrooms, another couple in the morning room. All the chairs are identical and are upholstered using fabrics from the same collection, just slightly different colourways and patterns. So, when there’s a big occasion all the chairs can be brought together and look coherent and not like an afterthought!
Gunter & Co’s 3 top designer dining room chairs
Minotti dining chairs look supremely comfortable, with curves in all the right places, such as the Russell.
Gubi dining chairs are elegant and interesting, have a look at the Beetle and Violin designs.
The Conran Shop has a fantastic selection of dining chairs – classic and contemporary, a good starting point, especially if you prefer non-upholstered models.
For a more classical look try https://www.theoddchaircompany.com/furniture/phillipe-chair/
Next Time, in our Home Entertaining Series, we’ll be looking at the Dining Room again with a focus on the finishing touches, extras and accessories.