Dining room interior design

Dining room interior: an area with three neighbours

The table follows the walkway, not the centre of the room

Where the table and chairs go is decided by the clearance on each side, not by the middle of the wall: anyone sitting down or getting up needs a metre of free space behind them, or the chair hits a cabinet or the next table every time. The shape of the table (round, oval or rectangular) is often chosen to fit the geometry of the walkway, not just the number of guests: a round table has no corner to get in the way where a rectangular one would jut out towards the corridor wall.

The light over the table is on its own circuit from day one

In our projects the pendant over the dining table almost always has its own switch, separate from the ambient lighting of the kitchen or living room; otherwise dinner with guests is lit by the same cold light as tidying up the kitchen. The hanging height is worked out so the light doesn't shine into the eyes of the person sitting opposite and no one hits their head on the shade when standing up from the table. It's a difference of a few centimetres, and it decides whether the table is comfortable. This circuit almost always goes on a dimmer too: the same table needs different lighting in the morning and in the evening.

The materials read as an extension of the kitchen and living room

A dining area rarely gets its own materials in our projects: the floor usually continues from the kitchen, and the furniture echoes the living room in colour and texture, so the three areas read as one continuous space. In that sense, the table becomes the centre of the composition, where the routes meet as well as the furniture: from the hob, from the sofa, from the doorway.

Storage by the table takes care of the small everyday things

A sideboard, display cabinet or built-in cupboard near the dining area provides storage for the crockery, table linen and cutlery that shouldn't be kept in the kitchen units mixed in with the pans. In the design, this storage goes next to the table, not in a far corner of the kitchen; otherwise laying the table for guests turns into a trek across the home and back.