Nov 16 2009

Dining Room – How To Pick The Right Furniture

Finding “the perfect” dining room table certainly isn’t an easy feat. Often time they’re too large for your space, you can’t find anything unique or you just don’t know where to start. Fret no more friends, there are a plethora of options for you to choose from to get that “perfect” dining room.

1. Start with the chairs. maybe you’re looking for an eclectic flair to your dining room, and you can easily spice it up by mixing and matching different chairs at the dining room table. You can easily keep the same style, just leave the side chairs matching and the chairs at the head of the table different. This way it isn’t “too much.” . Many chairs are cushioned and padded already and will offer you more comfort and choices and material patterns, colors, or styles. You can always change the upholstery on the dining chairs, as your tastes change, and the room may be redecorated more than once during the lifetime of the dining chairs you decide to purchase.

2. The big question: Round table, or rectangle?!

When choosing shape you have to consider a few things; Rectangle tables give a linear feel to a room, but depending on room shape could take up a significant amount of space! Pro: you can seat many people and it can double as a buffet table, when dining elsewhere in the house.

With a round table, you can guarantee that conversation will flow- it’s the perfect set up to talk to everyone at the table, keep eye contact and not leave anyone out of the mix. This can make dinner parties and nightly conversation more active and intimate. Also, visually the curves of the table give a nice flow to a room. Con: Not necessarily space efficient.

How about an oval table?! This could be a solution if you’re having trouble deciding between the rectangle or round- it’s an informal shape, seats small and large numbers of people efficiently and had the bonus of keeping everyone included in dinner conversation.

So you’ve chosen your table- now you need light!

If you’re choosing a pendant lamp, or chandelier make sure that it gives the entire table enough light and doesn’t just feature the turkey in the center of the table. You don’t need a spotlight, you need to be able to see what you’re eating! If your table is long, consider multiple smaller pendant lights instead of one large one. You could even mix up size, style, etc. for a fun accent! Wall sconces, candles and accent lighting also give the room a warmer feel without leaving you in the dark! Voila! Dining room complete.