I found myself a bit bored with the kitchen today (I know- shock!) so decided to turn my attention to its close cousin, the dining room, instead. Personally, I can take or leave a formal dining room- it’s about as low on my home priority list as his-and-her-sinks (can anyone explain to me the obsession with his-and-her sinks?), and I’d much rather have a big, eat-in kitchen.
Some of these spaces, however, are lovely. Simple, casual and eclectic, these aren’t the stuffy, characterless dining rooms of decades past. In fact, I wouldn’t mind leaving my dream eat-in kitchen (occasionally) to dine in one of these.
From the always-inspirational photostream of sarahleeab, I like the mishmash of this space quite a bit. All the blues and greens, as well as (what looks like) a bench against the wall keep it far from stuffy:
This room from the same source has a sort of “modern farmhouse” thing going on, which I love:
I like this space from Living etc, which is grown-up but fun at the same time. The round table, mismatched chairs and chandelier give it an eclectic feeling:
The modern furniture, restrained colour scheme and blackboard wall keep this dining room, from Canadian House & Home, from being stuffy:
I love this Parisian dining nook from Marie Claire Maison. The yellow seat cushions and wicked light fixture are just enough to give the otherwise white space a chic vintage feel:
From the portfolio of interior stylist Lucyina Moodie, this room feels much more traditional, but I still like it. All the white makes the brown-and-navy colour scheme seem fresh:
Oooh controversial – formal dining room v eat-in kitchen! Ideally I’d have both – the idea of eating Christmas dinner in the kitchen, no matter how beautiful, makes me sad for some reason. I don’t like this trend on shows like Property Ladder towards these huge kitchen-diners with no dining room.
But growing up, how I wished we had a kitchen table! Now that there’s the island, I prefer to eat in there.
Hee, you know we differ on this one, Hil! Why on earth would eating Christmas dinner in a kitchen make you sad? Because of the mess? I’ve heard that argument before and it doesn’t make sense to me- cooking makes a mess, but so what?! To me, it’s on par with people who like to hide their TV’s away in fancy, vintage-look armoires, as if pretending they don’t have them! There is nothing wrong with honesty in life, or interior design!
Ideally, I’d like to have two eating spaces- one would be chairs or stools around a large island/kitchen table, and another would be a more “formal” dining room, but I’d still prefer open-plan. I think it’s the separate-ness of some dining rooms that make them seem stuffy to me. I liked ours growing up because it was open to the living room and to the deck/outside, but I hate those that don’t go anywhere. I feel suffocated!
Yes, it IS the mess that turns me off! Christmas dinner should feel a bit special – a sink full of dirty dishes doesn’t. (Hehe I’m totally torn on the TV issue, too!)
Good point about our dining room – it’s nice when it’s a ‘hub’ room.
[...] kitchens, August had its fair share. I rounded up loft kitchens and country ones, but I think my dining rooms post was the most fun to do. It’s nice to step out of your box every now and then, and some of [...]