Kris' Dining/Living Room

Today's post is a continuation of yesterday's.

These were Kris' Questions:
Do you have any recommendations for a buffet/sideboard that would go with our dining room table? Go with something that doesn't match it. Mix a painted piece of furniture in. With that long solid, wall, with no windows or doors, I would use a tall piece of furniture. It is super helpful to break up that wall. The piece below is from Decorize and is 104 inches in length. If you take one thing away from the post- take that- your room will work much better with a tall piece of furniture there.

Should we center the dining room table on the short wall (the one with the windows) or move it off-center to allow more space between the table and future buffet? It looks to me like you can center it between the two windows and still have a 36 inch space between the table and buffet. With that the case- I would go ahead and center it.

Do you have any recommendations for a chandelier? With a long table like you have, get an oblong chandelier, like the one from Currey and Company, at the top of the post. I would add shades, like those in the chandelier below, also from Currey and Company.

Do you think we should use a rug under the dining room table and in the seating area or just one or the other?


For the answer to this question- the first place I look is at the size of the room. You should be able to have your chairs move in and out on the rug, and not have guests sitting with the front feet of the chair on the rug, and the back feet off. You want to be able to do this, and still not have your rug be wall to wall. You would add a minimum of four feet to the width and length of the table. In your case that would be a 7.5 x 13' rug in the dining area. Your room is big enough that I would do both rugs. The rugs I selected for you are from Sisalcarpet.com. They have a subtle pattern, and a lot of great texture. The top photo shows the pattern; the one below shows the color.

Thanks for writing in, your room is going to look amazing!

- Christine

Fabulous Foyers

Christine,

For open floor plans, furniture arranging is so important and with the entry opening immediately into the great room/dining/kitchen combo, could you offer some ideas on how to create a sense of space in that entry so that a guest doesn't immediately walk into your living space? That is driving me insane! Would a screen of some kind be helpful (a concrete wall!) or does that block the flow? You posted on my great room before (Too chicken for grasscloth) if you want to see what I'm talking about here.
Cheryl

Dear Cheryl,

I like to look at a foyer as an opportunity. Would I separate it from an open floorplan? Not in most cases. Your foyer- if it could talk, would say, "Welcome to our home!." OK- so that sounded a little cheesy- but blocking it off to me does not seem welcoming. Here are some foyer considerations:

1. Light. Do you have a cool chandelier? How about sconces? Lighting is not only good for safety and functionality- but also helps to define the space in a more open floorplan. Especailly for the aging population- do I have any readers over the age of 65? Good lighting where there is a little step (the step out the door)- is important.
2. Rug. If your visitor has nine steps of rug- (include your outside rug)- most of the dirt will be removed from their feet. (I read that somewhere) Use as large a rug as visually fits in your entry. Again- for open floorplans- rugs also help to define the space- as well as adding softness, color and texture to your home. Some people like to have a beautiful design in the floor of an entry- but the practical part of me says to have a beautiful rug instead. A beautiful floor will tempt you to not have a rug at all.
3. Wall surface. Some foryers architecturallly invite you to change the wall surface- using stone, wallpaper- or in this photo above- mirrors. This adds texture, interest- and works to "define the space."
4. Furniture. Don't use furniture if you don't have room for it. This is a common mistake. When too much furniture is there- guests have to walk around it- it is not inviting- there should be ease in the walking.- Sometimes the furniture might fit physically- but that does not mean it fits visually.
5. Furniture take II. However- when you do have the space for it- it is really nice to have a place to sit in the entry- a bench- a chair- a spot to remove shoes comfortably. If I had to choose between a bench and a console table- I say- go bench. If you have a really good size room- go console with chairs on either side.

Have you given thought to your entry?- If it could talk- what would it say?

Thanks to Elle Decor and Metropolitan home for the photos.