How to make your dining room more appealing...

“It’s so easy to get in to bad habits by having dinner on your lap and allowing our lives to evolve around watching TV. Once the television goes on all communication stops. What’s more precious than having quality time with family and friends around the dinning table enjoying a meal? It just enables you relax and talk without distractions and to catch up with the days events and to plan for future ones.”

When it comes to the dining room it’s not about having everything matching and super expensive. It’s more about how a room makes you feel. That’s why I believe it’s about using every room including the dining room, for a home to feel lived in.

Here are some ways to do that.


* Creating a soothing and relaxing atmosphere is about getting your lighting right. Ideally the table is the star of the show and the real focus.


* In the evenings dim the electric lighting so the majority of the room is in shadow and drawing attention to the table, whilst the majority of the room is in shadow. Add softer lighting around the room with table lamp on a sideboard or wall-mounted light over a painting, or highlight other decorative features.


* Create an ambience with candlelight and seasonal flowers for colour and scent. They make a simple table look extra special. The rule here is to have arranged flowers below eye level so you guests can still converse across the table.


* Make the right decisions for you and your family when it comes to choosing your dining furniture. Consider carefully the scale of the furniture and make sure it works with the proportion to the room.


* Be practical when it comes to the surfaces of the furniture you choose, if you have three young children with antique furniture it will become stressful! 


* I can’t express how important it is to have comfortable dining chairs these are an essential.


* Dress to impress with a tablecloth or runner.  Inexpensive items like these bring seasonal changes and lift the space with splashes of colour and pattern.


* Get into the practice of using your dining room every day, it needs to feel used and friendly otherwise it becomes a cold room that’s unloved, or worse still, a dumping ground.  


* Consider decorating, add a contrasting paint colour or wallpaper in the alcoves or on a focal wall to lift the space and make you want to spend time in this new environment.


* Don’t forget to add art works or even better a gallery comprising of framed family photographs grouped together for a striking statement.