No matter who you invite over for a divine dinner party – and even if you’re dipping into nothing more spectacular than fish and chips – the right dining room can transform any meal into a fancy affair.
For many years, formal dining rooms at home fell very much out of fashion, with laid-back, open plan spaces particularly popular. However, as reported by Apartment Therapy, lately “there has been a significant increase in the demand for dining room design.” And we’re not surprised.
The dining room is a room with a focused, bona fide purpose; you come here to relax, converse, eat well, and enjoy a room and table curated to maximise the pleasure of conversation and eating. As such, it should be one of the finest rooms in your house, and with that in mind, here’s how to add a touch of luxury to your dining room.
A SOPHISTICATED DINING TABLE
Unquestionably, the centrepiece of any dining room is the table itself. Appropriately, SM London suggest choosing a bespoke piece for this most elegant of rooms. Incidentally, their Raegan Dining Table is one of the most sophisticated tables on the market.
Available in walnut or fumed eucalyptus, this is a contemporary dining table for a modern home. Held together by an intricately designed central base. It’s a minimalist powerhouse – and it’s sure to have your guests praising its virtues. Let’s just put it this way; even a takeaway pizza would feel highfalutin on such a sophisticated centrepiece.
COMFORTABLE, ELEGANT DINING CHAIRS
Some people believe that comfort is the ultimate form of luxury, and we couldn’t agree more. While we’re fans of those picnic bench dining tables and chairs beloved of a certain farmhouse kitchen aesthetic, they have no place in a dining room, especially if you’re looking to host long, languid dinner parties.
Instead, go for elegant dining chairs, upholstered in a dark shade, preferably in regent style if there’s plenty of texture to the rest of your dining room. Alternatively, a wooden side chair, dressed up with a cushion, of course, works well.
THE VELVET CURTAIN
If you’re looking to decorate your dining room like a Michelin star restaurant, then why not add a theatrical entrance to your dining room with a heavy velvet curtain at the entrance and to your windows? This adds that touch of mystery; moving the curtain aside reveals a room of wonder and promise, and what could be more luxurious than that?
ADD A RUG
We think adding a rug under your dining table brings texture and warmth, and is a must. The design experts at Houzz recommend erring on the side of too big and suggest that “a dining room rug should have at least 60cm of extra room on all sides of the dining table to allow enough space for guests to pull out chairs without tripping over the rug.“
CONSIDER A CHANDELIER OR STATEMENT LIGHTING PIECE
Lighting is a crucial element to dining rooms and can make or break that feeling of luxury.
Take a design tip out of chef Alain Ducasse’s restaurant empire and add some sparkling chandeliers to your dining room to bring that sense of glamour to proceedings. Though you might not be able to cook like the renowned chef, your room will certainly feel the part.
Introducing statement lighting can also bring a unique, eye-catching touch to a dining room, amping up the luxury factor at the flick of a switch, so hang a glamorous chandelier or a unique mixture of ceiling fixtures, table lamps or pendants. This gives you the opportunity to play around with the lighting options and create a different ambience depending on the time of day and level of formality of your meal.
Another idea for lighting which will glam up any room instantly is to install mounted wall-hung lights – as far as we’re concerned, this type of lighting adds the wow-factor to any room.
CHOOSE CUTLERY & CERAMICS CAREFULLY
Every good dining room has a beautiful sideboard, and on top, carefully curated crockery and ceramics designed to chime with the overall aesthetic of the space.
As Elle Decor highlights, “The days of classic china in fine-dining restaurants are long gone. Chefs now work directly with makers to create tableware that adds high drama to the story of food.”
And while you might just be a humble home cook, you can still channel this sensibility, and source local, handcrafted pottery and glassware for your dining room.
It’s also worth considering food psychology when choosing your ceramics. As NPR explains “The shape and color of the dinnerware can affect taste as well. In general, round, white plates tend to enhance sweet flavors in food, whereas black, angular plates tend to bring out more savory flavors… and serving food on a red plate tends to reduce the amount diners eat.”
Phew, there’s so much to think about…
Read: 5 IDEAL steps for giving your dinner table the fine dining treatment
ADD A PIECE OF FEATURE ART
A conversation starter when the chatter runs dry; every good dining room should have some art. Art has a transformative effect in any room and evokes powerful emotions. As such, different pieces can instantly change the atmosphere of a room and wrestle back control and intrigue from a dinner party in danger of turning stale.
For example, abstract art featuring geometric forms and bold colours can add vivacity and character to a room while impressionistic pieces can add a whimsical, tranquil vibe. Also bear in mind the psychology of colour when it comes to choosing your piece as different colours evoke certain feelings and elicit certain reactions. Yellow, for instance, is uplifting and associated with happiness and sunny dispositions while blue is known to soothe the mind because of its cool, calming effect.
Choosing great art for your dining room can be a tricky, risky balancing act. Subjective, of course, but there is a very fine line to tread between subtle steps of sophistication and a clumsy tumble onto the carpet.
EMBRACE MINIMALISM
It might seem counterintuitive, but the first thing you’ll notice about most Michelin star restaurants these days is that minimalism defines their idea of luxury. Yep, in many cases, less really is more.
Sure, you’ll require signature pieces and focal points, but always add with restraint in mind; a surefire way to a sophisticated aesthetic, we think. On the flipside, cramming in loads of furniture will only make the space look congested and untidy. Keeping the décor simple with a few signature furniture pieces like that chandelier and piece of art we spoke about earlier will add pizzazz to your living room without unecessarily adding to the clutter