How to Program a Room: Dining Room Reveal

Back to a dining room.

A few months ago, I shared my dining room/home office switcheroo.  For a quick recap, when first moving in, I used the second space of my double front room (in these New Orleans Shotguns, it is typically used as a dining room, but I wanted to be different) as a home office/library:

The very dark, but professional home office.

2nd version of home office library with desk replaced by antique table.

Dining room tucked into corner.

 In short, the reality was that I used the home office much less than I thought I would, and the dining area much more.  After a couple of years of trying to fix the issues with rearranging furniture and paint, I did what I should have done in the first place: I decided to really program the spaces.  since I've already revealed and discussed the home office, I'll focus on the dining room.

home office after

 First, I'm sure most of you are wondering:  "What the &$*# is programming?  Aren't we talking about rooms, not computers?"  Yes, we are, and the programming I'm discussing is architectural programming which can, of course, be adapted to interior design problems both big and small.  In design school, all of our projects had to start with a program.  In definition, a program is a determining of the problems or uses of the space, an identification of users, an identification of problems and existing elements that must be incorporated into the design,  and the development of a plan to deal with these things.  In other words, a detailed plan to design a space.  The goal is to try to do all the planning, problem solving, trouble shooting, and  working out of major design elements during the initial pre-building stage.  While there is always some tweaking that must be done, the goal is to know exactly what and why you are doing something before you begin.  While I usually do this for clients, I do often impulsively jump into my own projects and often have to remind myself to treat me as I would a client.

1. The First Step:

Identify Functions of the space.  In the case of a Multi-use space, prioritize uses.  A classic example of a multi-use space is the guest room/bedroom.  Usually one is more important--it's either a home office where a guest can sleep if necessary or else a comfortable guest room where one can do a little work---it's rarely a 50/50 proposition.

    

For my new dining room, primary function is to provide sit-down dining for 2-6.  Secondary function is as passage way from front door (which opens directly into adjoining living room) to back of house.  Third function is to provide primary focal point upon entering.  Fourth is to provide buffet dining for 8 or more. Fifth function is to provide storage for linens, barware, and holiday decorations.  Sixth function is to provide a place for occasional crafting.  Finally, I want an addtional reading nook, with a chair that can easily be incorporated into nearby conversation are.  Whew, that's a lot for one room.  At this time, you should look through your desired functions and see if any are contradictory; if they are, start deciding which is more important to you, remembering to focus on how you live 360 days of the year--the other 5 can take care of themselves.

For example, in the case of the guest room/home office.  If you work from home 5 days a week and only have guests 1 or 2 a year for a few days each, focus on the home office.  The guests can rough it for a few days, or you can rough it and let your guests sleep in your room.  If, on the other hand, your house is a hot destination and you have guests almost every month and only use your office for surfing the web and editing digital photos, you might be better off having a real guest room and confining your "home office" to a small writing desk.

2.  Determine Users.  My users are Thomas and me, 2 or more guests.

3.  Identify What Design Elements You Need for Your Users to Function.  Okay, if I want up to six people to dine, I definitely need a table and 6 chairs.  Since I want to craft here too, I want the table to be durable and easily cleanable.  Ditto for the rug underneath.  Since I want storage, I need a buffet or china cabinet.  Since I want the dining room to serve as a focal point, I need some striking art and/or accessories.  I also need something to serve as a bar, and a small scale chair for reading.  Furthermore, if I want a reading chair, I need a place for a lamp as well as a small table for books and beverage.

4.  Identify Fixed Elements/Features/Challanges:

  One major challange is space:  the room is only 12'x14' (though it feels bigger since it opens to living room with 8' opening).  Making this more problematic is the fact that the natural path through the area is by a non-functioning, but protruding fireplace.  That means the table must be small-42'-48', but expandable to seat 6 or function as surface for buffet.  It also means that table must be placed off center.  However, it can be centered on buffet.  Because of room layout and functions, buffet wins over china cabinet--the surface can serve as bar, and it provides a better opportunity for striking art and accessories.  There is only room for 4 chairs to live in the space;  the additional 2 must find homes in other rooms.  Luckily, existing vintage table with easy to clean Formica surface (i don't hate the  Formica----I just told myself, " But it's vintage and original") fits requirements.  Cowhide rug also fits easy to clean guideline.   Since the room is open to living room, wall color and window treatments must match those, which already exist (even if I wanted to redo them, and I don't, budget prohibits this).  In fact, dining room needs to be an extension of living room.  Fireplace is unfortunately ugly with red brick hubby refuses to let me paint or cover, so it is to be largely ignored.  Lighting fixture is ceiling fan--in this climate, a necessary evil.  It matches the one in living room and is centered in room, not over table.  However, it is ceiling mount and innocuous enough to be ignored.  Especially at night, with lamp lighting, it is not noticeable.

Two Views of Adjoining Living Room*;

I do plan to frame large b+w photo one day, but no budget for that right now.  Included cute doggy to distract.

 *Shots are unstyled for truth in blogging.  Actually, I want to take a moment for a brief diversion and rant---I'm starting to get fed up with all the heavily staged and vignetted shots in so many magazines and on so many blogs.  I understand that people want their spaces to look as good as possible and would rather focus on a vignette than an unfinished space.  And I certainly make sure there are no dirty drawers and dirty dishes in my own photos, but it's getting out of hand.  I've seen some rooms so styled with pillows and nicknacks that no one would be able to find a seat or put down a drink. End rant.*

5.  Develop and implement plan.  The pre-planning is the hard part.  If that part is done well, the implementation is relatively easy.  This is also the point where aesthetics come in.  In other words, up to now, it's better to think in functional terms:  I need a table, of this size;  I need a buffet of these dimensions, etc..  Once you've determined what you need to function, then, and only then, should you start thinking about how they will look specifically.  For instance, I like a funky, blend of things; a pastiche of cottage, mid-century, and found objects---that led the way to how  the final dining room looked.  However, I could just as easily done it in the current craze of Belgian by selecting different pieces of the same scale.  Imagine the room painted pale grey with a reclaimed wood buffet, painted table with french style chairs covered in feed bags and the canvas replaced with a large antique map of Paris.  It would look and feel completely different, but function in exactly the same way.  In fact, this is what goes wrong in design most often.  Many times, people, including myself, start from thinking I want this look or this color and work backwards into trying to force function onto a certain look instead of applying that look to a function.

In this case, I had a buffet and table of the right dimensions.  I painted an overscale canvas to create a striking backdrop, as well as to tie into the new aqua paint of the stairwell/office next door.  I now have my storage and bar, my dining for 4 (as of now,the  extra chairs live in the kitchen.  I also have a couple of stacking stools in the living room that work for dining).  By placing the table off-center of the room, but centered on the buffet, I have a striking visual from the front door, which providing a wide-enough walk way.  The seating to the the right of the fireplace provides a nice reading nook, with an unexpected bonus.  On more than one occasion, a non-diner has sat there and talked with people lingering over coffee or wine at the table.  The reading nook also provides some interest from the door with the bright chartreuse lamp shade on the soon to be painted table.  It also helps to prevent the passage way from being too straight--too much of a bowling alley.

I know it's just the same picture, but it's easier than having to keep scrolling up.

6.  Evaluate.  An often overlooked, but important step.  As you implement, stop and evaluate how it's working.  In my case, I noticed that we immediately started eating at the table more, rather than on trays in front of the tv.  Guests also lingered much longer at the table.  As much as liked the look of the bookcases, I'm made much happier by the sight of the pair of  orange glass lamps (which were living in different rooms) and the art.  In short, I'm completely happy.  But by evaluating, I would know to make necessary tweaks.

Closeup of bar.

The reading nook.  Artwork is on salvaged door.  Chair slipped to blend with living room furniture.

So, in short, learn from my pain.  The secret to a successful room, one that blends the functions you need with the aesthetics you enjoy, is planning, lots and lots of planning.  The more planning you do, the better the result.

Recipe for a Dining Room: How to decorate a room from inspiration to (almost) finished

I have some better pictures from the dining room shown in my last post.  Unfortunately, my professional photographer (aka my partner's twin's girlfriend) wasn't able to come with me to the client's home today, but I did manage to find a decent camera.

For those who are interested in the design process, I thought I'd share the steps taken on this room for it to come together.

1.  Inspiration/brainstorming/fact finding.  This dining is room is in new construction, and I started working with the client early in the process, which made a lot of things easier.  One first consideration is that the client prefers a very simple, clean look, natural materials, a monochromatic colour scheme, and dark hardware.  That meant that the dining room would have to have the same dark stained concrete floors and neutral wall color (Manchester Tan from Benjamin Moore) as the rest of the open floor plan ground floor.  These preferences also gave direction to the choices of rug, upholstery fabric, and window treatment.  She also knew that she wanted slipcovered side chairs in a light fabric (two young boys meant that she couldn't have the light sofa she prefered, so she wanted the cream somewhere), contrasting host/hostess chairs, and a natural wood table.

2.  Find a starting point.  These great Chinese chairs in a dark teal blue were our very first purchases for the room.  I don't know if they are actually vintage or are reproductions, but they have a great patina and distressed character.  And, quite frankly, they're not that comfortable.  But the client loved them, kept turning back to them despite hesitations, and finally broke down and bought them.  I think they make the room.  In fact, the colour is so beautiful that we pulled the wall color for the nearby powder room from them.

3.  Fill in the other major players.  In a dining room, it's usually the chairs and table that are the pieces that really set the tone of the room.  Once we had such striking host chairs, I knew we needed to keep the side chairs simple, so I found some inexpensive leather parson's chairs (I prefer for slipcovered chairs to be upholstered in complementary fabric so the room looks good even when they are being laundered...you never know who might drop by on wash day) and had them slipcovered in a simple washed natural cotton.  I kept the skirts short because it's not a big room--it's rather narrow, and I wanted the eye to pass through the legs and not be stopped short by floor length skirts. 

The table was more of a problem:  we wanted a farm table, but since this is the "formal" dining room, the client didn't want it too rustic.  We also had to find a narrow table--the standard 48" would be too wide for the room, especially after adding a buffet which the client (let's call her "Babs"...I'm sick of typing "the client") needed for storage.  Babs is also a fiend for beautiful natural wood and hated all of the veneering that is commonly available.  Therefore, we had the table custom made (by Wilkerson Row on Magazine St. for anyone local who needs some beautiful custom furniture) out of cypress with a natural finish.   I made sure the wood colour co-ordinated with the wood exposed by the distressed Asian chairs' finish. We were able to pick our own dimension, a lithe 96X40, graceful cabriolet legs, and minimum detailing.  Babs was thrilled by the beautiful planks selected for the top.

  At that point,  we selected very simple window treatments (creamy linen panel) and a plain rug (sisal), to let the beautiful grain pattern of the table stand out. 

4.  Pull it together.  At this point, the major elements were in place:  flooring, wall colour, rug, window treatments, dining table and chairs.  Time to tackle the back wall.  All along, we planned on a buffet and art for that wall.  A buffet  because the client needed storage and dislikes china cabinets, and art because, while I love a monochromatic palette with a soothing lack of pattern, you need something with movement, live, and a mix of colours. 

The art actually came first.  I painted the two canvases as a housewarming present, and used the soft blues, greys, greens, and tobacco browns that the client loves.  The colours in the art pull from the accent colours used (sparingly) in the adjoining spaces. 

The buffet was a more difficult task.  It needed to include storage, so an open console was out.  It had to be on the shallow side (no more than 18"), it needed to be quite long (around 90"), it couldn't be too high (the ceilings are 10", so a too-high piece would have killed the spacious look of the light filled space, it couldn't be too heavy in feeling (it's not a large room and the client hates overdone, over-carved pieces), it had to play second fiddle to the heavily grained table, and it had to be in a finish that co-ordinated with the natural cyrpess and the Asian chairs.  We found a close contender at Restoration Hardware, but the finish wasn't right, and the homeowner hesitated at painting a brand new relatively expensive piece of furniture (not to mention the cost a good decorative finish would add).  Again, a custom piece by Wilkerson Rowe was the answer.  Again we could choose our own, difficult to find dimensions, we could choose our finish colour, and we knew it would be beautifully crafted locally of solid wood. 

In the comments section of the last post, Marlo asked about the hardware.  I found it on-line at House of Antique Hardware.  I chose this particular hardware for a couple of reasons.  1.  My client likes simplicity and clean lines; therefore, I knew the buffet would have little detailing, but it needed SOME interest.  I thought prominent hardware would add some punch, but since it's actually useful, Babs wouldn't consider it unnecessary.  I also like the matt black finish because it co-ordinates with the oil-rubbed bronze finishes throughout the house.  I don't mind mixing finishes, but when you're going for a simple look, co-ordinating them does add polish.  And a dark finish always looks striking when the paint colours used for walls, trim, and doors is light.  2. Because I wanted a vintage feel reminiscent of the beautiful bookcases by BoBo intriguing objects, I thought using traditional H-L hinges and latches instead of pulls would give that feeling of age.   3.  I liked the hardware, and I'm the decorator, and what I say goes (sometimes...actually not that often, but sometimes).  The details didn't photograph, but are really nice in person..the backing of the cabinets is beadboard, the sides are planked, and we specificed thin, thin, thin layers of paint so that you can still make out the graining.

5.  Finish up.  Actually....that I haven't done yet.  We need something permanent for the table, candle sconce to flank the art and something for the side wall.  But, this has been a project I've loved working on, and I couldn't wait to share it.

I Am Insane

Last night we had a barbeque.  Actually, to be technical, it was thrown by Thomas's brother who is living with us, but since their identical twins living in the area of their birth, their friends overlap.  Anyway, I arrived home from a quick client job (hanging photos and sports memorabilia in a downstairs party room opening on to a gorgeous slate paved courtyard complete with pool and outdoor kitchen.  I'm usually not a fan of Rachel Zoe, but seeing that space, I had one reaction, "I die!") around 11:30, looked around the dining room and decided I was tired of the color, the curtains, everything

When a deadline of 8:00 looming, I called in reinforcements (aka my friend Leah, the one with the diy spirit and gorgeous sunroom) and started painting. With one quick color change later, the after:

After I recover from the party and the redo, details and better pics will follow.  For the curious among you:  did I make the deadline?  Yes and no.  I hung the last frame just minutes before the first guests arrived (I had done the cleaning  the day before, and the twins were taking care of the food, so I didn't have those last minute host duties to take care of); but, and it's a big but, there was one small hitch.  MY personal guests, who weren't familiar with the others arrived before I could take a shower or even change, and the party's momentum started early--usually if the party officially starts at 8, the main body of guests don't really arrive until about 45 minutes later.  Honey, last night every body was punctual.  I ended up having to spend the party in paint splattered jeans and tee shirt.  Made even worse by the fact that I had decided to shower AFTER the client meeting.  Which didn't happen because I had to do Decoration: Impossible.  Oh well, everybody had a good time, I tried to stay in the shadows (at my age dim lighting is my friend anyway) and  kept telling my self my paint splatters looked boho, not hobo.  After a couple of beers, it was much easier to believe.

Comfort(able) Eating

Tonight, we were having friends for dinner. It's been grey, chilly, and wet for the past week, so my focus was on warmth, cheer and comfort. Simple menu--slow cooked mustard/brown sugar glazed pork roast, baked pasta with cheese, roasted asparagus, homemade biscuits with herb butter--plain, hearty food, my favorite. (Who am I kidding? All food is my favorite, from pate de foie gras to bologna. Maybe that's why I've gone from being told, "you remind me a little of Jude Law" to you look like that chubby guy from "Knocked Up.) I also wanted to room to be warm, cozy and welcoming. However, I needed to spruce up on a budget.

For the runner, I took inspiration from all of the bistros in town that top their white tablecloths with white paper. I topped my wood (all right, I'll tell the truth--it's 70s formica---unfortunately in such pristine condition that I can't convince Thomas to let me paint it) with brown kraft paper that I already had. In fact, brown kraft paper is one of my staples---it looks great for presents tied with anything from twine to silk ribbon, it can wrap cut flowers from the garden, it makes great dust covers for books with too colorful jackets...I could go on, but you get the point. If you don't have a roll, go buy one--trust me you'll be glad.

I used a mix and match collection of hefty, rustic plates, stainless, and wood handled flatwear.

I pulled the centerpiece from things I already had: a tray to unify the disparate elements and some paperwhites i bought at the beginning of the holiday season. I originally intended to cover the plastic pots with moss, but never got around to it. That's okay: my trusty kraft paper came to the rescue.

I tucked in some herbs I haven't planted yet, and later added some satsuma oranges for color.

I used a mix of glasswear--crystal bubbles for the red wine, and thick amber hued glass for water. I like the look of mixing, but honestly it's a necessity. 3 moves, 1 porcelian farm sink, two cats, 1 hurricane, and 1 fanatical glass washing partner later, my stemware collection contains lots of sets of 3, 5, and 2.

Finally, glowing warmly and ready for guests.

It was a dark and stormy night; alas too stormy. A torrential downpour on top of several days of rain produced flash flooding and overall horrible conditions. In fact, conditions were so bad that our dinner guests cancelled (their own street had flooded). Still, I was glad that I had a warm and cozy (and cleaned up for company) dining room to enjoy. I was also glad that I had not spent any money on the table. While I was disappointed that my friends couldn't come, once I realized how much further 2 bottles of wine would go split between 2 instead of 4, I cheered up. After all, my wine glass wasn't half-empty. It wasn't even half-full. I filled that sucker up to the rim.

Dining Room Before and After

My posting has been light lately because I've been working with my friend and colleague Donna Russell of ProVisions Interiors (here).
The project has been a foyer and remodel for an existing client. When we worked with them on the home originally, they were waiting to see whether they would inheirit some family pieces for the dining room, as well as which specific pieces, so we selected the lighting, the draperies, and painted the two rooms the same color as the rest of the open floor plan (Windsor Greige from Sherwin Williams, one of my favorite neutrals. The pluses: the rooms both have several windows and dark hardwood floors. The challanges: we found the dining room pieces included a huge buffet (it is still being refinished, but will go between the two windows opposite the dining room entrance), a small china/curio, 10 chairs, a huge table, and a small server. The home owner also wanted a small desk for her daughter, as she wants her computer use to be visible and there is really no other place downstairs for it to be. Furthermore, we wanted to keep the space from being too serious, since the homeowners are a young family.

We decided on large scale horizontal stripes in the dining room and on one wall in the foyer and the continuing wall down the hall that goes into the family room.

The foyer chandelier is dressed up with a small medallion painted to match its finish.

A pic of the dining room after with the draperies rehung with their bamboo shades. The artwork is an original painted by Donna and me and will hang over the buffet when it comes back from the refinisher.

For added drama, the ceiling gets a bronze finish in the dining room.

A trumeau we had custom made from a salvage door (a post on that later) adds interest in the foyer by the stairs. The peeling paint finish keeps it from being too formal.

A shot of the foyer with its center hall table. The pic doesn't really show it, but the striped wall was coated with a slight glaze and two coats of poly for high sheen.

Because the dining room is not large, the china had to go in the foyer. After the buffet returns, the stem wear will be moved into that. We rehung the curtains at the opposite sides of the window to make the wall seem larger.

A shot of the dining room showing the bronze ceiling, glossy striped walls and contemporary cream host and hostess chairs. The sculptural mirrors were previously in the living room.

We rehung the print horizontally to complement the stripes.

From Inspiration to Completion: A faux finish

These are actually after pics, but I just added to them the post, and I don't know how to move them. Sometimes, I really hate blogger.

I am often asked where I get my inspiration from for my finishes. It can come from anywhere. In the case of this dining room, it came from my client's clip files. I have to tell you, this was one of the dream clients and jobs. Not only did she know the effect she wanted, she knew exactly the tones, and she even supplied a picture that she loved from Frontgate catalog: Obviously, the front gate picture is of an exterior stucco wall, not painted sheetrock. However, I thought that I could get a very similar look using just paint. I always prefer to do whatever technique is easiest to reverse, and if I had just stucco, joint compound, or any other texturizing element on the wall, it would take extreme measures to return the walls to a flat, paintable service. Since I just paint, however, a light sanding will remore the heavily textured portions. The walls were originally a dark, olivish taupe. Since I wanted tiny bits of dark showing through the finish to give a stucco/cement look, I left the original paint color for the base coat. Then, I rolled on a mixture of benjamin moore offwhite, taken from the beige ceiling color, with a very long napped roller to give texture. Once this medium beige coat (with bits of the taupe base showing through) was dry, I think rolled on a lighter offwhite to give a dimensional look, highlighted around the windows and door frames with a trowel, and spattered on a little taupe for texture:

A detail:

The empire strikes back

An Empire inspired dining room I helped a client decorate. I selected new chairs and window treatments to complement the existing floor, grey walls, and antique chandelier. I painted the previously cream table base for a richer look.