Reinventing the dining room
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By KATHRYN CATES MOORE/Lincoln Journal Star
It’s too early to write the dining room’s obituary. It’s not dead yet — but it may be time for a booster shot to reinvent the traditional space.
The long, formal dining table with six matching chairs and a glass china cabinet doesn’t really sync with the open floor plans of many homes and their eat-on-the-go owners.
“Dining, in general, is still an important activity,” said Betsy Gabb, professor of interior design at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “It’s a forum for conversation for friends and families.”
Today’s dining rooms are a reflection of changes in family life and eating habits.
When asked what’s happening in dining room purchases, furniture retailers said these things matter most to their customers:
-- Practicality. Better use of space and easy-use pieces that have dual purposes. Self-storing table leaves are growing in popularity, as are buffet-style servers rather than china cabinets.
Younger consumers are less likely to buy formal china, and dishes are stored in glass-front cabinets in larger kitchens, making large, formal china cabinets less necessary. Buffet-style meals also are popular, and a server is ideal for holding trays of food or drinks.
Losing favor are fully skirted chairs and fully upholstered chairs (top to bottom), which are tougher to clean under or keep clean.
-- Entertaining. More time and energy is spent cooking and spending time with family and friends. Again, the buffet-style server is ideal, along with longer tables — extendable to 84 inches or more. In addition, wine storage features continue to be strong.
-- Comfort. Consumers want to linger around the dining table. Chairs with upholstered seats and/or backs are growing in popularity for their comfort quotient. Carved chair backs are less popular than they used to be, especially in casual dining sets.
-- Contemporary styling. Updated looks that suggest updated, contemporary elements. A favorite way to do this is with nickel or pewter hardware. Losing favor is brass hardware in both formal and casual dining.
- Furniture Today/2008 Wood Style Survey
Big dinner in a small space
You don’t really have room to serve dinner for the whole family at the holidays. In fact, you don’t really have a dining room. But they are coming anyway.
Get ready.
This is a time to improvise.
Begin by deciding how you want to serve the meal. From a practical point of view, it almost always makes sense to go with a buffet-style meal.
But if your family insists on a sit-down meal, there are ways to make that easier, too.
Start by looking around your house or apartment and consider using some of your traditional furniture in nontraditional ways.
For instance, a library table can become the dessert buffet table. Since you can move it, that part of the meal can direct people to another part of the home. Game tables, drop-leaf tables, coffee and end tables also could be drafted into use.
Tiered plant stands, baker’s racks, tea carts and sideboards are all great for repurposing for big meals. Clear them off and rethink how you could use them. If nothing else, they are a place to set dishes, extra serving bowls or drinks.
Although you may be limited in table space, try to find enough seats. And don’t be afraid to spread to adjoining rooms or a family room in the basement.
Borrow folding chairs, backyard chairs and stools. Set up TV trays and card tables.
Benches are great for multiple seating. So are giant ottomans.
Finally, decide if you are going to use china, ceramic or paper plates. If you go with dishes, ask for help. Since few of us have 20-plus plates, get relatives to bring an extra half-dozen plates and cutlery.
If you decide on disposable plates, buy the strongest possible plates and some really beautiful paper napkins. It isn’t fancy, but cleanup is a cinch.
And get out the coasters. If people are eating and drinking all over the house, it’s best to have coasters in odd places, too.
— Kathryn Cates Moore
That said, homeowners want more options for dining, including informal kitchen islands and counters and even outdoors, Gabb said.
And they would like that space to be integrated into their home, not a room that’s set aside and strictly reserved for formal dining.
In the past five years, the cost of building and maintaining homes has continued to climb, so getting the maximum use out of each square foot is important, Gabb said.
Many new floor plans place the dining area in the front of the home, off the entry, in a completely open room.
“It doubles as a pass-through and enlarges the entry area,” Gabb said.
If you’re looking for a way to resuscitate your dining area to match your dining style, there are lots of possibilities.
Storage is always an issue, so a side buffet may replace the china cabinet as a piece that is more flexible.
Keep the table, but consider getting rid of the matching chairs and buy chairs that can double for use in other rooms. Upholstered end chairs, traditionally called “host” and “hostess” chairs, can reside in a family room but be pulled to the table when needed, Gabb said.
Benches also are popular choices at a dining table, instead of chairs, she said. These are easily movable furniture pieces that can serve a dual purpose.
Depending on your room size and furniture configuration, the room can double as an office or study or have one corner designated for informal reading with a comfy chair and ottoman.
Changing the lighting in a former formal dining room also can make a difference. A central lighting fixture begs for a table directly under it, Gabb said. Putting in recessed spotlights makes the space more flexible.
Rearranging your current furniture is possible before guests arrive for the holidays. Look at your space, consider your needs, then look around for a configuration that works best, Gabb said.
Reach Kathryn Cates Moore at 473-7214 or kmoore@journalstar.com.
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