Interior Design

I am a huge fan of the formal dining room. They’re beautiful, elegant and they create a separate space for intimate gatherings or fun, frivolous celebrations. They can provide a moment of Zen in a busy day and – like a formal living room – they’re often one of the only spaces in the house that remain free of clutter and full of high-quality furniture and furnishings.

On the flip side, a formal dining room can be a huge waste of space. Some families only use theirs a handful of times (if that) per year. Because the room sits largely unused, it winds up becoming a catch-all and hoarders delight, filled with all the projects, boxes, paperwork and crafting ideas you plan to get to some dreamy “Someday”

Ways to re-think the formal dining room

So which is it for you? Are you someone who adores the formal dining room space but wishes it were used more frequently? Or are you someone who adores their formal dining room but is ready to re-think it’s under-used square footage, in the hopes that it might be more useful in another configuration?

Here are some ideas for making the most of your formal dining room space – or eliminating it altogether – depending on what you decide.

How often do you use it?

If your answer is less than four times per year – or even six times a year – I highly recommend you brainstorm ways to make better use of valuable living space. If you just cringed reading those words because they resonated with you, then start using your dining room more.

You don’t have to have formal dinner parties to use a dining room. Maybe it’s time to have some Friday happy hour socials with neighbors and friends. What about making it a priority to have a phone-free, weekend brunch with the family every weekend – Saturday or Sunday – depending on the household’s weekend schedule? Even end-of-the-week pizza nights or taco bar dinners can take place on the ample dining table while giving the meal a more “connected” vibe. Who says it has to be formal? Altogether, used and enjoyed is just fine.

Expand into an open floor plan

If you’re planning an upcoming remodel, think about whether or not an open floor plan might be more your style. Older homes are often compartmentalized and they were built that way for coal/wood heat conserving reasons. Now that homes are air-tight and more efficient, it’s economical to have a more open floor plan – and homeowners appreciate the larger and more spacious feel. Also, those interested in creating more senior-friendly or accessible designs are beginning to appreciate the mobile-friendly aspects of open designs.

If you’re feeling cramped in your current, compartmentalized floor plan, it’s time to work with an interior designer and envision the more open possibilities. And, don’t give up on a formal living area, even if it isn’t a designated room. Pony walls can go a long way towards dividing spaces while maintaining the open feel. Similarly, dine-in spots on one side of the kitchen can be separate from a larger dining table in the open living space. The former might be the “everyday” eating spot, while the latter remains the choice spot for special gatherings. Even in an open floor plan, you can find plenty of ways to create a warm and inviting dining room space.

If you do go this route, with separate eat-in kitchen and formal dining area, be mindful of clutter, which accumulates quickly on a big, accessible table. Families might want to invest in high-quality custom cabinetry and/or shelving specifically designed to house and organize items that might wind up on the dining room table otherwise.

Create a new space altogether

So you don’t eat in the dining room more than once a year, but the whole family uses it as art central on a weekly basis. Or the kids practice their musical instruments in there because it’s quiet. Maybe you’ve shoved the dining room table against the wall in order to make way for all the toys and games so the kids have a play space separate from yours. Are you scrapbooking? Knitting? Embroidering? Doing yoga on a daily basis along with a little stationary biking or treadmilling?

In that case, your household might benefit from treating the former dining room as an empty spare room, for which the possibilities are endless.

Are you struggling to find the right balance between formal dining room and wasted living space? It’s not a comfortable place to be. Contact the nearest interior designer and brainstorm a solution that makes perfect sense most of the time, rather than three nights per year…

Here in the Bay Area, fireplaces serve as a cozy addition to weekends and evenings leading all the way up until spring. Even after chilly evenings turn warm, most living room seating arrangements position the fireplace front and center – so it’s worth creating a mantel worth gazing at.

Affordable Ways to Dress Up Your Fireplace Mantel

Long winter days provide the ideal setting to plan and execute a new version of your existing fireplace mantel – there’s nowhere to be but tucked up inside anyway, right?

Here are some affordable, budget-friendly ways to re-vamp a mantel so it delights the eye for months or years to come.

Rearrange your house

I recently posted a piece on rearranging your home furnishings with panache. While in the process, I recommend mixing and matching art pieces, collectibles, or miscellaneous tchotchkes on display elsewhere.

Use these extra or leftover pieces and arrange them on the mantel. Still, have leftovers? Maybe it’s time to update your entryway while you’re at it.

Prop – don’t hang – your art

If you have a rather large art installation, it’s best to mount it properly and securely to protect the art as well as unsuspecting family members or guests. Otherwise, propping your art, rather than hanging it, gives it a slightly more casual or even edgy look. I like the way paintings or photos look when propped by staggered degrees or in layers.

Forget about art, how about frames?

Rather than using framed art, you can use empty frames. The frames themselves can be gorgeous and then fresh flowers, plants, candles or other decorative display items can be set around them or playfully “framed” in front of them.

Paint and more paint

Sometimes, the best way to make something “pop” is to paint the space behind it. If you live in a more recently constructed home, odds are the fireplace is an insert, surrounded by a tile of some kind, with drywall comprising the rest of the wall and the chimney behind it. Why not choose an accent color you love and paint the wall behind the fireplace? Then, give the mantel a fresh coat of paint – one that contrasts with the accent color – and va-va-voom. All of a sudden, the mantel becomes the star of the show.

Hang a mirror over it

Mirrors pack a powerful design punch. The mirror frame itself can be used to add texture, color or an eye-catching focal point. The mirror will reflect light – both day and night – helping to illuminate the space. Because it’s a reflective surface, a mirror also makes the space feel bigger – especially helpful in a smaller living room or den space.

Change it out for something repurposed

Is your mantel boring or outdated? Consider swapping it out for something more creative and inventive. There are plenty of items that can be repurposed into a mantel. Reclaimed wood is all the rage these days. While it can be very costly to use reclaimed lumber for flooring or an expanse of kitchen cabinetry, a single slab of beautiful, rustic reclaimed wood is an affordable option for a mantel. Salvaged mantels from older homes abound in antique and curio stores so keep an eye out for something unique and then install it above or around your fireplace.

Have a fireplace that you never use? Why not build shelves over it and around it and then use it as a personal library. Similarly, you can use the fireplace, mantel and/or installed shelves to creatively display a prized collection.

These days, almost anything goes in the world of home design so don’t hesitate to go out on a limb and try something new.