Dining Room

6-11-2009 I am really trying to order Dining furniture so that it is here well before the holidays. We have looked at so many tables and chairs, it is just ridiculous. Last fall, we came across a company called David Michael Furniture while at the San Francisco Design Center. The finish and wood used for these tables was beautiful, walnut and chestnut. They are imported from an artisan in northern Italy. I saw a few more pieces at the Farmville, VA Greenfront in December during a trip to pick up a rug. Again, very impressed with the finishes, especially when they are som much less expensive than some of the other design center tables we photographed. Yesterday, I cam across this company again, and this time I think we are going to finally make a decision. I contacted the company, and they can do some customizationfor me. I am going to combine the top of one of their models with the base of another.

Top: love the "x" design



Base: Not as bulky as the above base, and the legs are parallel to the chairs, rather than at an angle.



The chair below is appealing to me, especially with the table I am considering. I may want a lighter finish so that there is a lighter feel, since the table is fairly bulky.



The Dining Room will now be located where the family room currently exists. It will measure the same at 15'5" x 21'. This room is a great space for a large harvest table, but it was a little bit too shallow for a family room furniture layout. The butler's pantry, which is really also a wine/beverage center and a buffet area for serving, is well placed to serve the dining room and great room areas, as well as act as another focal point opposite the view outside.


The Dining Room will almost be a part of the Great Room in this location. I like this concept. The room can be festive and inviting with this layout, but not separate from the main entertaining space as it is in many traditional homes. I think it's nice when people start to leave the table to relax in the great room, guests can still feel like they are in the same general vicinity. Plus, the big table can double as a grand buffet area during a large party.

I have seen it quite a bit in vacation homes in Colorado and the mountains of North Carolina. Our style has definitely been influenced by both the rustic elegance and the functionality of the entertainment spaces in these homes. Although, our version will probably have a half wall separating the two rooms, at least partially.




This is a potential window design, with optional bench for the wall of windows overlooking the back yard.


We want the ceiling to include beam work and wide plank wainscoting.


Below is a menage of pictures to give some ideas as to the furniture and atmosphere we want in the Dining Room.


This is the main table I keep coming back to. It is the Rouen table from Mike Bell. I first saw it online, and then saw it on display in San Francisco. It is amazing in on display.

It has a heavy rustic look, yet is so exquisitely detailed that it could easily be married with more formal chairs. It is definitely a piece that could carry a room, and be passed down to our kids. I like that it is oval more and more. Mary Jo has encouraged us to look seriously at oval tables.

Photos of the Rouen table, shown above in the lighter finish measuring 10'2"x60"x30". All I would change is the width to 54". I love the wide long planks and the edge detail.


Once my fabric sample for the end chairs came came in from Clarence House (Velours Irelande below), I thought that the room might have more of the feeling I want with the Mike Bell table. The second fabric is a moire green and cream colored check that is on my current Dining chairs. I would potentially use this, or something similar on a side chair with an upgraded frame from what we have now.



I think I may have found my ideal side chair too. It reminds me chairs that Charles Faudree and Barry Dixon have used in their dining rooms. I love the rustic frame. I was thinking either a wood or a putty distressed painted frame with a similar fabric to the one I have now (Green check above). The example below shows the nail heads following soft curves rather than a masculine straight line. I also might like how the lighter color frame finish would stand out against the darker dining table, such as in the second picture. The whole concept falls nicely into the more casual rustic, yet traditionally detailed look we like.

• 131-64 Hickory White
  

• Shown in #43 Taupe with Bisque Stripe

I love the rich colors in this Dining Room. The end Host/Hostess chairs are my favorite part. The fabric is Pindler "Ucello", but it is much more formal looking in real life. I thought it would be almost like a needlepoint, but it has quite a silky sheen to it. I have tentatively picked a Clarence House fabric instead, but I would want something very similar to this chair frame for our end chairs. The red color is very appealing, and something I am still thinking about if the right fabric presented itself.
The chair is from Charles Pollack Reproductions "Chippendale Wing Chair" The side chairs are also. The table is the "Palladio" table from Emanual Morez, which is stunning in person, but too formal for us.

The scenic mural is something I have picked over and over, although I won't have an opportunity to use a mural in our current Dining Room design. There would be no wall to do it.


The Dining space has a large stone wall fireplace, which will need a mantle and some sort of treatment to make it look more integral with the house. The ceiling will probably be plank with a few beams. The photo below is an idea for a painted plank ceiling with a few beams.



I might like to carry the beams right to the floor and make this spot look like the structure is exposed. Maybe even do a wall of stone with segmented arches along the back to showcase the butler's pantry area.


Window treatments: Since there will be a large wall of windows overlooking the lot, I may want to soften the architecture with some sort of treatment. Maybe tying in the end chair fabric somehow, to draw the eye up to the window transom from the end chairs. Nothing too heavy or cluttered though.

These are some other tables that we like. I want something rustic, but not unrefined. Details are important, but nothing too carved and formal. I would like the have a large table, about 112-120", and the top needs to be about 2-2 1/2" thick. Anything thinner looks out of scale, anything thicker looks too bulky to me. The width should be no less than 48", but may be wider if we choose an oval table.

Panache Designs Vera Cruz table. Love the simple look, yet somehow unique. The top of this table is stunning. There are soft curves and brass inlay, but so subtle. Just a little bit rustic looking too.

Guy Chaddock table.

Another Mike Bell table. I like the shape, but the inlay and the wood are too rustic. I saw it in San Francisco and they said it could be done in any wood.

There is a curved edge detail on this Spanish Market table from Formations that I love. Also safer for kids. I also love the painted plank ceiling with beams.


This table has this stretcher that would get in the way of diners' feet. They told me this was more designed to be a library table, but they could do a custom chage to the stretcher.

This is the Dennis and Leen oval that we saw both in San Fran and the Washington Design Center. I would bulk it up and make it longer, so I go back to the Mike Bell because I love it "as is".

This photo just looked like a cozy dining room to me.


This is a similar set up to what we would have in our Dining Room, with the table in this same position against a stone wall fireplace.

This is a photo I thought translated nicely to our particular situation with the beam work and the french doors leading the eye outward to the landscape. It give the dining room almost an "al fresco" feel.






























Old plan:

Dining Room has moved, and Kitchen/Family Room is now in the location of this description:


The dining room will be a step down from the grand hall on our new floor plan. The two sets of arched 48" french doors will be replaced with 3 sets of 60" french doors with either flat or segmented arches at the top of an 8' door. There is another step down outside these doors to the veranda, and then a rolling grass hill down to the three mature willows. Our renovation of the exterior doors will accentuate the view of the attractive exterior features.

The draperies might be the Lee Jofa tassled panels (2 widths each), but I am undecided as to decorative hardware or a wood cornice ? trim at the top of the panel.

I have two panels of this fabric. I have 16 additional yards to do more panels, or something else



Clarence house tapestry fabric I thought about for the host/hostess chairs in the dining room.



This fabric is also along the lines I would envision for the end chairs.

This is a page from Charlotte Moss's book, A Winter House. I love so many of the ideas in this book, but I selected this photo for the place setting ideas for the holidays.

These two photos are both of the same fireplace with different finish effects.
It is from a company called http://www.concrete-designs.com and the model is the Prestige. We first saw it in a home we looked at in Franklin Park. I would consider using this fireplace in the Dining Room.

Rug

Table

Chairs,

Colors