CATHY AND SCOTT'S DINING AREA
Cathy and Scott have built a new home and want some help with configuring the dining space. It is always difficult to move from one home to another and have your existing furniture fit the new space. Your furniture can be re-purposed or painted; but sometimes the style or the size just does not work.
The before pictures below show the style of the house is modern cottage - the beaded cabinet fronts, the pendant lights above the island, the french door to the patio, and the flooring; but the existing furniture is traditional.
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I suggest replacing the existing table and chairs with a window seat and long, narrow harvest table. Cathy is leaning towards booth seating, but the space does not allow for that; however a window seat with built-in cabinets on both sides would provide the same cozy feel. This solution not only provides seating, but a ton of storage. It can be used to store china eliminating the need for a china cabinet, making the space feel more spacious, but not giving up on function.
You could customize the built-ins to suit your needs by adding more pull-out drawers, adding glass doors to display items, or leaving the door fronts off altogether to create bookcases. To maintain cohesiveness throughout the space, I recommend keeping the same beaded door and drawer fronts and the same paint colour as the existing kitchen cabinets.
To achieve the booth look and cottage style, add bead board or vertical ship-lap to the back of the window seat.
Adding fabric window seat covers and pillows will add color, texture and soften the space.
Adding a long, narrow harvest table in front of the window seat would be the best use of the space while still providing good traffic flow to the back yard. A mix of bench seating and chairs provide for casual dining. Trestle legs will make it easier for people to get in and out of the window seat.
Dining chairs with a clean line, white, gray or black, or painted a fun colour, and a large pendant light fixture, white or in a fun colour, above the table would add a pretty cottage look.
Dining chairs with a clean line, white, gray or black, or painted a fun colour, and a large pendant light fixture, white or in a fun colour, above the table would add a pretty cottage look.
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For more design inspiration and furniture options, Cathy and Scott can view their own personal ideabook on Houzz.com.
The home is open concept so all areas of the main living space should work together. Moving the sofa to under the window and adding one or two comfortable chairs for tv watching would open the space and create a better traffic flow between the two spaces. Currently, the sofa is cutting off the living area from the dining area creating a visual "wall" and a narrow "hallway" to the backyard. Anchor the living space with an area rug to create its own zone.
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Cathy and Scott are very handy and could easily tackle this project by making the window seat and built-ins themselves and then purchasing the door and drawer fronts - saving money. There are many DIY videos and plans online, here are two to get them inspired.
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