Dining space

WHETHER YOURS IS A SEPARATE ROOM OR MULTIFUNCTIONAL SPACE, A DINING ROOM CAN BE TRICKY TO GET JUST RIGHT. WE ASKED OUR EXPERTS TO SHARE THEIR DESIGN ADVICE

- JENNIFER MORGAN

FESTIVE COLOUR Add touches of ruby red for a Christmas dining scheme that oozes grown-up glamour. Motion dining chairs, £199 for two; Wellington rug in Teal, £120; Black Ball wall mirror, £200, all John Lewis & Partners

Once purely for ‘entertaining’, today’s dining room can now fluctuate between playroom, home offie and snug. As many of us look forward to having friends and family over, how can we make more of our dining space? We asked our experts...

THE TRADITIONAL DINING ROOM

‘We are using our spaces in more of a multifunctional fashion, rather than just for a singular activity, so I don’t think the traditional dining room is as popular as it was,’ says interior designer Rukmini Patel. Yet Emma-Louise Marston of Neptune believes people still want a separate dining room. ‘I think we’re looking for a defined space to entertain, and being in the dining room for dinner still feels like an event,’ she says. ‘It stops work bleeding into home life.’

If your dining room needs to multi-task, then Emma-Louise advises: ‘It’s crucial that you put your offie away for the evening. Have a workstation cabinet that you can pop the laptop and paperwork into. Out of sight means you won’t be tempted to go back and “do a little more” after eating.’ Both Rukmini and Emma-Louise agree on adding a few special touches to make a multi-use space work for dining. ‘Add a tablecloth to change the look of your table from “work desk”,’ says Rukmini. ‘It’s as if you are telling your brain about the change of activity.’

ZONE THE SPACE