There are those who would trade anything to have a separate dining room, others pooh-pooh the one they have as a wasted bit of space and shut the door.

The first group has nothing to envy since there are myriad ways to forge comfortable, part-time dining areas in other rooms. The naysayers can take heart, too. With some adjustments, their forlorn rooms can be made as satisfying as mom’s home cooking.

Any room with a few square feet to spare such as family rooms and dens — particularly those lined with books or French doors — make spectacular mealtime settings. Position a table to one side of the room, figuring about 8 square feet for a table for 4, plus around 36 inches for the chair pull-out. Or hire a carpenter to build a stationary bench flush against the wall. Place a skinny pine table in front and ladder-back chairs opposite.

Tuck a drop-leaf table that’s ready to do double duty in a spacious entry hall. One moment it’s a hall table, the next it seats special guests. The round table beside the family room sofa? A romantic oasis. Cover the table with a colored cloth, pull up some seats, and light the fire.

Diverse chair styles add drama: wing chairs, love seats, and even ottomans (as long as they roll). Flexible dining should be as easy as pie. Collect benches that slide or feather-light wicker chairs to nestle up to a salvaged garden table.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 at 8:51 am and is filed under Interior Design, Home Design, Art Design, Home Improvement, Dining rooms. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.