Hi John,
Back from two weeks of Italian country architecture. Good for the soul. I can’t find the bedroom checklist you mentioned that you’ve posted. Where am I going wrong?

So on to dining rooms. I agree with the need to organise the table in sympathy (often this means in symmetry) with the surrounding features. I notice in the first example that the entry to the room lies on one of the axes of symmetry. In my dining room the door is off to the side and the circulation requirements mean that it makes it hard to place the table symmetrical with the fireplace which is central on the opposite wall. With the room the proportions and size it is I think it would be better to recognise the strip of space in front of the door is required for circulation and create an entry space for the room, and then have the fireplace central to a dining zone. I also have this problem in my living room (two rooms of a central hall in georgian house). In summary the circulation pattern forced by the door alters the functional symmertrical axis. Would draw picture but can’t find camera.

Another very important point about the dining room is its proximity to the kitchen. Georgian houses often have the kitchen on a different floor to the formal dining room. I’ve seen new houses here in Dublin built to the same plan. An example of people buying for trophy home being better understood by consumers than good design. Unless you’ve got the caterers in you want to be able to get the food to the table so if they are seperate rooms they should be next to each other.

In the examples to show dining spaces that didn’t work so well I found myself trying to solve the problems. Using bistro benches or round tables might help solve the problem of a tight alcove. Sliding doors or panels could be used to hide the open kitchen if desired. I was a bit stuck on the ‘corridor dining room’.

What lighting is best in dining rooms? Overhead or wall sconces or something else. I guess you should be able to dim the lighting for atmosphere and also plan for music.

Storage is also an important consideration. There might be a formal dinner service to house or perhaps the dining table is often used for homework etc so a fast easy way to schange uses is important.

Great to be back.

I don’t have much to add today. Only that I’d like to have enough room to expand a table for guests.

Hi John,

I’ve have so enjoyed lurking and drawing my floor plans, since I found your site. I beleive it was something I read in the Globe and Mail, please keep it up. It is both fun and educational!
Today’s lesson had me jumping up to measure around my dining table, it has always felt tight, 2’4″ to 2’6″. I was pleased to learn however that the bay window we have added to our 1967 bungalow and the planed placement of a second window are both centred on the dining area.
We have become a renovating nation and with resourses like your’s we can add to our home’s livibility and not make costly and regretable mistakes.
Will you at some point be discussing stairs? I want to install two 5 or 6 foot wide open treads in my back entry. Open treads would allow all of the 4 by 6 foot entry tile to be visable, thereby not causing it to appear any smaller than it actually is. I also think the kids could kick thier shoes under the treads theyby leaving foor space. Is this something that is feasable? I can wait for an answer if this will be covered at a future date.

Hopefully this works.

[img]2_scottb&a.JPG[/img]

I guess I do have more to add, afterall! I remembered that I’ve been in homes where one has to thread her way around the dining room table to go from kitchen to living room. In other words, the access to the kitchen from the living room was not just across the dining room but at the opposite end (like, kitty-corner). If one must go through the dining space, it should be in a hook or straight run at just one end of the room.

No bathroom doors coming off dining room (or easily visible, as James’s place had).

Try to have the messiest part of the kitchen (mostly the sink area) not visible to diners (but Meg already touched on that one in her post…)

Sorry everyone,

I hope this works. The Slow Home Webmaster helped me correct the error.

[img]slowhomedining.jpg[/img]

I don’t seem to have much to say about dining rooms, but extending the table did bring to mind one thing I saw on TV where the chandelier was in a track (?) and could move, at least in one direction, as the table expanded/contracted. Looked like a good idea.

I have always wanted a round dining room table, as I find they tend to work best for conversation. However, in my experience most dining rooms cannot accommodate a decent-size (eg. seating up to 8 people) round table. Even if the dining room starts out as a square, once you add a buffet along one wall , you are left with a rectangular area for the table and a round table won’t fit. Of course the other issue with round tables is that they are more difficult to expand and contract than rectangular tables.

As others have mentioned, our family has made very little use of a separate formal dining room, so we now have just one dining area that we use both daily for dinner and for entertaining, as well as an informal breakfast bar along the kitchen island for quick breakfasts and lunches. In this house there happens to be a wall between the dining area and the kitchen, but I don’t think that is essential in order to use the dining area for entertaining. In fact, my “dream house” floorplans typically feature one large square-shaped great room, with a kitchen in one corner, a dining area in an adjacent corner and a living area across the other half of the room centered on a large stone fireplace, with a vaulted timberframe ceiling and large windows on 3 sides (along the lines of the attached drawing). Although I have never lived in a house with this sort of great room, I think it would work well for both day-to-day living and entertaining, as the dining area would be integrated with the kitchen and living areas and able to expand as needed.

[img]GreatRoom.png[/img]

Louis, Thanks for posting the exact dimensions for seating people around a table. These details are of the utmost importance when planning a space for all possible uses.

I like multi-purpose spaces, especially dining/library tables. A wall of books behind a dining table suits me best.

Grace,
I appreciate your comment about dining as a multifunctional space. There are lots of ways in which families can use a table. It is important to stop thinking of the dining table as some precious piece that everyone is afraid to use and instead think of it as an essential piece of furniture that is used multiple times through the day (for eating, working, playing, etc).

Adding a bookcase to a formal dining room can transform it into a study or library as well as a place to eat.

Jim and Cat,
You bring up an excellent point about lighting. The right light is essential to set up the right atmosphere. Too much light and it feels like a dissecting table. An off center ceiling light can be really frustrating and happens all to often in cookie cutter houses because the location is usually thoughtlessly selected. We did design a house with a movable light fixture that could be recentered around an expandable table. A less expensive alternative (and the one that I use every night) is candles. There is something very nice about the ritual of using candles and the light they provide is beautiful – even for a family dinner in the middle of the week.

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