A different dining room idea would be to cast aside the room you normally eat in and locate it elsewhere.
Dining rooms used to be more formal because the preparation of food was more formal. Families gathered at the dining table to discuss the day's events. Those more formal days of dining room use are disappearing with each passing year. Today's dining table is just as likely to house a computer as it is to be used for serving a full course meal. Take a chance on doing something different with your dining room that takes into account the evolving nature of the room itself.
Offbeat Decorating
Many times a dining area is not utilized as often as it could because it just isn't a very exciting place to be. Consider taking a chance on a different kind of design by going with an outlandish paint scheme or wallpaper that would be overpowering in a larger room. If you enjoy the surrounding, you are more likely to use the room. Make a vibrant and even offbeat decorating statement utilizing the confined space of the average dining room. Think of raised pattern wallpaper or velvet wall covering or a hand-painted mural.
Add a Window
Knock out a wall in the dining area and install a bay, bow or greenhouse window. The greenhouse could be a place where you raise your own herbs and spices. The bay or bow window could be a spot for decorating with larger plants, or you could install a cabinet area beneath that houses your plates, silverware and glasses.
Indoor/Outdoor Dining Area
Another idea that involves knocking out the wall means pushing your dining room into the outdoors. Extend the dining area with a nook that is placed outdoors in a screened area. This gives you the nightly option of choosing to dine indoors or moving your dinner plans outside. Install a waterfall in the yard so that outdoor dining is accompanied by the serene sounds of gently running water.
Recessed Pin Spotlights
Get rid of that cheaply manufactured chandelier that was there when you bought the house, and light your dining room with ceiling-recessed pin spotlights. This type of lighting provides a more dramatic effect than the standard overhead fixture. Wire a dimmer to the recessed lighting so that you can alter the mood from romantic to family-friendly get-togethers involving the whole brood.
Trading Spaces
Consider moving your dining room to another area of the house than the area that the architect designed. Use the proximity of the dining area to the living room to extend the functions of that room. Use an extra room as a formal dining area rather than a spare bedroom. The closet area can be pressed into service to hold your dishes, silverware and other dining essentials. Creating a formal, separate dining area may just create a need for more formal dining rites that the whole family begins to look forward to each night. Cast away the television and get back to the ideals of dining time as family time.
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