Interior designer Lanassir Lawes has been creating a dining space for a young family
IT IS always a busy time of year for us as now is the time that we put together the plans for spring projects that may involve disruption to normal life, such as creating open plan living spaces and changing windows for bi-fold doors to improve the lifestyle factor of the property - these are really big trends at the moment.
For the past few months we have been working with a young couple on their new family home that has a large open plan living space with an almost new cream gloss kitchen, a tiled floor and glass sliding doors that run the length of the room.
Family spaces incorporating the kitchen can feel harsh due to the multiple hard surfaces, but this can be overcome by mixing in lots of different textures on the furniture. The previous owner had a glass dining table and leather chairs but for my clients, with three young children, this was going to be the heart of the home and needed to feel warm and family orientated. The main focus of the room is the dining table, big enough to seat 10 and also practical for the family to use on a daily basis. Having measured the space, I then designed the table to fit and had the design made by our local furniture-makers in solid oak. The distressed finish was selected to add character to the room and is also easy to maintain.
Choosing dining chairs to go with a table can be tricky, our client had her heart set on light coloured chairs. Personally I prefer to sit on fully upholstered chairs as they tend to be more comfortable, but with young children this just wasn’t a practical option. Wooden or leather covered chairs are easy to wipe down but again they are cold hard surfaces. I suggested the Lloyd Loom chairs as they add another texture to the room while being comfortable and can be cleaned with ease.
The bar stools that we had commissioned are fabric covered with a tough chenille fabric on the seat and a delicate fabric on the back; they work really well in the room.
Lighting over a dining table is an important design feature as it shows you have carefully planned the position of your table, and I feel it is important that the light is spread the length of the table with more than one fitting if the table is particularly long.
Different sections of a large room can be connected by repetition, such as using the same light above the breakfast bar as the dining table, and cushions on the sofa in the same fabric as the bar stools. The neutral colour palette was selected as a calming backdrop for busy family life.
