Leather bar stools are one more element you can add to your home bar that makes it feel closer to the real thing. For a wide variety of décor themes, adding leather bar stools could be the finishing touch that takes your space from average to extraordinary.

If you love leather and you love to entertain at home, this seating option is a great choice for any bar area, be it a cocktail bar in your living room or a breakfast bar off your kitchen. Browse with the design style and height specifications you prefer to narrow your search.

Kush Furniture Summerland Double Curio

Choose from a surprisingly diverse selection of corner curio cabinets with built-in lighting and you’ll have a prominent place for all those small collectibles you want to draw attention to.

Pulaski Golden Oak II 72″ Corner Curio Cabinet

Add a wall-mounted curio cabinet to an urban apartment or other tight spot where floor space is already spoken for. A smaller wall-mounted cabinet is also a great supplement to other wood finish curio cabinets.

Butler Specialty Wall Curio in Plantation Cherry Finish

Pair your modern aluminum, steel, or other metal chairs with these glass and metal tables. Choose the size and style that fit your life.

Zuo Galaxy Casual Dining Table with Glass Top

ItalModern Hadi Dining Table with 42 Inch Glass Top

Winsome Spectrum Bistro/Tea Casual Dining Table in Black and Chrome Finish

ItalModern Jerry White Fibreglass Dining Table with 32 Inch Glass Top

ItalModern Camy Classic Dining Side Chair in Matte Aluminum

Regal Rochester Metal Patio Arm Chair

ItalModern Hillary Stacking Polished Indoor or Outdoor Arm Chair

ItalModern Preston Stacking Side Chair

For many home décor aficionados, that room is the dining room. What better opportunity to showcase your interpretation of elegance, sophistication, and comfort. Does that sound like you? Well then, blog about it!

If you’ve got a blog, design-related or otherwise, tell us about your dream dining room and link to diningfurniture.com for your chance to win $100 gift certificate from Cymax Stores.

What’s your personal design style? Is it all about the dining set or will you focus equally on your walls and floors? Tell us what the dining room of your dreams will look like.

Opulent & Traditional Dining Room?

Modern & Minimalist Dining Set?

Retro-Inspired Table & Chairs ?

Blog about the dining room of your dreams and comment here with a link to your blog post. It’s a simple as that. Tweet about it to your heart’s content for more bonus entries.

• Write a blog post that mentions diningfurniture.com. Share the link to your post in a comment here on Furniture and Design Ideas
  = 2 entries
• Tweet a link to your post using the hashtag #diningfurniture
  = 1 entry per tweet

We’ll be selecting a winner on April 30th, 2011. The winning blog entry will be announced here on Furniture and Design Ideas. So blog soon and tweet often!

Open Concept Dining

A dining room, whether it’s formal or informal, generally has an intimate feel about it because the space has walls; the intimacy factor can be further enhanced by the wall color that is chosen for the dining room. In a loft apartment you will not have those options since your dining set and any other dining furniture you select for the dining area will be out in the open. Here are a few ways to create a cozy atmosphere for a loft dining “room”:

• Put an area rug on the floor
• If there is no ambient lighting directly above the dining table, add a pendant or a chandelier that is on a dimmer switch
• Feature a picture or print, especially if your dining furniture will be opposite a wide expanse of wall, that projects an intimate or cozy ambiance

Contemporary Loft Dining Furniture

The most important aspect about a loft dining area is to choose a dining set that makes a statement. It will be the focal point of the loft space as a whole rather than just the immediate dining area.

You don’t necessarily have to create walls, but if you would like to project a definitive end of the dining zone and the beginning of the next functional space, position a sideboard, buffet or credenza in such a way that it acts as a boundary between the two.

There are no hard and fast rules; there is no reason why you can’t have more than one eating area. While the main dining area can stand in for the formal dining room of a house or condominium, you could place counter stools around a kitchen island or add a gathering table at the opposite end of the loft as a place to have breakfast or a casual meal.

Thanks for joining me for this 3-part Contemporary Loft Furniture Ideas series. Come back next week when I will begin a new 3-part discussion on how to design a games room for your family.

Making the Dining Room Look Larger

Because the one thing a small dining room needs is the one thing it can’t have, there are ways to making it look larger:

• Arrange your dining set as far from the side walls as possible; this will prevent your dining furniture from appearing cramped in the space
• Try to keep the area into your dining room clutter and obstacle free; by blending the room’s “boundary” line, it gives the impression that the room is bigger than it really is
• Add a mirror to the décor; preferably place it across from the doorway or a window – this will make the room look larger because the mirror “moves” light around the space
• Let as much light into the room as possible; keep window treatments streamlined and choose lighter fabrics
• Select a dining set that includes seating that fits perfectly underneath the table

Choosing the “Right” Dining Table

Ideally, if you have enough room to work with, the dining table should “echo” the shape of the room. For example, when you’re decorating a dining room that is long and narrow, select a rectangular dining table; where the walls are all the same width, pick a square table. However, these two can take up a lot of room. For a space-challenged room, choose a round pedestal table. Because the table doesn’t have legs so to speak, you will be able to easily fit one or two additional chairs when hosting a holiday dinner.

Choosing the “Right” Dining Chairs

When buying dining furniture for a smaller sized room, give some thought to the dining chairs you choose to accompany your dining table. Best case scenario – you should go armless. While dining chairs with arms are indeed a little more comfortable, they do tend to take up more space than side chairs without arms. Another thing to keep in mind, is to pick a chair design that has straight legs as opposed to tapered or sabre. This will free up a little more floor space between the wall and your dining table.

Paint Yourself a New Room

In terms of redecorating, painting is still one of the cheapest ways to freshen up a room. Especially if you look for paint bargains, often you can find good deals on mixing mishaps (the color is perfectly good; it’s just not the color the person wanted); discontinued colors; etc. You can choose to paint all of the walls the same color or just paint one accent wall a shade that complements or is brighter than the current wall color in the dining room.

Replace the Fabrics

If you can’t replace the furniture in the room, replace the fabrics instead. You can re-upholster the dining chairs for a fraction of the cost of new dining furniture. Another option is to give your dining set an entirely new look with slipcovers. A new window treatment is like a can of paint – it can really impact the overall look of your dining room and it won’t cost much if you go bargain hunting for a deal. And don’t underestimate the power of a new table runner or new table linens. A matching placemat and napkin set will not only spruce up your dining table, it will make your family feel special.

Buy New but be Selective

Maybe it’s not in the budget for an entirely new dining set, but how about some new dining chairs? Or if the chairs are still serviceable maybe it’s more of a priority to get a new dining table. Another simple way to improve the look of your dining room is to add a piece of accent furniture such as a buffet or a bakers rack that will be an additional focal point.

Color and Texture

Because of the many cultural influences that affected life in the British Colonies, colors were rich and vibrant. But they are usually reserved for the fabrics of upholstered dining room furniture, curtains, area rugs and accessories. Using a variety of bold animal prints and brightly colored fabrics is what makes this style so visually textured and exciting.

When decorating a British Colonial style dining room, color palettes for the walls are quieter and more subtle. Select muted shades of berry, forest, sky or sea. Cool-hued pale yellows and soft reds are also ideal. Should you choose to go the neutral route, use deeper shades as opposed to lighter ones to avoid a “washed out” look.

British Colonial Style Dining Furniture

When British subjects were sent on behalf of Queen Victoria to conduct business, govern territories or protect the empire’s interests in colonial regions like the West Indies, India and East Africa, they of course entertained royals, heads of state and prominent military leaders. Though the dining room or banquet area was dressed to impress, British Colonial dining furniture displayed more relaxed, regional influences while still retaining the formal beauty and dignity of Victorian furnishings.

British Colonial style dining room furniture, usually made from tropical woods like ebony, mahogany and teak is distinguished by rich finishes, either polished or distressed. Typical features of British Colonial style dining tables and dining chairs are curvaceous profiles, sweeping curved lines and relaxed decorative detail. Chair backs, tabletops or tables often had cane, rattan or bamboo insets. Decorative detail could include tropical motifs like shells, botanicals and animal prints. These features would also apply to other dining furniture pieces like buffets and sideboards.

Accessorizing British Colonial Style

It might seem counter-intuitive, but heavier fabrics were used for curtains, essentially to keep out the tropical heat. Swag curtains with ornate valances were commonly used for window treatments while fabrics used for the curtains often included gold thread while tie-backs were made of braided and/or tasseled cords. Another option is to select shutters – they were also a popular way in British Colonies to keep out the heat and the damaging effects of the sun.

British Colonial style dining room accessories could include heavy candlesticks made of wood or brass placed on the dining table or the buffet; a sisal area rug underneath the dining set; hurricane lamps or hurricane style sconces; one or two potted plants in oversized Oriental ceramic planters, or tall case goods like a china cabinet or a curio cabinet.

Come back next Friday when I start a new 3-part style series called Contemporary Loft Furniture Ideas.

Hi there! I have been in my new town home approaching two years in May – I’m happy with the design of all my space but remain stumped with my living room-dining room combo.  I have no idea what will fit and where to put it!!!!! I’ve attached the floor plan a few pics of my space. Any recommendations of the pieces and sizes and placement of my living room and dining furniture would go a loooong way! Thanks a million!

Design Answer

What a great townhouse this is! Sometimes that happens; we get stuck on a certain room that just won’t fall into place. I think the stumbling block, if you will, is the difficulty of creating a focal point in an open concept space.

Whenever deciding what goes where, get out your tape measure! Measuring the dining area separately from the living room space will help you visualize how much room you have to work with. I would suggest that you define these areas so that they are visually separate from each other in one or a combination of the following ways:

• choose an area rug for the dining room or the living area
• choose different area rugs for the dining and living rooms
• different color schemes for each space; the colors could be complementary (tranquil) or contrasting (bold) depending on the mood you would like to create
• arrange the furniture in such a way that it will form “boundary lines” between one space and the other; for example, chairs or a couch in the living area would have their backs to the dining room

Regarding the dining room, in the floor plan it looks as though that they have placed the buffet against the long wall (the one shared by the living area). I would try placing it on the wall in between the family room and kitchen; measure the area and then find a contemporary style buffet like the Coaster Stanton Contemporary Server and then centering the dining table and chairs parallel to the buffet. I would find a big print, painting or some form of wall art to go on the dining/living area wall.

Regarding the living room, I would start with that gorgeous accent chair that is now in the family room and put in the right hand corner when facing the entryway; perhaps a low storage console could go underneath the window. You’ll have to see how it works in the space, but I would go for smaller sized seating such as two loveseats perpendicular to each other. I would place one of the loveseats opposite the accent chair (in line with the doorway so that you don’t impede traffic flow). Another option is to replace the loveseat that will be facing the window with a pair of club chairs with an occasional or accent table in the middle. Then on the shared wall, the one that will have the accent chair in the corner, perhaps a small entertainment center or electric fireplace – something that will give the space “focus” or “purpose.”

Thanks for writing in! Let me know how it turns out.