Living dining-room concepts: one terrific method to include a table into a living-room is to surround it with shelving, so the dining location of the space will still seem like part of the area. We like how Tamsin Saunders of Home & & Found has actually constructed a banquette into the bookshelves in the living-room of her London home.
Christopher Horwood
Over the previous couple of years, dining spaces have actually slowly been vanishing from our homes. As our resident misery auntie Fiona McKenzie Johnston describes in her action to the concern ‘Is the dining-room really dead?’, the housebuilding program of the 1950s led to smaller sized homes, with less, bigger spaces developed to be utilized as more basic living locations. More just recently, the eat-in kitchen area has actually shown extremely popular, with large table placed along with cooking and preparations locations for a less official however more convivial plan.
Where does this leave those with little cooking areas or no different kitchen area at all? Take city flats, for example, in which cooking areas are available in 2 primary types: a small galley or one wall or corner of an open-plan living location. And dining-room are hardly ever on the program, unless you want to compromise a valuable bed room or a peaceful research study. In such situations there is, naturally, no alternative however to consume in the living-room.
Thankfully, there are lots of smart living dining-room concepts out there to assist you manage this principle in design, from integrated banquettes, to versatile furnishings and concepts for ‘broken-plan’ set-ups. We have actually assembled our preferred examples to reveal you how to develop an elegant and useful area for dining and amusing, nevertheless huge or little your living-room may be.
The most trendy living dining-room concepts from the H&G archive
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Owen Gale1/12 A custom-made banquette is a clever service for an open-plan living-room as it increases flooring area and assists to make whatever feel less confined. It likewise brings an aspect softness– both texturally and acoustically– and sits more naturally next to the couches and chairs in a sitting space.
Hugh Leslie has actually stabilized functionality and design throughout this London flat, developing much of the furnishings himself and developing distinctive display screens of art work. In this corner of the living-room, a bespoke banquette– which is freestanding however has the appearance and fit of something integrated– is upholstered in a bouclé-type material that tones completely with the leather on the chairs. Comparable tones of warm orange appear in the materials and art in the remainder of the space, leading to an unified plan.
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Christopher Horwood2/12 In this sophisticated west London pied-à-terre developed by Artichoke, an integrated bench seat covered in buffalo suede by Edelman with Niki Jones cushions is teamed with a glass-topped table and And Things chairs. Pendant lights from Cox London guarantee the table is well lit at nights, which is constantly essential to think about in an open-plan area if you wish to prevent utilizing uncomplimentary overhead spotlights.
The internal window seen on the left here separates the dining location from the research study, without interfering with the circulation of light. On the other hand, out of sight on the other side of the living-room, an opening has actually been developed in the wall in between the sitting location and kitchen area to keep things unique yet linked.
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Christopher Horwood3/12 ‘ When you have actually got a huge area like this, it’s rather essential to break it up into more cosy, smaller sized locations,’ describes designer Virginia White in the Style Notes video on her estate flat in Hampstead. ‘We were attempting to develop library, dining-room, research study, sitting space, all in one location.’
As such, she placed a big travel chest (the edge of which is simply noticeable on the left here) to divide the sitting and dining locations and set up utilitarian-style bookshelves along the back wall. The outcome is an unwinded yet improved dining area-cum-library, with an Italian refectory table from Lorfords and Marcel Breuer chairs. Bookshelves are the perfect background as they include instantaneous visual interest and nobody is left gazing at a blank wall while they consume.
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Boz Gagovski4/12 This may not look like a dining location, however all is not as it appears in the innovative Hackney flat of designers Daniel Slowik and Benedict Foley. The coffee table in the sitting space is, in reality, an ingenious bespoke style, which can be transformed to dining height by including a section into the legs– just like a table with a detachable leaf.
The accompanying couch was likewise customized made, based upon one that Nancy Lancaster had at her home Ditchley Park; it sits at dining height to make the shift basic and comfy (it likewise has storage beneath and can even function as a slim single bed). Entirely, it is an outright victory of small-space style and a most exceptional and sophisticated option to stabilizing a tray on your knee while resting on a couch that is much unfathomable and squishy for consuming.
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Simon Brown5/12 Banda Home creator Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, who likewise occurs to be Princess Beatrice’s hubby, developed this one-bedroom house in what was formerly a single space of a Victorian home. The entire location is a testimony to smart, innovative style, however this dining alcove is especially stylish. Backed with antiqued mirror, it has a sense of light and area in spite of being under the mezzanine, and the mustard moleskin velour on the banquette includes a touch of high-end.
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Jake Curtis6/12 A wood banquette was the perfect option for Thea Speake’s west London flat, which is filled with the natural products and warm earthy tones that characterise much of her work. The tongue and groove back, which really mirrors three-quarter-height panelling in the corridor beyond, has actually been painted white to balance out the wood of the table and chairs. The seat pad and cushions in soft neutrals guarantee it is a comfy location to sit for long, leisurely meals.
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Sarah Griggs7/12 If an integrated banquette isn’t possible, or you ‘d choose to keep things more versatile, think about a freestanding bench seat. On this lower-ground flooring of a Chelsea terraced home developed by Tiffany Duggan, a snug causes an unwinded dining location, with a classy bench in a striking material. Like in Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi’s flat, a mirror has actually been used to bounce the light around the space, which is especially essential at lower-ground or basement level.
If you’re trying to find a freestanding dining bench for your living-room, have a look at OKA’s ‘Stafford’ style, which seats approximately 4 individuals and can be covered in among 49 materials.
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Christopher Horwood8/12 A various take on the banquette can be seen in this Victorian terraced home reimagined by James Mackie. Rather of a basic couch, an L-shaped banquette-style seat has actually been tucked into one corner, permitting more area for the table at the centre of the open-plan space. A Matthew Cox ‘Socle’ table with ‘Camembert’ chairs from Howe London base on a Tim Page Carpets carpet.
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Paul Massey9/12 When your dining location belongs to your living-room, it can be good to generate more colour, pattern and texture to assist connect whatever together. In Cath Kidston’s London home, the red of an Ellsworth Kelly print showed over chimneypiece is echoed by a Robert Stephenson carpet, while the Delft tiles in the fireplace tone with the antique African Ewe fabric on the French table.
A big carpet that mirrors the shape of the table like this is a valuable gadget if you are wanting to discreetly zone a dining location. Carpets under dining tables do divide viewpoint, however they can work extremely well in these circumstances– and they will avoid the motion of chairs from scratching the flooring or troubling downstairs neighbours in a flat.
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Eric Piasecki10/12 Though we typically associate living space dining locations with smaller sized homes, they can likewise make an effect– albeit in a various method– in homes with more generous percentages. They can supply an unwinded and casual option to a dining-room, while keeping a sense of separation from the kitchen area when amusing.
In this American nation home in with interiors by Steven Gambrel, the stunning Terrific Space– which has a skyrocketing pitched ceiling– has actually been divided into numerous convivial sitting locations with a big table at the back of the space. It has customized oak table, a button-back banquette and Rose Tarlow’s ‘Bee’ dining chairs in ‘Pista’ granite leather from Green Hides. The materials remain in comparable tones to the upholstery on the armchairs and couches, guaranteeing a calm sense of connection.
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Kensington Leverne11/12 A couch can really be a basic however efficient method to discreetly divide a sitting location from a dining location. By placing it with the back to the table, you can develop some separation without utilizing taller partitions that make you feel a little hemmed-in.
In this brand-new basement living location of a Georgian rental property in south London developed by Golden studio, a couch from David Seyfried serves as a barrier of sorts in between the sitting location and the ‘Embed’ oak table from NiX by Nicola Harding, which has an oval shape significance less severe lines and sharp corners. The classic dining chairs echo comparable pieces in the sitting location for a constant visual language– another secret to effective open-plan or ‘broken-plan’ style.
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Simon Brown12/12 If your living-room, dining-room and kitchen area are all in one quite little area, great style can go a long method. Among the most unforgettable examples in our archives is this small flat by Beata Heuman. Beata and her senior designer Fosca Mariani required to please the different needs of cooking, relaxing, working and captivating.
The technique they utilized was to set up a U-shaped kitchen area with a peninsula, which right away developed an extra surface area on which to serve food or usage as a bar. ‘It likewise offered a wall versus which to put a banquette, which was something the owners actually desired,’ states Beata. A bespoke style, it is covered in ‘Heritage’ leather in mustard from Yarwood and is teamed with an oak and powder-coated brass table and ‘Vilda 3’ bentwood chairs by Gemla.
