Dining room inspiration

My house has a dining room with a corner fireplace like this one as many older houses do in Australia. It is still the natural original wood and I would consider painting it - but I feel that is quite a big decision though as it would never be the same again if I did. I also like the panelling idea. Food for thought and indecision !

Image: Katie Ridder via Desire to Inspire

Spanish Style

This dining room is in a house in Andalusia in Spain designed by Thomas Urquijo and was photographed by Tim Clinch for the book Spanish style. I do love a round table and the drama of the light fitting. Even though I really like the room I feel it is missing a splash of colour - but I suppose that could come from people and the food - especially in Spain.

Image: Tim Clinch

The dining room debate

To have a dedicated dining room or not - that is the question. They are like a guest room - great to have on occasions but largely unused most of the time. I don't like dead space in a house and so this room by Trevor Tondo got me thinking. The comfy seating around the table is inviting and you could see yourself sitting with a friend having a coffee or reading a book and when formal seating is called for swap the chairs around putting the comfy chairs to the side. Admittedly this is a rather luxe example and quite a big dining / library room but the idea has potential. I also like the tree wall paper.

Image: Trevor Tondo via Desire to Inspire

Black and white rugs

I must have a look on Design Sponge to see if Grace has listed black and white rugs as a mini-trend as I seem to be coming across them everywhere. This rug is from the IKEA Stockholm collection which has been really well received in print and on the blogs. Some of the collection has been around for a while but new elements seem to be arriving bit by bit here in Sydney. I usually go in the school holidays as, like his mother, my eldest loves a trip to IKEA so I'll be checking out the rest of the collection soon.

Images: IKEA, Roger Davies via Shelter

Black beauties

I hadn't really considered a black dresser until I came across these images. The first one with the black napery would make you feel like you were eating out at a cool restaurant each night. The martini glasses look very elegant in the bottom shot and I am also thinking that shapely white bowls and platters would look great displayed in a pure black cabinet.

Images: TineK, Pottery Barn via The House that AM Built

Clarissa Hulse

Clarissa Hulse www.clarissahulse.com is a British designer of fabrics, wallpapers and homewares. Many are based on a botanical theme and her colour palette ranges from very classic and beautiful naturals to a riot of colour and contrast.

Some of her designs are available here in Australia through The Selvedge Group. There is also a range of limited edition refurbished and reupholstered furniture available in the UK. My favourite is the blue chair in the first picture below.

Clarissa Hulse's own home has been widely featured in the media in Europe and I have included a few shots below. Love the study nook and the dining chairs (which look very like my favourites from Pols Potten). Finally I would also draw your attention to the colour palettes section of her website for more inspiration.

Danish styling

This room is styled by Danish interior stylist Sidsel Zachariassen. I saw it featured on Emma's Design Blogg a while back and kept it because of the very elegant sofa bench. It is hard to tell whether the frame is wood or metal but it is just gorgeous either way.

Image: Sidsel Zachariassen

Loving the Loveseat

I finally got to sit down and read some of my newer magazines this weekend and found a lot to enjoy and store here on Folder of Ideas. First up - via Inside Out, the fabulous Loveseat in black from Ercol. Ercol has released some of their popular classic furniture in black and they look great http://www.ercol.com/ . I have a bit of thing for nice benches and the Loveseat is so elegant it would grace any space. There is even a partly painted blue version for those still loving ombre.

Image: Ercol, Iconeye

Hare Chair

This is the Coral chair designed by Ton Haas and produced by Hare Chair. Its a hi-tech lightweight stackable plastic chair for indoors and out - and doesnt it look great ? Apparently it was also designed with affordability in mind but as its probably more a contract item I havent been able to find a retail price online. Its certainly a step up from most plastic outdoor chairs.

Image: www.harechair.com

SJP's dining room

A while back I won this book in a competition on Blogging Top Design and with all the hecticness of Christmas am only now getting to look through it properly. Its full of photos of the homes of glamourous / famous / stylish / all of the above people and provides lots of inspiration and ideas.



The dining room below is in Sarah Jessica Parkers home in the Hamptons. I've seen lots of dining settings with mismatched chairs but hadn't seen the all black approach before and it is very effective with the white table and splashes of colour. More from So Chic anon.

Image: William Waldron

Blogging Top Design Swarovksi Chandelier Challenge - the result

I am very delighted to share that I actually won this competition. This is all the more exciting as I am one of those people who never wins anything and my design was picked out by Margaret Russell the editor-in-chief of Elle Decor magazine in the US !

This is what Margaret said:

"I’ve chosen Sheila O’Meara’s formal dining room with the Light Sock chandelier as the winner of the Swarovski Chandelier challenge.It was terrific to see all of the entries—and I appreciated elements in each of them—but Sheila created the most professional and thoughtful presentation.

She chose to not include a proper rendering of the room, but her mood board and detailed written description provided a remarkably realistic portrayal of her space; it was very easy to imagine being inside her dining room.

Though the Light Sock was my least favorite of the light fixtures, Sheila conjured a dreamy space that suited the texture and scale of the piece. Her color palette is a tad somber, but she deftly described the layout of the room (including a fireplace; who doesn’t love a fireplace in a dining room?), her mix of textures, and even how she would set the table."

So a big thank you from me to Linda Merrill and the team at Blogging Top Design for organising the competition, to Margaret Russell for taking the time to look at my design and to everyone who has been in touch to say congratulations. You can see all the fabulous entries selected for the finals here at Blogging Top Design http://www.bloggingtopdesign.blogspot.com/

Blogging Top Design Swarovski Chandelier Challenge

A few weeks ago I read about this competition on Desire to Inspire and decided to enter. The brief was to design a room around one of Swarovski's Crystal Palace chandeliers. I chose the Light Sock. The Light Sock is basically a string bag filled with crystals. You can buy crystals by the lb or kg as you would anything else in a market and make it as big as you want and a light source sits in the middle of the crystals illuminating them. You can see more background on the competition at www.bloggingtopdesign.blogspot.com and see more about the Light Sock at www.dillerscofidio.com

I am thrilled to have had my design below selected for the finals but as you will see from the other entries face stiff competition in progressing further.

Click here to enlarge image

East Hampton dining table

Every so often I rip through a load of magazines and keep what I like. Today was one of those days and I spotted this table in Home Beautiful. Its an East Hampton table from Martha Stewart at Bernhardt and was available via Coco Republic in Australia but I am not sure that that is still the case. Anyway I really like the legs and the fact that its extendable. The house in Home Beautiful had it in a casual dining area where it looked great but I am not sure that it would stand up to my casual diners so I will keep looking.

Images: Martha Stewart

Favourite rooms - dining room

As I recall this dining area is in a private home although its restaurant like features - the high backed banquette, mirror and chairs might lead you to think otherwise. I love the fabric. Its hard to see from the picture below but the print is 'toile' style and there are different styles of red and pink ropes and knots looped through the duck egg blue circles. Unfortunately I don't have the rest of the article and don't know what it is. The chairs are interesting too - low backed but they look quite deep and comfortable. These lights are adjustable - you can see similar lights at www.thefrenchhouse.net

Images: Image Interiors, The French House

Favourite rooms: dining room

My favourite thing about this dining room is the chandelier. Chandeliers are tricky things and there is a very fine line between heavenly and horrendous. There is no debate in my mind that this one falls into the heavenly section.

Image: Homes and Gardens

Cicatrice De Luxe

I am not sure how I missed this for 10 years but there you go. The Cicatrice de luxe 5 chandelier designed by Philippe Starck has been around since 1998 (!!). Like many of his designs the concept is a bit crazy but I was taken by it - given my passion for crystal glasses and vases and their jewel like effects. I spotted this Cicatrice de luxe 5 in the recent copy of Vogue Living Australia and I think it looks pretty good in this city apartment. There are bigger and smaller versions - all pretty pricey. I would love to see one switched on in a darkened room as I think the reflections would be quite special.

Images: Vogue Living Australia, FLOS

Favourite rooms: kitchen

Here is another kitchen with lots of appeal - it has a pot and utensil rail ( see earlier post on my kitchen constants ) and I like the Arne Jacobsen egg chair in the corner providing a comfy spot for chatting to the cook. I also particularly like the choice of painting for the dining area. Apart from drawing the eye down the room very effectively, to my mind, the circles are also symbolic of circles of friends or family sitting around the table.

Image: Source not known (and apologies for the hole punch marks)

Favourite rooms: dining room

I think this is a very inviting dining room. The bench seating and the table are ultra simple and pared down but the beautiful chandelier balances them out nicely giving the room that touch of glamour and sense of occasion thats good to have in a dining room.

Image: The Sunday Times

Carina Sherlock Paris table

I love round tables and have many many images of beautiful round tables - old and new - in my 'folder of ideas' to share. This table by Carina Sherlock is quite compact (115cm) so ideal for a smaller room or (if you are lucky enough to have a great big entrance to your home) for a hallway that will accommodate a statement piece like this.

Image: Carina Sherlock

I am not sure if it is still available as on the current website http://www.carinasherlock.com.au/ it now only seems to be available in white - hopefully the black is not gone forever which would be a big pity if you ask me.

Funkis

I love when I spot something I like in a magazine, look it up online, and discover yet another great site with loads of great products to peruse. I will definitely be having a good long trawl through http://www.funkis.com/ but for today it is this wallpaper that caught my eye. Like many I am nervous about using the bold dramatic wallpapers that are around as it feels like such a big decision and commitment to a certain look. The wallpaper in the dining room shown is pajaros in I think grey/black from Funkis. What appeals to me is that the room still appears light and airy and the wallpaper enhances the room rather than defines it.

Image: Home Beautiful

Images: www.funkis.com