We're going to have a dining room!!

[Erica in PA]

We have been trying to figure out how to make our apartment more comfortable for guests, because we love having friends over, but don't do so as often as we'd like due to space limitations. The other day it occurred to me that we really don't *use* our school room, except to store school stuff. We do schoolwork in the kitchen, living room, and in the kids' bedrooms. So we're going to make our school room into a dining room! I am so excited!!

 

But I really need some help with decorating/planning how to organize this room. I'm totally clueless about things like that. It's a small room, maybe 10x10 ft?, with just one window in the middle of one wall, and I don't want guests to feel closed in, like they're sitting in a box. Any ideas for making a small dining room feel comfortable? We are planning to get a dining room table that can fit 10 people when leaves are put in, 6 people without, and also a wooden hutch where we can store school stuff. We also have a long side table that can go against the wall, with storage underneath. What else should we have in that room?

 

We will still plan on using the room for school work as well, and for our family to eat dinner, play games, etc. We don't have the space for a formal dining room that is only used for guests. So it needs to be useful and comfortable for our family as well.

 

Any suggestions would be most appreciated!

[LoriM]

I would think that a large mirror on one wall (opposite the window) would add light and make the room feel larger.

 

Another alternative would be painting effects. I striped my dining room, which makes the room feel taller (and so, bigger).

 

I love to have guests, so it all sounds like a good idea to me! :)

[Erica in PA]

I would think that a large mirror on one wall (opposite the window) would add light and make the room feel larger.

 

Another alternative would be painting effects. I striped my dining room, which makes the room feel taller (and so, bigger).

 

I love to have guests, so it all sounds like a good idea to me! :)

 

Thanks, Lori! A mirror is a great idea!! I think that would help with lighting in the room, because it is a little dreary right now. As far as stripes go, we aren't allowed to paint in our apartment, but I did see a cool idea online that used masking tape as beige stripes on the wall. It sounds tacky, but it looks pretty good to me. And you're right, I think it would make the room look taller (the ceiling is pretty low, which adds to the boxed-in efect). I'm not sure if I could pull off getting those stripes straight, though!

Here's what it looked like: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/images/uploads/3-20-hakarl-dining.jpg

 

Thanks again!

[Ferdie]

Sounds like a great idea.

 

Before you buy your furniture you might want to put some masking tape on the floor to mark out where the pieces will go. Our previous dining room was about that big and it was too crowded with a hutch and side table. Our guests could barely pull their chairs out. We ended up moving the side table to the living area.

 

I love the idea of the mirror to bring in light and I would add some plants or decor to the top of the hutch.

[Erica in PA]

Sounds like a great idea.

 

Before you buy your furniture you might want to put some masking tape on the floor to mark out where the pieces will go. Our previous dining room was about that big and it was too crowded with a hutch and side table. Our guests could barely pull their chairs out. We ended up moving the side table to the living area.

 

I love the idea of the mirror to bring in light and I would add some plants or decor to the top of the hutch.

 

Good idea, Ferdie! I definitely don't want guests to feel crowded at the table. I hope that a hutch will fit in there, to keep our school stuff in, but only if it will fit comfortably.