Dining Design

Dining is a lot more casual than it once was and formal dining rooms are not as common as they once were. Today's dining in the home has been replaced by meals or dining spaces within an open plan living space and alfresco dining, particularly in the Australian climate.

Lindy Evans from Windemere Interiors has some practical handy hints for dressing up a dining space in the home.

• A rug under a dining room table will define the space. Sometimes with open plan space that combine the dining with the lounge and kitchen, it can be hard to clearly separated the dining area. A practical, easy to clean rug or floor mat will create interest and texture as well as clearly separate the area.

• Sideboards and buffets create excellent storage and can also be a feature of the space. Storage for crockery, cutlery, placemats and napkins is always useful and can also be dressed up with photo frames, fruit bowls and other decoration.

• Mirrors or art are fantastic for dressing up a space. Particularly above a sideboard and combined with lighting, mirrors can be an interesting feature piece in a dining space.
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Inspiration Gallery

Festive Cheer at the Christmas Table

Bring a little festive cheer to the table at Christmas with some easy themes:

Traditional

Rich, scarlett reds and glimmery golds will add that traditional touch to your table. A simple red runner down the table with a gold reindeer centrepiece and some gold baubles is an easy way to dress up the table.

Australiana 

Fabulous if you're planning an outdoor Christmas setting, just grab a few things from your backyard and Bob's your uncle. Rectangles of hessian make rustic placemats and old tin with cuttings of gum tree branches makes fragrant and authentic centrepieces. Napkins tied with string with a bottle brush and gum nuts tucked in adds a finishing touch.

White Christmas

It doesn't snow here, but there's no reason you can't have a white Christmas. White everything is the order here, with a white tablecloth, runner, placemats and napkins. Add a sprinkling of glitter and some shimmery white baubles to reflect the falling snow.


Retro 

Yeah baby! Trip the plastic fantastic and decorate your Christmas table in high gloss, retro plastic in bold, festive colours. A vinyl tablecloth with shiny placemats makes a super retro canvas for brighly colour plastic plates and cutlery. Add some fake plastic holly and fake flowers and you are ready to par-tay!


On a final note for 2011, everyone at Windemere Interiors would like to wish you and your family a safe and happy holiday season.