Fall is in the air with crisp cool air and the leaves beginning their beautiful color transformations. It’s a season of preparation for holidays and winter weather. Fall festivals provide us with the opportunity to get outside and enjoy nature before it gets too cold.
Preparations on our homes interiors include getting ready to receive guests for holiday celebrations. The rooms to focus on are those that will be used for these gala events. Organizing the kitchen is important to create wonderful holiday meals, but the dining room is also an important component to serve the meals.
Dining rooms can be formal, informal, and multi-functional. Sometimes this room is only used for holiday celebrations. Other folks have a space issue and may use it as an office or crafting at times when it’s not being used for meal time. Get creative and think about your lifestyle and the different ways to make your dining room multi-functional to get the most of this prime real estate.
Whether you use your dining room just for meal time gatherings, or multiple functions, there are 2 main components to consider; storage and a surface. Tools for the activities implemented in this room need to be stored here where you will use them. A surface is also required for dining as well as for office tasks or crafting.
Storage – Think about the items you will use for the functions of your dining room
Fine dining: You may have a set of china and silver that you use for special occasions. A china cabinet in your dining room works nicely to display your china and typically has drawers to hold silver and table linens. A buffet will hold these tools as well but doesn’t have the means to put them on display.
Office/crafting: There are many options for a mobile office or to hold crafting supplies. My favorite is a rolling cart. Rolling carts come in a variety of styles. Some have 2 drawers to hold hanging files. This style could be just what you need to pay household bills or work from home. You could put hanging files in the bottom drawer and supplies in the top drawer. Other styles have multiple drawers to organize crafting supplies. The great thing about rolling carts is that you can easily move them around. Keep them in the dining room when you are using them, and move them to another room when company comes to celebrate holidays.
Reading area: If you are an avid reader, a nice comfy chair and bookcases, or shelves to store your books makes for a great reading area. Built in shelves don’t take up a lot of space and can store books up and away from the traffic of the room.
Surface – Think about how you will use the surface in this room
A dining room table and chairs work nicely as a work surface for various activities in this room. Informal or formal, consider the activities you will use on this table and the available space before you make your purchase. If you go the formal route, or have an existing formal dining room set, consider getting surface protection such as table pads or a heavy duty table cloth if you will be using it for crafting to keep it looking good.
How do you use your dining room?
