Dining Rooms To Die For: A Round-Up of Some Favorite Designer Spaces
What makes a perfect dining room? It depends on who you ask. Whether you’re a minimalist or you love layers and drama, you know a winning space when you see one. Formal dining rooms are generally spaces we can live without, which might explain why they can be so much fun to decorate. We've asked for submissions and selected some stellar dining spaces to set the mood for Thanksgiving, featuring the work of talented designers and homeowners in our area. Here they are.
Room 1: Modern Elegance
This challenge in this elegant space, interior designer Jennifer Smokler explains, was to take furniture pieces they'd designed for the client's previous home and create a room that felt exciting and different in their new home. Smokler accomplished this with custom made wall-covering by Gracie Studio, a long time favorite vendor of hers. And the iconic Branching Bubble chandelier by Lindsey Adelman - which is really a piece of art-work. The rosewood-top dining table has a glass and brass base and was custom made by Studio Van den Akker, as were the blue velvet upholstered chairs.
Smokler's words of wisdom: "Buy what you love, not what you think is 'right'. A mixture of styles, materials, and high/low always makes the best rooms." We also asked for her favorite local shops to buy gifts and accessories. She loves Bungalow and The Antique and Artisan Gallery. Thank you Jen!
Design by: Jennifer Smokler Interiors
Photo Credit: Stacy Bass Photo
Room 2: Rustic Refinement
Homeowner Shaunna Prissert has lovingly, stunningly renovated this 1790s farmhouse in Weston, CT into a rustic modern masterpiece. She kept the dining room simple to let the architectural details shine. The table is by @sawkillecompany. The rug is #Tuareg, these rugs are hand-made from reed and leather.
Designed by: Shaunna Prissert
Photo Credit: @nicolefranzen (can link to instagram)
Room 3: Mid-Century Bold
We break for #midcentury modern and this dining room is pretty much the dream. Connecticut-based D2 Interieurs (Denise Davies) renovated this 1950s home in Westport for a local artist and his wife. Her challenge was to keep the home’s mid-century roots intact, without having the space feel cliche. To start, Davies sand-blasted the original stone back to life. Davies used the stone as a neutral backdrop for minimal decor and soft, earthy shapes and colors. The bold blue Saarinen chairs and table provide some contrast with the stone walls, steps and floor. In order to avoid “mid-century overload,” she explains, “we designed a custom rug, hung vintage artwork and installed a multicolored chandelier that tied all the colors together.” Hanging the fixture proved to be another challenge, because she had to work around an existing skylight, but it all worked out to complete this amazing space.
The custom rug is designed by D2 Interieurs. The table is Saarinen for Knoll with walnut top and the chairs are also Saarinen for Knoll.
Davie’s design tip: go for tables with pedestal bases or recessed legs - that way you can fit more chairs comfortably around the table. Post-Covid, Davies says she appreciates designing functional, meaningful dining environments more than ever. This one is all that, and so much fun to look at too.
Designer: Denise Davies, D2 Interieurs / @d2interieurs
Contractor: Marek Bil, Old World Construction
Photo Credit: George Ross
Room 4: Classically Pretty
This Upper East Side apartment was a pre-war Classic Six that hadn't been touched in 60 years. Interior Designer Elizabeth Bolognino was tasked with an overhaul. She gutted it to the studs doing a complete interior reno and interior decoration. One of her goals was to bring more light into the kitchen, so she decided to replicate the exterior sash window on the inside. This also allowed the clients a viewpoint from dining to kitchen to keep an eye on the little ones!
And that soft pink ceiling: Bolognino says, “The clients let me lacquer their ceiling to give it a special twist.” The ceiling, the painting, the windows, the blue butler’s… we love it all. Dying right on the herringbone floor.
The solid wood table is from www.BDDW.com, their iconic wishbone base in brass. It’s paired with vintage Sergio Rodrigues dining chairs.
Room 5: Moody Brooklyn Vibes
Elana Tenenbaum Cline - Founder and Creative Director of www.carta-creatives.com and her husband Daniel Cline made the leap from Brooklyn to Fairfield, CT and landed in a center hall colonial that felt like a flashback to 1988. They renovated, swapped out lighting, and painted most walls white. But, “if the rest of the house is casual, the dining room is Black-tie,” according to Cline, who dished the deets with MyDesignport:
“For the dining room, we knew it was a ‘once in a while’ room for dinner parties and we wanted to evoke a downtown NYC/Brooklyn restaurant, like Cecconis or Aurora, which have dark moody vibes with fabulous lighting.” As for the Farrow & Ball “Tar” walls Cline explains she was leaning towards a dark green but wanted to try something a little different: “To be honest, it was nerve wracking (especially because we painted the ceilings and trim the same color) but couldn’t be happier with the results.” But that fabulous chandelier from Circa Lighting is everything. Cline says “our ceilings are low, so the transparency of the glass doesn’t make it feel obscenely large, but the sheer number of orbs fill out the space beautifully and adds drama.”
The table and chairs are Cline’s parents from 1985. “Having something passed down from the home I grew up in to the home I’ve built with my family is so sentimental.” Want to see more? Check the full-write up of this story in the Sunday New York Times .
Photography by Kyle J Caldwell
Room 6: Family Ready in Darien
Interior Designer Merrin Jones www.merrinjonesinteriors.com tells MyDesignport: "An open floorpan can be tricky but by adding lighting and changing door swings we were able to map out a dining room that seats ten and the best part - everything is performance including the rug! So no worries about any red wine being spilled this Thanksgiving. Our fav part? Our clients agreed to our triple mixed metal pendants. We are obsessed!!!"
So are we! This space is so beautiful and inviting. What a lucky family!
The rug is from Loioi Rugs. The dining chairs are from Arhaus.
The lighting is by Regina Andrew and the Drapes are from Chris Upholstery in Norwalk.
Photo by: Julia D’Agostino @juliadags
Room 7: The Morning After, Room for Breakfast
Even after the main meal is over, breakfast and lunch need to be served on Thanksgiving weekend too! This home has a larger, formal dining room, so this space is used for casual meals. The homeowners recently moved from Essex to Westport to be near their grandchild. They worked with long-time interior designer Andrea Cross of Axel Interiors to turn this “vanilla” room into cream.
Cross tells Designport, “This room has only a handful of elements, it is the details that make it successful. The pieces are handmade, including the furniture, lighting and rug. The slight irregularities from the maker’s hand impart a richness that cannot be replicated in machine-made goods. These furnishings are paired with antique accessories, likewise handcrafted, but additionally featuring patina and some light wear that comes with age. The addition of textiles (flat weave carpet and drapery panels) have really brought warmth to the space.” We couldn’t agree more!
The paint is Benjamin Moore’s Mountain Peak White, OC-121 Cross’s “go to” cream: “especially with clients who are more traditional or own antiques.”
The custom designed, Swedish inspired rug is from Rug & Kilim. The table, also custom, is from @prospecthillhome The Welsh dresser is an antique reproduction from Dr. Dimes.The light fixture is from Studio Steel, a local maker in Washington, CT.
The window panels are embroidered fabric from @vaughandesigns
And the icing on the cake, the creamware, faience and copper decorations are a collection assembled by the designer, many pieces sourced from Fox Glove Antiques.
Designed by: Axel Interiors
Photo credit: MaryEllen Hendricks @thinplacesproject
Thank you for indulging with us in Dining Rooms to Die For. Which is your favorite design? Drop us a note in the comments!
