DESIGN IDEAS - Fine dining

Dining areas should have a special ambience, whether for cosy lunches or elegant dinner parties

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CREATE JOY 

A dining space should bring joy to any mealtime, believes Kit Kemp, creative director of Firmdale Hotels. ‘In the apartment I designed in a house in Chelsea, the chairs, covered in a mix of ticking stripes by Robert Kime and Penny Morrison, are each distinguished by different coloured handle tops,’ says Kit. Above the table is a Buoy pendant by Akiko Hirai and Claire Norcross and on the wall is a painting by Andrew Johnston. ‘Don’t be too tempted to have every book standing up on a shelf,’ she adds. Horizontal stacks or leaning books diagonally adds more character. ‘For a touch of fun, a plaster lion’s head peeks out from the bookcase.’

SOUND DECISION

Something that’s not always considered when planning a dining room within a large space is acoustics. One of the fastest ways to undermine visual atmosphere is if sound bounces uncomfortably off lots of flat surfaces rendering conversations difficult. A clever way to address this is by using texture. Curtains are a time-honoured technique, but another trick is to use fabric walling. In this London project by Studio Peake, founder Sarah Peake opted for a linen wallpaper in terracotta. ‘We wanted to instil a warm, cosy atmosphere, and the weave and tone of the linen combines with the soft furnishings and hard finishes to create an understated but luxuriously comfortable room,’ she says.

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