We are working on several new whole-home renovations this spring – the kind when a family digs in and says, “This is our home for the foreseeable future; let’s invest and get it right for how we live.” These projects are generally so fun because folks really understand how their current home works for them, and how it needs to shift to be even better, and fixing long-standing pain points in homes is so satisfying for us – and of course the homeowner.
This dining room can be a conundrum. Photo Credit: Kristi Hughes Photography.
A common conundrum is the dining room – as we know, many families use this space infrequently, and as they think about how they want to reformat the home’s layout during the renovation that room seems better allocated to office, living or entertaining.
But some careful planning and decision making on lighting can mean all the difference. Photo Credit: Kristi Hughes Photography.
All good until we think about the 2-3 times a year we really want to get 12 folks around a long table for a big meal. Enter the flex room. We’ve talked about this before, and now it’s coming up again in our conversations with our new renovation clients.
In the luxury row home we recently revealed, we created another version of a flexible dining room. While this room keeps a traditional dining table and buffet, we nixed a single fixture over the table and went with small-scale flush mount lighting.
Small-scale flush mount lighting can support a more flexible dining room than a traditional single fixture over the table can. Photo Credit: Kristi Hughes Photography.
This essentially allows our client to reposition or shrink the dining table and chairs without having to deal with a centered light fixture. We placed a pair of comfy swivel chairs at the far end of the room, along with a reading lamp – a nice spot to grab a cozy chat with a friend during a party or take in the south-facing windows. The opportunity to sit in the room without having to be at the formal dining table is an invitation into a space that otherwise folks might just walk by - and bonus that the wine room is right there too!
The dining room now accommodates a climate-controlled wine room. Photo Credit: Kristi Hughes Photography.
A dining room decision like the flush mount lighting made room for an extra seating area. Photo Credit: Kristi Hughes Photography.
The flexible dining room is just another reminder that we can use our homes how they best work for us.