Dramatic Dining - Design Tip + Trick

William Yeoward - Entertaining

Photography: Paul Ryan

Yeoward's new book has been released just in time to creatively, devise your dining table.

"William Yeoward, charms, delights, and inspires in his latest paean to the art of tablescape" Veranda

I love this time of year, following Halloween I always begin to develop the holiday bug.. On Sunday afternoons you can often find me purchasing, devouring and tearing up every design magazine sold on the news stand (besides the 8 or so I already receive) for inspirational decorating and cooking ideas....So over the next few weeks you are likely to see a number of posts on the subject!!

I began my dining room discussion with a "Look Book" peek at chairs. Dining rooms (areas) can be transformed into wonderfully dramatic spaces. Here are a few tips to get you started.

Dining Design Tips:

1. Don't be afraid to manipulate scale!!

Oversized (being the key word) light fixtures + gorgeous floral arrangements are the perfect way to bring a space to life!! Clients often think I'm crazy when I present a large scale chandelier/pendant, but as soon as it's installed they thank me for taking the risk.

2. Display in mass or (en masse): don't just use a few of an item - Group a number of vases, plates, and candles, this creates a grand gesture; just ensure there is a unifying thread between them (the same or similar color family is the perfect example of a unifying thread)

3. Vary texture among your elements: Contrast is key, pair matte + shiny, rough + smooth, old + new, ornate + clean

Over the weekend, I was flipping through December's 2008 issue of Veranda - Very Dramatic (per usual) - Design diva, Mary McDonald's enormous foyer was featured (would love to see the rest of her 10,000 sq. foot home), Below are photographs of her elegant dining room.

Check back later this week for the rest of the shoot featuring M.M.'s home.

Mary McDonald
Veranda, Dec. 2008

Love her chosen color contrast, of deep blue/grey and white.



Love the oversized pendant + wire Eames chairs in this casual dining area

Photo: Source unknown


Photo: Architectural Digest


Note the oversized chandelier

This dining room is beautiful, the post doesn't do the photo justice.
Designer: Lisa Luby Ryan
Image: Veranda, Dec. 2008


I love these chairs covered in toffee leather,
again the use of a grand chandelier, and oversized greens

Designer: Charlotte Moss
Image: Veranda, Dec. 2008.