dining room Archives - Page 23 of 39

Which table top style suits your dining room best?

The dining table is, of course, an essential piece of reclaimed wood furniture in any home whether it’s a bachelor pad or a busy, family home. The dining table is used for many things from everyday dinner to formal dinner parties, to buffets at Christmas, birthdays and BBQs to being the place where families gather for ‘emergency meetings’ to homework, science projects, play and more.

And so it’s no wonder we consider the purchase of the dining table and chairs for some time before we make the leap to buy.

Size is important, as well as the choice of dining chair – wooden or upholstered dining chairs, or maybe a dining bench would work? – its style and shape too, with many of us opting for the inclusivity of a round dining table.

But have you considered the table top itself?

We Asked, You Answered

And this go us thinking – which tabletop do our customers prefer? Would it be the sleekness of the traditional plank tabletop or the detailed stylishness of the parquet table top?

Even though the parquet table top was attractive to some, the majority of followers who answered our Houzz poll opt for the traditional plank.

The traditional plank table top

Smooth and elegant, the plank table top is as you would expect – a vast slice of wood sanded and treated to provide the sturdy top to a dining table.

In some cases, the table top is one, huge plank but in most cases, the wood used has been put together to create the plank effect.

The pros of this style is its simplicity and its smooth finish. But it isn’t boring.

Take a look at the Mitcham industrial dining table, a solid oak piece that is a treat for the eyes (and for your dining room!) This table would sit well with leather upholstered dining chairs, with metal frames to emphasise the industrial style.

The rustic style also emphasises the beauty of the traditional plank tabletop, such as in this reclaimed wood table from the Chelwood Collection. The matching dining benches being more harmony to this piece.

The sophisticated parquet table top

Parquet is the laying of small wooden bricks in a repeating geometric pattern. In older properties, including ‘commercial’ buildings such as schools, this was the choice of flooring from many years back. Using hardwood, the wooden tiles used the strength of the pattern to hold them in place and the top layers of nourishing varnish too.

Repeating this pattern for a tabletop makes perfect sense. It adds detailing as well as nostalgia because there are many of us who remember this pattern from their favourite places during childhood.

For elegance, you can turn to this patterned table top with the industrial style, the perfect fusion of which you will find in this oval industrial dining table. Such a tabletop deserves to be surrounded by beauty and thus the addition of velvet upholstered dining chairs makes perfect sense.

For a more rustic feel, the parquet table top dining table from the Kingsbridge Collection hits all the right style notes. With a slightly less refined edge to it, it too will benefit from velvet upholstered or even sumptuous leather dining chairs to support it in its place in the dining room. Imagine hosting a dinner party at this table or being a guest at one…

Which table top do you favour?

Which is the best choice for a dining table, light or dark wood?

Beam Industrial Reclaimed Wood Dining Table Dark

The dining table is an important purchase. As well as its dimensions, there is style to consider as well as shape. It needs to be a highly practical choice that brings functionality to your formal dining room or to your kitchen diner.

As well as these factors, do you consider the colour of the table top? Would lighter hues of oak and beech be your choice or do you prefer darker woods, such as the darker tones of a reclaimed rustic table top?

We Asked, You Answered

If you haven’t joined in one of our polls on Houzz, now is the time to do so. Simply register and then follow us (just search for Modish Living) and the next time we post a poll, you’ll be notified.

In our latest poll, we asked our followers about which colour table top did they prefer, giving four choices from our dining table range. It was a popular poll, and the light table top pipped the dark table top into second place, but only just…

The light table top

Clean, fresh and elegant, there is a modern feel to reclaimed wood furniture made from lighter coloured wood. Both the light tables used in the poll garnered equal votes and it is easy to see why.

With a light table top, the ‘industrial style meets glamour’ of the Chalfont industrial dining table is proving popular. Swapping the normally black or stainless steel metal finish for a rose gold effect, there is a lightness and elegance to this dining table that is attractive.

Pair it with light coloured dining chairs – cool leather upholstered dining chairs are the perfect addition to sit alongside this piece of industrial style furniture.

Drawing equal attention was the Rocco oak dining table. Of all the woods to be used in furniture, oak must surely be the best? Light and cool to the touch, there is a pleasing solidness to this slow-growing timber that makes it a firm favourite for a reclaimed wood dining table.

At home with any style, this oak table top sits atop black, metal spider legs, something that is as attractive as the table top itself.

Pair with equally as decadent dining chairs but again, we think the cool touch of leather dining chairs is the perfect match.

The dark table top

Moody, classic and somewhat traditional in its appeal, the dark table top is a delight in both the formal dining room setting or the kitchen/diner.

The darker dining table that came out on top was the Beam reclaimed wood dining table. The classic rectangular shaped table top with the black metal frame legs at each short end gives it a pleasant simplicity that doesn’t detract from its elegance.

We’ve used light coloured upholstered dining chairs but this dining table could sit easily alongside velvet dining chairs too.

In fact, the beauty of a dark wood table top, in our minds at least, is that you can afford to choose a stronger colour to partner it. The Blackbone dining table is a sight to behold especially with its gold coloured metal framework. A superb fusion of industrial and the glamour look, this dining table needs dining chairs that are equally as dramatic. Opt for statement velvet upholstered dining chairs in magenta, sage green or even a midnight navy.

Which of these dining tables catches your eye?

4 Beautiful sideboards that fuse style and function

Like the dresser, the sideboard is a functional and practical piece of furniture for the dining room. But using it in the dining room alone understates its true potential because the sideboard is an adaptable piece ripe for any room, from the hallway to the living room and beyond.

But how do you choose industrial sideboards that is not only stylish but will give years of use?

1 Storage options

The sideboard is not-so-humble when it comes to storage options and the type of storage solutions it offers. You can opt for cupboard space only or even drawer-space only or you could opt for a mixture of drawers and cupboards.

The large sideboard from the Standford collection is a prized example of industrial furniture, the perfect fusion of metal and rustic, reclaimed wood. It offers style, a unique finish and best of all, a range of storage options from slimline drawer space to deeper, shorter drawers to cupboard space with shelving, ideal for when you have different types of things to store in it.

2 Symmetrical with a glamorous finish

In many ways, the beauty of a sideboard with the traditional mix of drawer and cupboard space is the most familiar and gives the most in terms of storage options – sometimes, the simplest solutions are the best.

If you want glamour, then look no further than the Luxe Kensington Collection. It has something for everybody, from those who love reclaimed wood furniture to those who like an extra pop and zing in the style and finish.

The two cupboard with three drawer centre column is perfectly balanced and so no wonder this piece is one of our most popular industrial sideboards. It has a beauty of all of its, something we know comes from the meeting of two such very different materials.

3 Double-trouble cupboard space

The sideboard can be a significant piece of furniture in terms of its dimension but it doesn’t naturally follow that this makes it imposing.

The simplicity and straightforwardness of this reclaimed wood sideboard from the Kingsbridge collection proves the point. It has double cupboard storage space (with interior shelving) but the lack of ornamentation and the slimline handles means this piece doesn’t ‘swallow’ space.

And yet, it is one of the most functional and practical sideboards in our collection. We’ve said before and we’ll say it again – sometimes, simple is best. Why complicate matters when there really is no need?

4 Minimal façade

Minimal. Streamlined. Uber-stylish. And yet, the industrial sideboard from the Mitcham collection has a certain something.

Maybe it is the concrete case. Maybe it is the traditional industrial metal legs. Maybe it is the three oak panel doors. Maybe it is the lack of handles, the flat surface or maybe it is all the above.

A simply stylish solution to the age of problem of where to store things, from the best dinner service to the everyday things we use in the dining room, or the kitchen, or the living room.

In fact, this industrial sideboard wouldn’t look out of place in the hallway…

Choosing and styling a reclaimed wood dresser

The dresser is popular for many reasons. We well as breathing life into any room, it is a piece of furniture with ‘practicality and function’ running through its reclaimed wood grain. But how do you choose the right one? Should you opt for glass doors? How do you style it?

Glass or no glass?

When it comes to choosing your dresser, as well as making sure that its dimensions fit the room and its overall style is pleasing, you will face the conundrum of whether to opt for glass doors or not.

Glass has delightful reflective properties but if you don’t want people to see items on display, opting for one with opaque doors is clearly the answer.

But glass lightens the mood, a bit like the glass doors on the Chelwood reclaimed wood dresser. It lightens the fascia, giving it a beautiful feminine soft appeal.

Location is everything

It is one of the main considerations for any piece of reclaimed wood furniture but for something as large as a dresser, it is essential you understand where and how this beautiful piece will be used.

There is no right or wrong location but you need it in a place where it will serve a purpose as well as ‘fit’. Too small a space, and it will look shoehorned in. if it isn’t framed in a larger space, it will look like an afterthought.

The Kensal wooden glass display cabinet gives you a taste of everything and is perfect for when space may be tight. You get elegant height, along with an array of storage options from a cabinet to shelving and drawers, leaving your farmhouse kitchen table or reclaimed wood dining table decluttered.

Go for the painted look

When you think of wooden dressers and wooden shelving, you probably think of the dark wood, gargantuan pieces of furniture that was so vast it hides a small army of ‘best plates and crockery’ within its Tardis proportions.

In some ways, it is its bulk that makes the wooden dresser the must have for the rustic kitchen or the farmhouse dining room bedecked with farmhouse furniture. It acts as a small display cabinet as well as a storage unit but if you want the grandeur without the imposing nature of a large, dark piece then opt for the painted dresser.

Beautifully rustic and farmhouse all at once, there is a beauty that shines from the painted surfaces of the Savannah large reclaimed wood kitchen dresser. The Savannah Collection is one of our most popular, with this dresser having the very best of everything. Handy cutlery drawers, ample cabinet space, complete with open shelving that is simply crying out for your organising skills.

Full shelving without the clutter

The dresser is a practical piece of furniture. It is meant to be. Its pedigree lies in containing everything that a dining room or working kitchen needs.

And yet, we want to style it but without the clutter. What tips do designers give when it comes to styling open shelving?

Always be practical – group items together, such as mugs and cups, bowls etc.
Keep similar colours together
Lift the final look with greenery, whether it’s a plant or a sprig of greenery from the garden.

The piece itself gives you the symmetry you need and with empty the shelving, put things away first in the Farringdon reclaimed wood dresser that you don’t want on display and then add the items onto the shelving, in a position where you can reach it. The more you use an item, the easier it should be to get to.

Which is your perfect dresser?

The most popular dining tables of 2018

Luxe Kensington Reclaimed Wood Dining table

As 2018 starts to near its end, we thought we would take a nostalgic look back at some of the year’s best sellers. The dining table is an essential piece of furniture but that doesn’t mean it can’t be stylish. But what tables from our collections proved to be the best sellers? Was it the oak dining table, or the reclaimed dining table that came out on top?

The Mitcham dining table

We haven’t long launched the Mitcham Collection but so far, the sales of both the rectangular and square dining table from this range have flown out the door. If we are honest, we are not surprised. The beautiful spider legs of the rectangular industrial dining table from the collection are staggeringly beautiful and the square dining table has made for a pleasant note change in terms of shape. Both these dining tables are ideal for the industrial style homes.

The Beam dining table

Another fantastic dining table proving popular with customers throughout the year is the Beam dining table in a medium colour finish; a perfect example of the perfect rustic style furniture you are sure to love. In many ways, the medium finish of this reclaimed wood furniture allows the best of both world when it comes to styling out the dining room. Not too dark to become oppressive but not too light to jar against the rustic styling of the room, we expect the Beam dining table to remain a firm favourite for a while yet.

The Standford dining table

This year, we’ve made a big effort to bring the finish and styling that customers ask for and we’ve kept a close eye on the functionalities that customer asks for too. An industrial extending dining table is clearly a hot favourite at the moment and so it’s no wonder to see the Standford industrial extending dining table on the bestselling list.

Popular with customers who either have a family and/or entertain regularly, an extendable dining table ticks so many boxes that they often tell us they wondered how they managed without! This extending table has a central extending area, and with the reclaimed wood top complete with metal legs, the table is perfect for the industrial style as well as sitting well in a contemporary dining room.

The Kensington dining table

Fourth on our list is a dining table that has a slight edge over the others in that we have moved from the ever-popular industrial look and slid into the realm of glamour. The Kensington reclaimed wood dining table with stainless steel legs hints at a style that we think will become increasingly popular in the coming year. There is a hint of understated glamour to this dining table that we were under no illusion when we added it to the Kensington Collection that it would be a popular choice.

Match the decadence of the high-shine stainless steel legs with the sumptuousness of velvet upholstered dining chairs. Ideal for the more formal dining room, there is a certain something about this table that we loved as soon as we saw it – and you have proven the point by making it one of our best selling dining table this year.

Which is your favourite?

Interior Design Trends for 2019, which will you try?

There are many exciting trends, styles and colours coming our way in the new year. With the grey of winter upon us and a chill in the air, it is always warming to look forward to seeing what designers have come up with. And there are plenty of trends that will work with every one of our collections.

1 THE must-have colour – Dulux’s soothing ‘Spiced Honey’

Let’s be honest, the majority of us need a space in our home that is soothing on all our sense, a chance to escape the worries and chaos of modern life. Dulux have come up with the goods in terms of the must-have colour for 2019 in the hues of a warm, soothing deep caramel beige. Even the name is soothing, ‘spiced honey’.

It’s a colour that can be used in any room, from the living room to the hallway and beyond. Great for all styles, including traditional and rustic, we think ‘spiced honey’ is the perfect partner to the reclaimed wood furniture of the Chelwood Collection – match with a cream rug and you’ll have a beautiful, warm but cosy feel to any room.

2 Want colour? You have it!

If you are not overly keen on neutral shades then you will love what the Pantone Colour Institute has in store for 2019. Their choice is ‘Living Coral’.

Deep, jewelled colours have long been our favourite and so if you want to add a pop of colour but not on the walls, why not opt for our jewel-coloured velvet armchairs? Mix them with a metallic finish – we are still in love with the gold-colour metals and brass – to bring more than a dash of glamour to your dining room landscape.

In the living room, opt for velvet too, with a deeply coloured velvet armchair and velvet sofa too!

3 Reclaimed, recycled, sustainable

2018 was the year that more and more of us started to make bigger but more consistent changes to the materials we used and how we used them. Whilst some people love the upcycled look, for others sustainability comes in the beautiful shape of a reclaimed wood dining table.

Interior designers are pointing to the fact that this will happen more in the coming year and may even become the staple of how we shop for furniture in the future.

As well as reclaimed wood, materials from sustainable sources, such as the mango wood used in the Chalfont Collection, could also be a contender for a top interior design trend in 2019.

4 Dark wood is making a comeback

In fact, the beautiful depths of dark shades of wood, fabrics and wall colour is a possibility for any room in the home this coming year. From an incredibly inky blue in the kitchen to black in the bathroom, there will be plenty to shake us up this year.

We’ve also seen nods towards darker wood too. Sturdy in nature and appeal, there is drama and glamour to dark wood. Sit it alongside brassy or gold elements and you have a cursory nod towards the glamour of the 1920s, not unlike the sophistication to be found in our recently added Blackbone Collection. A collection aimed at the dining room, it looks fabulous against a reclaimed dark wood dining table…

We’re announcing our Best Sellers of the year!

With 2018 nearing its end, we thought we would take a whistle-stop tour of our best-selling products from the year. So what flew out of the door?

Chairs

From dining chairs to stylish armchairs, there were many contenders for the crown of the best-selling chair of 2018. There were two, however, that were always top of the list from the year’s start to its end;

Allegro dining chair – as leather dining chairs go, the Allegro version is stylishly simple but with plenty of character to match any of our reclaimed wood dining tables.
The Brooks dining chair – upholstered dining chairs are always popular but it seems that the detailing and rather sumptuous appeal of these upholstered dining chairs appealed to many customers.

In the dining room

The reclaimed wood dining table is, of course, the main dining room item but the items that surround it make sure that it stays the star of the show whilst offering essential storage space too.

When it comes to the dining room, is there any better storage option than a sideboard?

The Standford range with its rustic charm is always popular so it is no surprise that the large sideboard from the range is gracing many a dining room across the UK (and possibly beyond).

In the bedroom

As well as customers falling in love with our reclaimed wood furniture in terms of the wood bed frames – and the sustainable Bahamas range – this year we have noticed an upsurge in the popularity of bedside tables.

The Dorset Collection has flavours of the coast with its white frame and plain wooden tops and details. The bedside tables from this range have provided popular. Perhaps it is their beautiful simplicity that lends symmetry to a room that makes them the number one choice for our customers?

Staying in the bedroom, we come to a tall chest of drawers that customers have fallen in love with time and time again. The elegance of a tall chest of drawers cannot be denied which is one reason why this item is popular but we also think it is a sign in the change of attitude toward dark wood items.

Designers are expecting that dark wood will increase in popularity this coming year and we have noted how the Winchester dark tall chest of drawers has attracted a lot of attention this year. We fully expect it, and other items from our darker wood range, to pick up the pace in 2019.

Sleep well…

It isn’t just the quality of the mattress that contributes to a good night sleep but the bed frame, the style of the bedroom and a calm setting.

All our bed frames sell well – probably down to the beauty and patina of the reclaimed wood that we use across our Collections – but the understated simplicity of the Standford reclaimed wood bed places the others in the shade. We love its clean lines but also the height of the headboard that gives it a little more of an imposing presence.

Which of these items do you love? What else from our range catches your attention? Or will you buck the trend and go with one of our more ‘niche’ pieces for your home?

Recycling at Christmas – How best to go about it?

It is becoming ever more important for our generation, and for future ones too, that we really start to make more of an effort to recycle more. Christmas is the time of indulgence but this doesn’t mean we have to be wasteful.

But what can you recycle from Christmas and how? Are there alternatives to the traditions we have always indulged in? Obviously, here at Modish we love reclaimed wood furniture as it is more eco friendly but what else could be recycled this Christmas?

Wrapping paper

It’s an amazing fact but in the UK at Christmas, we bin 227,000 miles of Christmas wrapping paper (according to Telegraph), a shame when you consider that the majority can be recycled at the kerbside.

When you buy wrapping paper, opt for paper-based one over the foil wrap or one that has bows and the like stuck to it. The latter can’t be recycled but paper wrapping with all the Sellotape and bows removed can be recycled along with your usual recycling.

Of course, there are other ways of reusing wrapping paper in the home, something that many of us are becoming more aware of.

Christmas cards

Apparently, Millennials are sending very few Christmas cards, if at all. There are certainly fewer placed upon many a tall chest of drawers than in previous years in most households. Most are also forgoing wrapping paper too, a sign that their generation is environmentally conscious. Others put this down to being crotchety about the festive period.

We would like to think it is about helping the environment, something we are all about at Modish Living. The majority of our collections are made from wood that served another purpose in a previous life and we are proud to think that there are many more households enjoying their Christmas dinner gathered around a reclaimed wood dining table, seated on comfortable upholstered dining chairs.

And when wood is not from a reclaimed source, we use wood from sustainable sources, such as mango wood, a waste product of the mango fruit groves.

Christmas cards are a delightful way of staying in touch and we still buy and send around 900 million Christmas cards each year (according to Greeting Card Association), even though this trend may be falling.

You can recycle Christmas cards, whether they have glitter all over them or are a simpler version;

Some councils accepted them at the kerbside
Supermarkets will also collect used Christmas cards at their stores for most of January – look out for the special cartons to pop them in
Recycled the back of the card but save the top of the card for shopping lists etc.

Find out more about how to recycle Christmas cards.

Christmas tree

If you opted for a real tree this year, there are two ways of ‘recycling’;

Remove all tinsels, baubles etc. and check with your local council for kerbside collections of trees in your area
Buy a living Christmas tree in a pot that you can plant in the garden and enjoy for years to come.
Invest in a life-like artificial tree that you can use over and over again – there are some fantastic examples of all shapes and sizes, ideal for sitting alongside your sideboard cabinet in the dining room or living room

Boxes and crackers

Boxes, both white and brown cardboard, can be recycled at most kerbside or collapse them and pop them down to your local recycling centre.

Crackers can be recycled too – but you may have to dismantle them – the inner cardboard tube can be recycled at the kerbside. The paper outer can usually be recycled too, as can the inner ‘cracker’.

With all these options for Christmas recycling, will you be going more eco-friendly this Christmas?

Our most popular blogs of the year

Wycombe Oak Dining Table and Chairs with Bench

As the year draws to a close, there are award ceremonies and ’best of’ lists of all kinds. Not ones to be left behind, we thought we would do the same. We have, of course, created best-selling charts of our furniture items for you to take a look at, from the reclaimed wood dining table to the large sideboard but we also thought we would look through the year’s blog posts.

We use our blogs to provide information and ideas covering a broad range of topics, but which four blog posts caught your imagination most?

The Scandinavian style dining room

What is there not to love about the Scandinavian furniture style? A fusion of light coloured woods with natural materials, there is a clean, crispness to this style that makes it ideal for every home, from the family pad to the apartment of the Millennial.

Our get the Scandinavian style in the dining room blog with these new sets blog attracted a lot of attention, mainly because it gave ideas on how you can create the perfect backdrop against which the dining table can sizzle.

The best industrial coffee tables

As living room pieces go, the coffee table is a staple piece of furniture that can help to provide the balance and symmetry that the room needs. It can also be a talking point which is why we brought you a round up of the latest industrial coffee table to our range.

The new in: the best industrial coffee tables crafted from reclaimed wood blog brought together many beautiful industrial pieces that got people talking. From the round best of tables to the industrial coffee table on wheels, there was something in this blog for everyone of every taste and budget.

The industrial furniture look was popular throughout 2018, a trend that we expect to see continuing. There is something refreshingly uncomplicated about the fusion of familiar materials such as reclaimed wood and steel, one of the reasons why the industrial dining table too remains a popular style choice for many.

Stainless Steel in the dining room

Anything that shimmers, sizzles and glimmers is ‘gold’ in our eyes but when it comes to using metallic finishes, knowing when and how to use it in the home can be problematic. When is it too much? Can you have too much chrome, stainless steel or gold finish?

In our blog beautiful stainless steel pieces you need to have in your dining room, we shifted our focus on using metal finishes to an important room in the home and how, with the right backdrop and setting, a ‘silvery’ finish can lift the room from ordinary to extraordinary.

The busy hallway

A hallway is a place of transit, one of the reasons why we always leave decorating this space to the last minute. With this in mind, we have long championed the hallway as a space that should be stylish and functional.

In the blog what is the perfect storage for a busy hallway we gave you plenty of ideas for adding storage to the hallway. Versatile storage solutions, we looked at everything from cubed shelving storage units to hallway benches.

What’s in store for 2019?

There will be many styles and topics we’ll cover in the New Year too, from looking at the latest trends to how to use colour schemes, how to style reclaimed wood furniture and the reclaimed wood table and more. But of course, we want to hear from you too. What would you like to see more of in the coming months on our blog?