Inviting Formal Dining Rooms

As holiday season approaches, our thoughts turn inside where the idea of entertaining friends and family suddenly becomes: Can I seat everyone? Is the kitchen going to accommodate both cooking and mingling? How can I keep it formal, but mix it with the casual entertaining space?

The formal dining room is still a popular icon of New England living. For some it still evokes that special place where meaningful occasions are spent dining, but we want to include everyone in the full celebration. You can have your cake…and eat it too in the dining room while kitchen accommodates overflow and welcomes family and guests into part of the overall prep and dining experience.

The dilemma for many of our clients seeking an integrated open feel that keeps the dining room a distinct space is solvable. We have developed many solutions over the years that allow a partial or full open concept that is great for holidays and every day. The simplest fix is to open the door size between rooms which helps eliminate the feeling the rooms being closed off and separate while still offering delineation.

What happens with that lost wall space for storage? With more efficient use of cabinet space and islands we are always able to make up for that loss of space. Pictured above is an example of a client’s home in Needham that opened up a wall to make the room feel airier and more accessible without compromising beauty and formality.

In the image on the left we even made to room to squeeze in a butler’s pantry and bar between the two spaces.