A dining table plays host to numerous activities in the home from entertaining friends and family to providing a family workspace. As a valuable piece of furniture, taking your time to choose a dining table that suits your space and lifestyle is a must.

We share our 7 top tips when choosing a dining table for your home so you can ensure it meets your needs and withstands the test of time.

1. Determine your size

Determining your desired size of dining table is your first point of call before you go shopping. Taking a guess will always backfire in the long run.

An insider’s tip is to measure your entire space, including features such as doors, windows, cupboards and power points. Measure existing chairs also, allowing 20-30cm from the chair seat to the tabletop.

Once you have your room size, tape out different dining table sizes, ensuring you accommodate your dining chairs. We recommend you allow about 60cm behind each chair. This will help you visualise different dining table options within your space.

Take your plan and ideal table size options with you to Nunawading Homemaker HQ so you can find the perfect dining table.

2. Identify your needs

How you use your dining table may inform the size and shape you need. Does your dining table need to provide space for homework, crafting or playing board games, as well as dining? Do you entertain large crowds or just a few people?

3. Consider shape options

It’s easy to default to a rectangle table, and generally speaking, there are more dining tables of this shape on the market to choose from.

However, don’t discount other shapes. A round, oval or square dining table may suit your room size and style as well as your needs. Small spaces, for example, can benefit from a round dining table. Ovals can also be a great option if you need to squeeze a lot of people around the table.

4. Judge the materiality

When choosing a dining table, be judgmental of the materials as not all materials are equal. Consider how durable the material is and how easily it is to clean. Your budget will influence the options you have, but you want to aim for the best quality your money can buy.

Hardwood dining tables such as those made of teak or oak will withstand the test of time. Engineered or composite timber dining tables are more economical and durable but are not as strong as hardwood.

Glass is another durable option for a dining tabletop and a great choice for small or dark spaces.

5. Take note of its transportability

When shopping for a dining table, it’s easy to get lost in choosing one that looks great and forgetting exactly how you are going to get it in and out of your home.

If you’re renting or plan to move within the next five years, considering a table that is easily transportable would make life easier.

A heavy hardwood or metal table may prove a challenge when moving. An engineered table or one that can be dismantled would be a much better option for apartment living or those who want to be able to easily transport it.

6. Think about your chairs

If you’re using chairs you already own, measure them using the tips above and take photos to help you visualise them alongside the new table.

If you’re struggling to choose between table designs, we recommend you take one of your chairs with you on your shopping trip. This is particularly important if you’re looking to match your timbers.

7. Check the quality

Finally, when buying a dining table assess the quality of the workmanship and componentry by taking a look underneath the table. Give the table a good wobble to test the stability and check any moving parts.

This is particularly important if you’re choosing a dining table second hand. There is nothing more annoying than realising the tread has gone in a screw fitting or the metal parts are jammed on an extendable table

If this is your first time buying a dining table or you’re making a substantial investment, take your time and seek further advice. We can help you find your ideal dining table that will suit your design tastes, lifestyle needs and interior.

Open-plan living with it’s free-flowing layout has become highly desirable due to its benefits for modern-day lifestyles. While there is much to love, open-plan homes can be surprisingly challenging to decorate and result in many design mistakes.

Here, we share some of the most common mistakes along with 6 open-plan living design tips:

1. Create zones

One of the most common mistakes people make when decorating their open-plan home is a lack of zones. Interiors tend to be filled with furniture and accessories without a conscious thought of how to anchor the settings and create a feeling of rooms without walls. As a result, the large space resembles more of a hall without connection or cohesion.

To avoid this open-plan decorating pitfall, you need to define zones within the home that have a distinct style or mood. If you’re building from scratch or renovating, consider how you can use materials and surfaces to define each space such as reserving hard surfaces for kitchen, utilitarian and high traffic areas, and softer materials for spaces designed for relaxing.

Furniture and decorating items such as rugs and artwork are your tools to visually and physically form individual areas. Think about positioning your sofa across the room to create a divide between your living and dining areas or lay a rug under your dining setting to define the space.

Don’t forget about using your vertical element to create a divide in a similar way to a wall. A well-styled open shelving unit, for example, is a great way to define an area and create a cozy feeling. Other vertical elements such as pendants help to add further interest.

2. Be cohesive

Walking into an open-plan home can create a feeling of awe as the scale and openness of the interior is revealed. At the same time, it can totally overwhelm the senses, particularly if there are a number of different styles featured in the one space. A coastal living area opposite a modern dining room will feel at odds with each other rather than a complimentary space.

This is not to say you can’t mix more than one style into your open-plan home, it’s just best to do so in a cohesive manner. Ideally, choose one overall theme or design aesthetic as your base. This is what will be used to help connect one area of your home with another and create cohesion.

For example, coastal with its crisp whites and natural materials might be the underlying design theme of which you layer on top decorating accessories and art works that complement the aesthetic but add further interest and personality.

3. Light like a pro

Have you ever walked into a newly finished open-plan home where the lighting resembles an airport runway rather than a warm, inviting home? This is due to the common mistake of continuing the same lighting design all the way through the open-plan interior.

This mistake is often made in new builds but can also be made when renovating and opening up walls in an older style home. It’s often easier to use the same light fittings throughout the home or to avoid installing dimmers and putting them on different systems.

It pays to invest in a lighting plan right from the beginning so that you can use light to help define and enhance your interior. Think carefully about how you are going to furnish and use the open plan space. This will help to inform the type of lighting you will need.

Don’t discount the effectiveness of dimmer switches and the ability to turn off or on some of the lighting to create mood. One or two switches for the lights in your entire living, dining and kitchen area is restrictive and will create a feeling of a shopping centre rather than a home.

And finally, make sure you consider where you are placing your outlets to allow for standalone lamps. Installing power points in the floor is a great way to avoid cords running from the middle of your living area to the nearest wall.

4. Encourage flow

One of the benefits of open-plan living is the feeling of more space. You no longer have wasted areas such as hallways and pokey rooms. But this doesn’t necessarily translate into more square footage. There is a tendency for people to purchase larger furniture when the walls come down to fill the interior.

This can, however, result in an overcrowded interior with a lack of circulation space. The home becomes difficult to move through and the space between zones feels tight.

Ideally, you want to allow about 1.5 – 2m between your open-plan living, dining and kitchen areas. This may mean looking at a smaller modular sofa or a different shaped dining table, particularly if you’re furnishing an apartment.

You may also want to consider the layout of your furniture. For example, two occasional chairs adjacent to the dining table may be less dominating than a large sofa. Likewise, if you’re planning your kitchen, rotating your island bench may allow for more circulating room around the kitchen and between your dining area.

5. Highlight sightlines

Open-plan living means views from all angles with everything on show for the eye to see. This is especially dramatic when you have an incredible view, whether that’s the cityscape, expansive body of water or rural outlook. It also means you don’t have walls to hide behind.

A common oversight when decorating an open-plan home is forgetting that furniture and objects can be seen from all angles and the sightlines aren’t considered. Think about how the back of your sofa looks. Consider upholstering it in a different fabric or placing a narrow credenza behind it to make it more appealing.

If you’re using open shelving as a room divider, style it from both sides to add interest from all angles. Take note of how decorate objects such as floor lamps, sculpture or art look from every side as you walk around them.

It’s also worthwhile considering how you can highlight a particular view. It may be tempting to install floor to ceiling glass around most of the perimeter of your living space but that can be restrictive and you can lose impact. Instead, consider how you can frame a view, just like you would an artwork to draw the eye to it.

6. Maximise storage

Open-plan living means views from all angles with everything on show for the eye to see. This is especially dramatic when you have an incredible view, whether that’s the cityscape, expansive body of water or rural outlook. It also means you don’t have walls to hide behind.

A common oversight when decorating an open-plan home is forgetting that furniture and objects can be seen from all angles and the sightlines aren’t considered. Think about how the back of your sofa looks. Consider upholstering it in a different fabric or placing a narrow credenza behind it to make it more appealing.

If you’re using open shelving as a room divider, style it from both sides to add interest from all angles. Take note of how decorate objects such as floor lamps, sculpture or art look from every side as you walk around them.

It’s also worthwhile considering how you can highlight a particular view. It may be tempting to install floor to ceiling glass around most of the perimeter of your living space but that can be restrictive and you can lose impact. Instead, consider how you can frame a view, just like you would an artwork to draw the eye to it.

The past couple of years we have spent more time in our homes than ever. If you are feeling uninspired by your home or feel that it needs an update, then we are here to help! Today we are sharing with you our favourite simple and easy ways you can restyle your home. These are creative ways you can see your spaces with fresh eyes and that don’t take up valuable time or cost the earth. We would love to know if you try any of these tips, so feel free to share them with us on our socials!

Add Some Statement Decorative Pieces

When was the last time you treated yourself to a new home décor accessory? For a few of you out there, this may be a common occurrence, but for many of us it is quite rare. Many of our beautiful retailers offer a variety of on-trend and contemporary home décor accessories to suit any design style and budget. Decorative accessories are a great way to bring personality into your home and create a design style that is reflective of you, your family, and your taste. Use items such as vases, books, plants, artwork, and interesting objects to create a statement in your home. Check out retailers such as Koala Living, Bed Bath N’ Table and Provincial Home Living for a great range of pieces. We love an oversized vase filled with real or fake stems to create wow factor on your dining room table. Or try creating a beautiful vignette with some large coffee table books, a gorgeous tray, candles, and coasters on your coffee table for a styled look. Invest in a few quality pieces spread throughout your main living spaces and your home will feel stylish and luxurious in no time.

Update Your Soft Furnishings

Updating your soft furnishings is a simple and often affordable way to transform the look and feel of your home easily. Soft furnishings include cushions, throw rugs, floor rugs and window coverings and can be swapped out with the differing seasons easily. Restyle your bedroom and living room by choosing a fresh, new colour palette for your cushions and soft furnishings such as mustard yellow or eucalyptus green. Adding new window coverings to rooms such as the dining room, living room or bedroom can completely transform the space. Think beautiful, soft flowy sheers or lovely textural linen curtains for a relaxed and calming atmosphere. Another great way to create a whole new look and feel in a space is to update the floor rug. We recommend opting for a neutral colour that will pair well with various schemes and ensure the rug is large enough to sit under most of your furniture pieces with ease. We love the range of textures, sizes, and colours some of our beautiful retailers have such as Adairs, Deco Rug and Bed Bath N’ Table.

Shop Your Home

Shopping your home is one of the easiest and most simple ways you can update your home without spending a dollar! It is a common concept that allows you to restyle each room of your home using pieces you already own. The process is super simple, to begin with you need to take all your decorative items from each room and place them in one central location such as the kitchen bench. These items include but are not limited to vases, plants, trays, candles, objects, souvenirs, and books. From here you can see your space with fresh eyes and work out what areas can be styled in a brand new way. Try styling your items in a new room or pairing an item with something that was previously in a different location. This gives your home a beautiful new look and allows you to see your decorative pieces in a whole new light!

Play With Layouts And Orientation

Has every room in your home had the same layout and furniture orientation since you first moved in? If you answered yes, it might be time for a little shuffle around and refresh. We understand that it is not always possible for some rooms to change orientation due to the size or another contributing factor, but if you can, we definitely recommend it! The living room is a great place to start. Think about if the sofa can go against a different wall or if the occasional chairs and bookshelves can be swapped around or switched out to create more flow within the space. In the bedroom, have a look with fresh eyes if the bed can go up against a different wall to allow for artwork or if the orientation could be adjusted so that you can wake up with the morning sunlight. Have a play with different orientations in all the rooms you can, and you never know, you might find a layout that is much better than before!

Simplify

Throughout our blogposts we often share how you can add beautiful furniture pieces and accessories into your home and style them up in unique and interesting ways. Sometimes however, to create an entirely new look in your home, it can be about simplifying, not adding. Start my evaluating your styled spaces such as the coffee table, bookshelves, media units, console tables, bedside tables etc. Simplifying a space can be a therapeutic exercise by allowing yourself to look at your pieces with fresh eyes and think about whether they bring you joy or if it is time to let go. Once complete, you will notice your space feels more open and airier and the items that remain will be your absolute favourites.