the marion house book

Alright, here we go again! Keri, one of my co-workers, needs your help choosing a dining room table and chairs for her urban, Victorian home. Keri very kindly gave away her previous set to a friend who had just moved to the city and since then has been without a place to sit and eat dinner. The home has a mid-century modern vibe with a considerable amount of teak furniture. For this reason, Keri would like to avoid adding any more wood to the open concept space. I agree with Keri that adding a teak dining room set would be too much of a good thing but I think that a little bit of wood could still work. So take a look at my suggestions below and cast your vote. Help Keri buy a much needed dining room table and chairs!

Let’s start with Keri’s empty dining room.

As you can see she has beautiful, old wood floors, a teak wall unit, a teak standing lamp, and a long horizontal piece of art that looks like it might also be made of wood. You can see why she is reluctant to add more wood to this space.

Here are my suggestions:

Option #1 – Teak Table – Vintage Eames Shell Chairs – Dynamic Light Fixture

The moment Keri showed me her dining room I couldn’t stop thinking of Morgan of The Brick House’s living and dining room. Morgan’s dining room is one of my all time favorites and I think Keri could learn a thing or two from her. In this case I think a teak table could work because really it falls into the background when it is paired with the vintage Eames chairs and the DIY Lindsay Adelman light fixture. I would advise Keri to seek out Eames chairs with black eiffel tower bases as Morgan has done to tie the black from the wall unit back into the room. A dynamic light fixture would also bring Keri’s dining room to life. If she feels there is still too much wood in the room a large rug that extends past the legs of the table would help break up the space.

Option #2 – Oval Saarinen Table – Danish Teak Chairs

I think an oval Saarinen table would look beautiful in Keri’s dining room and would compliment the other mid-century modern pieces she has in her home. I like that in these two examples they have paired the table with vintage Danish teak chairs. Again, I think this small amount of teak would work well in the space and tie all the elements together. An interesting light fixture would anchor the space and finish the room off. If you don’t have an outlet over your dining room table an Arco floor lamp would also work well in this space. Oh and is that a fiddleleaf fig (ficus lyrata) I see above? What a nice touch that would be!

Option #3 – Antique Wood Table and Colourful Tolix Chairs

This one is a bit of a stretch but I think it could be made to work mainly because Keri’s floors have this same aged appeal. The key is getting the right antique wood table – it can’t be too rustic or harvest-table like. It should have bold lines and something decorative about it like these corkscrew legs. The hit of bright colour and unconventional pairing is what makes this combination work. I think Eames shell chairs could also work in this scenario. If Keri likes this look I would advise her to change the artwork in her dining room into something larger in scale and more colourful.

Option #4 – White Table – Sculptural Wood Chairs

One way to break up all the wood in Keri’s dining room is to add a large, white horizontal surface like this dining room table. Paired with sculptural wood chairs (not necessarily these ones maybe something more suited to the era) the room would come together.

Option #5 Wood Table – Wood Chairs – Bold Striped Rug

What more wood – you’re saying! Yes, I think you could make it work. By shifting the focus away from the dining room table and chairs and directing it towards the bold striped rug on the floor the effect of the wood is lessened. I love the soft, curved lines of this set of table and chairs and the airiness of the hairpin legs. If you could find a set like this I would snatch it up and then add a bright and colourful rug to the floor to break up the effect of the wood.

Option #6 – Glass Table with Wood Base – Eames Molded Plywood Dining Chairs

My final suggestion for Keri is a combination wood and glass table paired with classic mid-century modern Eames molded plywood dining chairs. I’d love to see the chairs in one or several of the bright colours like the red and the yellow. Again, having a dynamic light fixture above the table would really help ground the room.

So, have you made your selection? If you were Keri which option would you choose? I know which one I’m picking!

(If you have a design dilemma you need help with send me your questions and some photos to emma@themarionhousebook.com and we’ll see what we can do!)