Ever since we moved into our little house by the sea, we have never had a formal dining area. We did buy a second hand table and chairs (thank goodness for Facebook selling pages) when we first arrived, however it quickly turned into an office space, a dumping ground for junk mail and pizza menus plus it’s even the home of Vee’s extensive lego collection too, so there isn’t much room for eating. After a long day at work, it’s easier to just eat from our laps on the sofa than clear off the piles of junk we seem to have accumulated in our little ‘dining corner‘ – oops. However, with baby on the way we’ve both agreed we feel it’s important to have a family dining space. Yes, the baby isn’t going to be feeding from the table straight away, but we want to get into good habits, so when little one starts to wean we can all sit at the table from day one and get into a habit of eating in the same space.
I really want our dining area to be totally versatile as we want to invite friends over for dinner as well as create a family space – so I’ve created both a daytime and evening look, with a quick change of decoration, our table can go from practical to gorgeous and classy in no time at all!
EVENING TABLE
Next Valencia Extending Table | Hampstead Soft Upholstered Chairs | Kate Spade Wine Glasses | Flamingo Plate Set | Geometric Candles
The table we’ve had our eyes on for a while is an extendable white table from Next, we don’t have a lot of space so the fact it folds up into the corner is just perfect. Fully extended it’s big enough for 6 guests if we have a dinner party, so it’s truly versatile. We will probably get 4 dining room chairs, this will mean if we have 6 guests we’ll have to use two ‘put-up’ chairs, but I’m sure it’ll be so rare, we’ll be glad of the extra space only having 4 main chairs. The touches of gold instantly make the table set-up look classy and perfect for wine and dinner, for either a date night or dinner with friends.
BREAKFAST SPACE
Barstool | Nespresso Citiz Machine | Fresh Flowers | Coffee Cup
With a newborn baby, breakfast for us is bound to be a quick affair; grabbing a cup of well needed coffee and shovelling a pan au chocolat. With this in mind we have thought about setting up a little breakfast bar area in our kitchen for breakfasts on the go. A couple of barstools next to the coffee machine would work perfectly to make the perfect breakfast space.
DAYTIME TABLE
Cosatto Magic Unicorns Highchair | Kid’s Dinner set | Just Wipe Table Cloth| Wipeable Bibs | Kid’s Dinner Set
Lastly, but certainly not least would be our tables ‘daytime look’. This needs to be functional and easy to clean! I’ve chosen the cutest highchair from Cosatto, because – well unicorns! Plus, I saw these at The Baby Show, they are super practical too, so it’s a win/win situation. I’d cover our table with an easy-clean vinyl tablecloth, you can get some really pretty designs – I love these fun beachhuts to go with our seaside theme. Of course kids dinner sets (preferably with suction cups to stick them down), food storage boxes and bibs are essential weaning tools too.
What do you think to our versatile dining area? Do you do something with your family’s dining area? I’d love to hear any tips you may have!
lovely items