Decorology

Category: formal

  • Cozy and Pretty Eat in Kitchens

    Cozy and Pretty Eat in Kitchens

    There’s something I love about an eat-in kitchen. To me it’s a great place for intimate family dinners. Dining rooms are mostly for formal occasions, and let’s face it, rarely used.  Eat in kitchens provide a spot where you get to gather with just the immediate family and create a fun and cozy setting. So skip the fancy china and just have everyone pick his or her favorite dish or tumbler, and get ready to tuck in!

    Keep it informal

    There are some spaces that are better left being informal! They allow for slow, lazy Sunday mornings doing the crossword or a puzzle with the kiddos.  If you’re feeling indulgent (or especially lazy), order out for the best breakfast delivery.  A breakfast nook with banquette seating would be the best option if this sounds appealing to you.

    Once our pedestal table is finished, my hubby plans on building a banquette to match our cabinetry. On the other side of the table I plan to add some black Windsor style chairs. While you see a lot of circular tables around banquette, I am going with rectangular. Circular tables make it easier to climb in and out of the banquette, but they can’t seat as many people as a rectangular one. Rectangular ones also make the best use of space if the area for dining in your kitchen is on the small side.

    Easy Entertaining

    I also love the idea of everyone in the middle of kitchen. In our kitchen, guests tend to congregate around our large island while we’re cooking or preparing food, so we have an overhang on two sides of the island to accommodate extra stools.
    It’s possible they are also congregating there to be close to our coffee bar and the bezzera coffee machine! When we aren’t entertaining, I put extra stools in the basement and enjoy a little extra prep space.

    Separate but Together

    If you like the separation you can make the eat-in part around the edge of the kitchen instead of the middle. This will allow for a little quieter meal times if someone is busy at the sink or around the stove with the pots and pans.

    A Cozy Nook

    Or get really cozy with a little nook area at the end or in the corner of the kitchen. This is perfect for small spaces! We have a sliding glass door on the end of our kitchen where our dining table is, so having a banquette removes the need for chairs on one side of the table that would otherwise block the door.

    Do you have an eat-in kitchen and if you do, what is your favorite thing about it? Do you use it more than your dining room? Thanks to Anthony Espresso, Luxe Hydration, and Freedom Jars for consulting.

  • Let’s Gather Around the Table

    Let’s Gather Around the Table

    There has been some discussion lately on what tables are coming next. The farmhouse table has been a huge hit and stayed for quite some time, but it looks like round tables are coming back!
    For a more formal look, you would think a rectangular table would be the choice, but you might be surprised that a round table can be formal too!
    4 Interior Design Hacks To Transform Your Apartment FAST:
    via westelm
    In some rooms it actually helps with the floor plan and flow of the room.
    Some rooms just weren’t made for rectangles or squares! With a round table it’s easier to get closer. You can scoot in a chair and get cozy unlike the other’s where you’d be stuck with a corner.
    They also look great in eat in kitchens! 
    Which kind of table do your prefer?
  • Bench Seating Inspiration

    Bench Seating Inspiration

    Kitchen’s can always use extra seating. Formal dining rooms are nice but not always available in smaller spaces. Finding that balance between a kitchenette and enough space to seat a family is easier than you might think. Bench seating can create extra space where you might not think you have it.
    With a traditional dining room table it would need to be in the middle of the room to allow for people to move around the chairs. If you need that room for other things, a bench seat allows you to put the table up against the wall and give your more floor space.
    Enhance architecture in your home with molding, beadboard or wainscoting.:
    via bhg

    It can create seating where you thought you couldn’t have it. This little corner would normally barely fit two and a simple bench can add additional seating and storage.

    Breakfast nook with indigo Shibori dyed pillows and woven midcentury dining chairs.:
    via mydomaine

    Don’t have a dinning room or need that space for something else? Take your breakfast nook up a notch! Bench seating can double as storage space too! That’s a win-win.

    20+ Tips for Turning Your Small Kitchen Into an Eat-In Kitchen : Page 02 : Rooms : Home & Garden Television:
    via hgtv

    A formal dining room isn’t for everyone. If you’d rather a cozy home, make it cozy!

    banquet - build in storage underneath:
    via sugarandcharm

    If formal is your thing and you can’t picture a bench seat in a formal setting, hopefully this well help! Keep it simple and classy.

    Do you love bench seats? Do you have any in your home? I’d love to hear in the comments below!

  • Gorgeous Eat in Kitchens

    Gorgeous Eat in Kitchens

    There’s something I love about an eat in kitchen. To me it’s a great place for intimate family dinners. With the dinning room mostly for formal occasions, this is the spot where you get to gather with just the immediate family and create a fun setting. 
    There are some spaces that are better left being informal!
    I love the idea of everyone in the middle of kitchen. I also like the idea of pushing those stools in and having extra counter space!
    If you like the separation you can make the eat in part around the edge of the kitchen instead of the middle. 
    nice use of small kitchen space!
    via bhg
    Or get really cozy with a little nook area at the end of the kitchen. This is perfect for small spaces!
    Do you have an eat in kitchen and if you do, what is your favorite thing about it?