COMMON DESIGN MISTAKES | Dining Room Mistakes (Plus how to fix them!)

Dinning chairs on rollers😬

Great content. I’m learning so many great tips

How to mix dinning table, chairs and sideboard without being matchy matchy

Lovely info💗💗

You have great aesthetics! Thank you for this video.

Just started the video — first impressions? GORGEOUS outfit! ANDD the makeup? You are looking double gorgeous Julie!

I prefer not to have a rug/ carpet under the dining table because it's cleaning hassle?

im lebanese and that asian dining table HAS BEEN IN MY HOME FOREVER. they would never get rid of it lol

Could you use a table runner and/or a table cloth, either fabric or plastic?

Hello Julie, i love your style. can you please help me? what to choose for dinner room. Wooden or fabric dining chairs

I would like to know if it’s ok to do multi color chairs in a open concept floor plan where it’s the kitchen, dining, and then living room?. Btw I love all your videos!!! Please let me know. Thanks 🙏🏼

Good width so we can keep our dishes and candles centr

I want proper measurements for rectangular table length and breath 5’ 3.9” is it ok

I have a question I'm doing some changes in my dining room and I bought some cover to go with my chairs which is brown and beige the same exact style that's on your couch that you was showing and I'm trying to change the color of my rug under that chair what is the best styling rug to get for that but I do have carpet on my floor already I need help

Oh that late 90s cherry wood furniture isn’t just an Asian mom thing lol

Very helpful insights!! Thank you!!

Most of your advice is good. There is one thing, however, which is possibly bad advice. "Matchie Matchie" is correct for a traditional room. If you don't believe me, look at the Banquet Hall pictures of Buckingham Palace. Table and chairs match. The formal dining rooms in all the great country houses match. The design mistake with furniture in the dining room is having benches for side chairs. If the person in the middle needs out, the other two on the bench must move also. Just as bad, all three are stuck at the same distance from the table. Does NOT work.
When next I decorate a dining room I will be coming at it from a different perspective. I have my Grandmother's French polished, solid black walnut suite with table and two leaves, 5 side chairs, 1 Carver, plus sideboard from 1921. The house will be designed and built to accomodate that furniture as well as other heirloom pieces in other rooms. With the dining room, the walls will be wainscoting with a Wedgwood Jasperware sage green on the walls. The dining room is an evening room more than most rooms in the house. The requirements are very specific.
Personally, all of your examples of a formal dining table are casual, some to the extreme end of the scale. When I have my house built I will be hosting Black Tie dinners from time to time. I want the room to be very formal and proper. For those familiar with Mapp And Lucia, Hughtum will be rare. Titum will be a regular thing. Scrub will be pretty much every week.
When you were talking about your mother's dining room, the mistake was yours. When there is a piece that is loved, the good designer works to incorporate that piece into the design as an integral part of the whole. When it is a formal piece like that, and I must say it is both beautiful and quite new if only 30 years old, an eclectic, even eccentric layering of accessories is the way to go. The best of English Country House design, where each generation adds to the collection and it all works because everything is always the best of its kind. Nothing stands out; it blends.

What if you never use the formal dining room….what alternatives could we use that room for? A small library, a craft area, game room?

I can't install ceiling lights in my apartment. Now what? How can I fix this?!

What if you need a fan on the ceiling above the table and you hate fans with lights? How do you then place the lights?

Been wanting to switch out my rug as the color no longer work (moved into a house with an open concept layout). Happy I watched this so I can increase the rug size as well. Thanks Jilie!😊

How is it possible to do a virtual consult? Thanks!

I love your content, Julie! What if you have no walls at all? 2 sides are windows, 1 side is a bar cabinet area, and final side is a walkway that separates dining table area from family room! No place for a mirror or a focal point! 😢 Any suggestions?

Julie does the 36 inch rule include the space taken by a wall cabinet, or should the table edge be 36 inches from fhe outer edge of fhe wall cabinet?

Excellent analysis, with so many diverse and intriguing examples.

Thanks for the video! For the rug, does each side of the dining table need 3' of space on the rug for the chairs? So 3'+3'+dining table width is the minimum dimension of the rug. What if I only have 2.5'? I have a 8x10 rug for a 10'x19' space and a 3' deep table.

is it just me or do none of these sample pictures follow the 36" from wall rule? 🤔

My 6 feet 3 table is about 31 inches wide and it fits the golden rules on room size but I’m a bit worried it’s too narrow! Would fit about 10 people around. From your experience how would that work out? I typically would have at most 5 people around on a twice monthly basis, but every few months 10 people!

I was hoping to see something on the height of the dining table and perhaps different types (those that can be modified to be smaller or larger to fit small/large spaces)

First choice = Eero Saarinen

Enjoying your videos very much— currently working on remodeling my house. My front door opens to my dining room then to a hallway. Any tips for this to keep it Feng shui

Beautiful pictures of dining areas!

Hi Julie, I have watched many of your videos for the last couple of years as I am finally, after many years of investing in my business, building my dream home. After 15 years of delaying and living in my current house (a modest but decent one), I broke ground last week. As you can imagine, I purchased all of my furniture over twenty years, all the things I passionately love, and put them in storage. Many changes and house plans have evolved since the original floor plan, and due to the economy and the fact that I am single, I have reduced my square footage footprint. My style is traditional, romantic, and Mediterranean, with a few rooms more 1950s contemporary; reducing the structure has caused many more interior design challenges, and my rooms will have a more eclectic feel. Your advice has helped me solve many of my design challenges, and I have two questions. First, I have Steven Handelman Studios creating three pendants styled after a photo I found in Europe. I want them over my dining room table. The salesperson there would not give recommended measurements for the commissioned pendants and said it's whatever you want to do. I get that, but I would like a guidance or rule of thumb number. The room is 14.2 by 22.9. My dining table is 49 W and 133 L. The ceiling height is 10 feet. What size fixture should I use? I am planning to place three pendants that are 18 W, but I need to know how long they should be from the top of the pendant to the bottom. I do not wish to make a design mistake, as these will not be returnable since they are custom-made. Also, I am putting the two wall sconces in the room with the three pendants. The measurements are 11 W and 21 H. Finally, how do I reach you to find out the rates for an online hour consultation session?

Great tips Julie!

Thanks Julie this video is just on time,coz i ordered a round dining table,now i have the idea what kind of light match on it 😀

Hi Julie! Is it a dining room mistake to put a 7ft bookshelf in the dining room? Lacking space in my home but need to put away more books and wanted to know if we would ruin the space by adding a bookshelf.

You are very knowledgeable!!!

Excellent tips for the dining room. I'm not sure about the matchy-matchy dining chairs. I've seen different head chairs at a dining table and I like the look, but all matching chairs really makes a statement, too, as shown in all of your dining room pictures. Maybe it depends on the type of table. I learned that a large statement piece of art or sconces on the wall that is seen when you walk into the room will really define the space! Thank you for that tip! And yes, I'd love to see paint colors for different types of wood.

One thing I personally don’t like, are tables over 29.5 inches tall. The last time we went out to eat, I had to lift my arms just to reach the plate. I felt like a kid. I understand that the human race is getting taller, but if you are a short family, don’t go past 29.5 inches! 😅

I like matching furniture. To me, mismatched seems like I can’t afford a set and thrifted random pieces. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE thrifting, but the mismatch furniture is a no for me. To me, a light oak table with black chairs are a match IF the table legs are black, for example. Or upholstered chairs “match” a table if the legs are the same wood and stain as the table.

At the playground, i avoid the ones who pretend to cry 👀to get what they want or remission a wicked larger plan.

That pink room with green chairs looked awesome, don't care if the colour wall doesn't match the furniture. Also, based on the photos towards the end of the video, it looks like one round pendant light would be suitable for a rectangular dining table; not necessarily having to have two or more lights in that space.

Any tips for a renter with a rectangular space and a single light fixture? The light fixture isn’t a perfect fit with a rectangular table

Always enjoy your videos! Thankyou Julie.I was hoping you would say something about the chairs too...I want to purchase a table with 82" between the legs & have 6 chairs facing each other.None on the end of table.The chairs I have purchased are 20" wide with a sled base width of 23"---(These are actually office reception chairs like you!) So will these chairs fit ok under this 82" table space comfortably?

Thanks for the video!! This was very helpful and has stopped me from going through with several of these mistakes.

Is it 36 inches from wall to table or 36 inches from wall to chair (when its pulled out). Should that 36 inches be empty all the way?

Hi Julie. I have space constraints in my new serviced residence. Would like to hear your thoughts whether it is a good idea to get a small kitchen island with pull out dining table.

My gosh! You look beautiful! Black is your colour 🙂