Roundtable Discussion

I love a good mix of style and pattern within a space.

When we moved our old dining room table to my design studio, I decided to replace it with a round one–to bring more flow into the room. There happened to be a circular, Palladian-style pedestal table in the family up for grabs. The table was dark and the leaves were damaged. I wasn’t sure where I was going with this one but the dimensions worked. I figured if we could mix it with interesting chairs it could be fun.

I found six Danish oak dining chairs by Henning Kjaernulf at an auction in Connecticut. The carved frames and high backs were traditional but had a modern, Scandinavian twist. We may reupholster them down the road but at the moment the red stripe is quite cute!

The original table is shown above. Our living room has a lot of dark wood, so I knew the table had to brighten up the space. We lacquered the top in Great White from Farrow & Ball. It has red undertones, with the slightest tinge of pink. Combined with the room’s dark wood, it creates a very sophisticated and modern feeling. There is a harmony between the different wood finishes, the red striped chairs and, mix of styles all working together.

Above is an image of the table after it was stripped. The round shape is a great space saver–it doesn’t dominate the room. I also love the intimacy of sitting at a round table. The leaves were warped from moisture. We remade them in matching cherry wood but instead of three we made two larger  ones so there’s less to store and move around.

Our dining room is a key spot in our home: a place for dinner, games, homework, and conversations. I designed a space that fits our casual, social, and somewhat hectic lifestyle.