MADE FOR GATHERING
“T
Dining Room
he dining room is a place for making memories,” says Marcelle Guilbeau of Marcelle Guilbeau Interior Design in Nashville, Tenn. Whether you need a formal setting for entertaining or a family-friendly enclave that’s casual enough for every day, “understanding your aesthetic and lifestyle creates a space that makes you feel alive.”
WILL IT STAY OR GO? First, let’s be honest: What do you love and what do you dislike about your current dining setup? The more you can keep and work with, the more you can budget for additional pieces. “If your furniture is tired, but good quality, it is amazing what you can do with just recovering or refinishing it,” Guilbeau notes. When it comes to replacing, “invest in the absolute best quality you can afford. You can’t go wrong with American handcrafted furniture in natural materials such as solid wood, stone or metal. It’s durable and will last decades if not a lifetime.”
PROVIDED BY MARCELLE GUILBEAU INTERIOR DESIGN
DEFINE YOUR DINING SPACE Feast on images in design magazines and on Pinterest. Your preferences will reveal your color palette, furniture style and how dressy or casual you want to go. Once you notice your dining flavor emerging, take a leap of faith. “A fresh coat of paint is instantly gratifying and an easy, cost-effective way to experiment,” Guilbeau says. If the table gets lost in an open-room plan, she suggests anchoring your furniture under an oversize chandelier. Create an accent wall with paint, wallpaper or stained wood paneling to distinguish the space. The dining room can brim with color, patterns, textures and materials that surprise and stimulate. “There aren’t any design
rules that can’t be broken in a dining room,” Guilbeau says.
SEATING MAKES THE SETTING
MARCELLE GUILBEAU MARCELLE GUILBEAU INTERIOR DESIGN Nashville, Tenn.
Known for: Soulful designs that reflect clients’ personal style and the things they’re most passionate about. Guilbeau creates designs that stir the senses and awaken the spirit. Inspired by life and all its imperfections, she listens to the heartbeat of a home and uses its rhythm to create livable spaces that redefine luxury. She is a featured designer on the Dering Hall website, which features highend home design, and has appeared in Domino, Curbed, Nashville Interiors, StyleBlueprint, Apartment Therapy and DesignSponge.
The table is the main course, the focal point of your space. Secondarily, if you have one, is the buffet (enhanced with a large mirror above, flanked by large pillar candles or lamps). Guilbeau says her traditionalist clients favor a farm table paired with cream linen-covered chairs. “Alternatively, I’m loving the trendy reuse of high-quality vintage and antique furniture,” she says. “Often you can find something gently used for a fraction of the cost. With a coat of paint, a little retouching or a reupholstery, they’re as good as new and infinitely unique. Currently, I’m refurbishing some vintage French dining chairs in a white wash — with a lush purple velvet.” The built-in banquette has become extremely fashionable, she adds, and not just for space constraints. Built-in seating creates warmth and comfort, making a cozy nook out of your dining space. In one client’s historic home with a parlor-turned-dining room, Guilbeau built a dining bench all the way across one wall with storage beneath.
FOCUS ON FINISHING TOUCHES Wainscots, wallpaper and ceiling treatments, such as wood beams or moulding, add depth and dimension to a dining room. Over time, add layers to your design using wallpaper, a painting technique like a faux finish, a beautiful rug and drapery. The biggest misstep is feeling like you have to tackle the whole room at once, says Guilbeau. “You really need to plan or place all of the furniture before locating a chandelier,” she says. “People often forget the buffet will nudge the table off-center.”
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