SETTING UP YOUR DINING ROOM? 5 THINGS YOU NEED TO CONSIDER…

Long-gone are the days when every home had a formal dining room that was saved for those special entertaining ‘occasions’, and sat collecting dust the rest of the year. Our dining rooms tend to be more informal and family-friendly these days, and buyers also prefer a stylish dining space that can be enjoyed with family and friends all year round. So my advice is to keep it simple and create a stylish space that connects with your buyers. Here are some great pointers.

Define the room

Make sure your dining room is clearly defined as an eating area. (The golden rule is ‘one room, one purpose’.) You need to keep it simple and make sure your buyers can clearly identify this space. The dining setting is the star and you should remove other pieces of furniture that make it confusing.

For example, I often see dining rooms that double as an office – with a desk and chair tucked in a corner (or a storage space … or even a kids’ playroom). All this does is highlight the fact that the property doesn’t have a home office (not usually a good thing!) – it’s a distraction for the buyer.

How many seats?

When styling your dining room for sale, the first question you need to ask yourself is, “Who is going to buy this home?” Is it a large, family home? Or is it better suited for young couples? How much seating will they need? Is it more of an ‘entertainers home’? Or will the new owners hang out in the local cafes more than at home? The answers to these questions will help ensure you use the right amount of dining seating – and don’t create possible buyer objections.

BONUS TIP: If you have a three bedroom family home, it’s a good rule of thumb to show a six-seater dining setting. For two bedrooms, allow two to four seats, and for a larger home (four to five bedrooms), eight seats is ideal.

Select an appropriate table

Once you have decided how many seats you need to accommodate to showcase your home, choose a dining table that fits the shape of the room well. Consider whether you need a long, narrow table or whether a different shape would work better. Just make sure that there is plenty of space around the table so that the room looks ‘effortlessly spacious’ and your buyers can easily walk around all sides.

BONUS TIP: Experiment with the position of the dining chairs too, as this can also significantly impact the perception of space in the room. For a six-seater setting, sometimes three chairs down either side of the table works well; and other times the room will look larger if you re-position the chairs so that there are two chairs down either side and one on either end.

Consider smaller spaces

A round table is a great choice for a smaller dining space (like an eat-in kitchen or for apartment living). You can fit more seating around a circular table than a square table of the same size and it keeps the traffic flow areas around the table open.

Add some light

Add some wow-factor by installing a pendant light over the table (or upgrade your existing one). This will add a good amount of light (which buyers always love) and also style. Just make sure you don’t over-spend on this item … because if you do splurge on an expensive piece, you will probably not recover the cost. There are many low-cost options available that still create a dramatic impact WITHOUT the expense.

Of course, if you would like some more help setting up your dining room (or any other room for that matter!) we’d love to work with you.

Get in touch here and let us know what you need.