How to choose your perfect dining room furniture

Dining rooms are often the most formal area of the house, sometimes abandoned in-between holidays to gather dust. Sometimes though they’re a hive of activity, becoming what anyone needs it to be in-between mealtimes.

How do you choose dining room furniture with all of this to keep in mind? That’s what we’re helping you with today! We look at dining room essentials, storage, upholstery, and more.

When it comes to dining tables and chairs, there are so many options that there’s almost too many. The variety of interior design styles, upholstery fabrics, paint colours and material options (wood? What kind of wood?) can be dizzying.

Clever furniture tips for multifunctional dining rooms

If you’re like us, your dining room becomes almost a Room of Requirement, being all things to all people. A dining table often does double duty as a crafting space, for example, or a boardgame playground. It could house your work from home setup, as well as a library to help you with your university exams.

If this is the case, then understandably you want to choose furniture carefully, and be clever in your requirements, so that each piece earns its place in such a dynamic space.

1. Consider different styles of furniture. Consider versatile pieces that can be used in other rooms as well, such as bench-style seating or trestle tables.
2. Put a sideboard in the spotlight. Sideboards and dressers add pazazz to a space and are mighty storage workhorses too. Their ability to store items doesn't end at wine bottles, plates, and cutlery: they can be roped into service to store craft materials, work documents and study resources. Maybe invest in a vintage sideboard or dresser as your dining room's centrepiece, rather than the table itself.
3. Think of it as a moveable feast: Chairs with castors can easily be moved around the house if needed.
4. Time to hideaway. If you use your dining room as an office space, then look for storage options built into custom cabinetry, or desks that fold up against the wall – literally sending the workday to the corner for the evening.
5. Quality is everything. Choose upholstery, drapery, counter tops, floors, light fittings & more with proven durability & cleanability certifications for longer-lasting, fresher materials.
6. Every item needs to earn its place: and upholstery is no different. Choosing the right upholstery fabric for your dining room chairs is important too. If you love entertaining guests but hate cleaning up after them, then it's probably best to go with a performance fabric like FibreGuard. This kind of material is stain-resistant, so spills won't be a problem - and if something does happen, simply wipe it away with water!

FibreGuard’s performance fabrics are ideal for lively dining rooms

Our fabrics are particularly perfect for dining room furniture because they're stain resistant and can easily be wiped clean. Unlike other fabrics, when spills happen at the table, simply wipe them up with ease!

This makes them an ideal choice for busy homes with kids or pets that like getting into trouble during mealtimes. In fact, FibreGuard fabrics are available for commercial spaces as well: they earn their keep in bars, restaurants, and hotels around the world.

All accidental stains can be removed using only water, but should you have a tougher stain, a small amount of standard, white, household soap, can be used. Keep in mind that immediate stain removal will ensure the best result.

We hope you’re feeling inspired to go out and find the perfect dining room furniture for your home. If you have any questions, or if there’s anything else we can help with, don't hesitate to reach out!