The room you have to plan for is the one you live in on a Tuesday, not just the one you picture on Thanksgiving. Day 3 of the room challenge is about how your dining room really gets used, because that is what a good dining room layout is built on.
My dining nook board and floor plan: plan the room around how you really use it.
YOUR DESIGN GUIDE | ROOM CHALLENGE | DAY 3
Welcome to Day 3.
On Day 1 you took your photos and scored the room. Yesterday, in Day 2, you chose your three direction words.
Today we get honest about what this room really does all week. Not what it’s supposed to do. What it actually does.
I ask every client the same question before I draw a single line: “Walk me through a normal day in here.” The answers always surprise them, and they shape the whole plan.
Step 1: Track one ordinary day in your dining room
Today (or tomorrow, if today’s already half over), notice every time someone uses the dining space. Jot it down on your phone as it happens:
Who sat there, and for how long?
What were they doing: eating, homework, working on a laptop, paying bills, wrapping gifts?
What got left on the table afterward?
Don’t judge any of it. A table that holds the mail and the homework is telling you something useful.
By tonight you’ll have a list. That list is more valuable than any picture on Pinterest.
In this guide, you’ll get
The room jobs list: every job your dining space does, written in one place
The “lands on the table” fix: a home for the things that always pile up
The everyday seat count vs. the holiday seat count, and why both matter
The keep / add / let go list your plan is built on
A printable Day 3 checklist plus a job list worksheet to fill in
The rest of Day 3 is for paid members. Read the full post on Substack.
Why track how you use your dining room before planning it? Because the plan has to fit the room you live in on a Tuesday. Before I draw a single line, I ask every client to walk me through a normal day in the room, and the answers shape the whole plan.
What should I write down? Who sat there and for how long, what they were doing (eating, homework, a laptop, bills, wrapping gifts) and what got left on the table afterward.
What if my dining table is always covered in mail and homework? Don’t judge it. A table that holds the mail and the homework is telling you something useful, and the full Day 3 lesson gives those things a home.
Do I plan seating for every day or for the holidays? Both matter. Day 3 compares your everyday seat count with your holiday seat count so the room works for a Tuesday and for Thanksgiving.
Read more on Substack: follow along with the room challenge, or subscribe for all the perks, including the full Day 3 lesson and worksheet.
Day 2 of the dining room challenge: before you measure a wall or buy a thing, you choose a direction for your dining room style. Three words for how this room should feel.
YOUR DESIGN GUIDE | ROOM CHALLENGE | DAY 2
Welcome to Day 2.
Yesterday you looked hard at the room you have: three photos, one honest score and the one dinner this month is working toward (if you missed it, start with Day 1: Start With the Dining Space You Already Have).
Today, before we measure a wall or move a chair, we decide where we’re going.
This is the step people want to rush. But every dining room that really works starts with a direction, not a shopping list. Without one, you end up with a table you like, chairs you like and a rug you like, and a room that still doesn’t feel like anything.
Day 2: a direction is what makes the table, the chairs and the light belong together.
Step 1: Gather 10 to 15 dining rooms you love
Open Pinterest, a magazine or your saved photos and pull 10 to 15 dining rooms or nooks that make you stop. Don’t overthink it, and don’t worry about budget yet.
Choose quickly. If you have to talk yourself into it, skip it.
Mix it up: big dining rooms, small nooks, a restaurant or hotel you loved.
Include one you could never live with. It helps more than you’d think.
Lay them out side by side, the way you did with your photos yesterday.
Nooks count too. Save the cozy corners you love, not just the big dining rooms.
Here’s what most people don’t expect: the rooms you love have far more in common than you think.
In the full Day 2 lesson, you’ll get
The 3-word direction method I use with every client
The “what repeats” scan, with my Dining Nook and Built-In Banquette guides
24 direction words, plus my own breakfast room board as an example
The one-image test that tells you if a piece belongs in your room
Need more dining rooms to pull from? The Big Book of Mood Boards has 140+ designer-made boards for every room, each with the pieces that make it work, so finding your direction gets a lot easier.
The Big Book of Mood Boards: 140+ designer-made boards for every room.
If you’d love a designer’s eye on your own dining room, my $397 Complete Room Design gives you a furniture plan, furnishing selections, a paint palette and a resource list for one room, all done online.
The $397 Complete Room Design: a full plan for one room, done online.
What is a dining direction? It’s how you want the room to feel, decided before you shop. A direction is what makes the table, the chairs and the light belong together, instead of three pieces you like that never become a room.
How many inspiration photos should I gather? Ten to 15 dining rooms or nooks that make you stop. Choose quickly; if you have to talk yourself into one, skip it.
Why include a room I could never live with? Knowing what you don’t want sharpens what you do. It helps more than you’d think.
Do small dining nooks count? Yes. Save the cozy corners you love, not just the big dining rooms, and mix in a restaurant or hotel you loved.
Read more on Substack: follow along with the challenge, or subscribe for all the perks and the daily lessons. New here? Start with Day 0.
Last call to join, plus the table math I do before anyone buys a dining table.
The November Room Redesign Challenge starts this Sunday, November 1.
This month is Dining Nooks + Dining Rooms. A formal dining room, an open-plan dining area, a breakfast nook or one awkward corner off the kitchen: if it holds a table, it counts.
Before Day 1, I want to give you one lesson whether you join or not. It’s the first thing I do in any dining space, before anyone shops.
I do the table math.
One of the most common things I see is a beautiful table in the wrong size. Too big, and every chair scrapes the wall. Too small, and the room feels empty and the table looks lost. Both are fixable on paper, before you spend a dollar.
Every dining space starts with the same question: how much table actually fits here?
The numbers I start with
You only need a few. Write them on a sticky note.
36 inches from the table edge to the wall or the nearest piece of furniture, on every side where a chair pulls out.
42 to 48 inches on any side where people walk behind someone who’s seated. That’s usually the side facing the kitchen.
24 inches of table edge per person.
24 inches of rug beyond the table on every side, so the chairs stay on the rug when they’re pulled out.
½ to ⅔ of the table’s width for the diameter of the light above it, hung 30 to 36 inches above the tabletop.
That’s it. Now let’s use them.
Same room, two looks. Look at the floor plans: the formal side gets 42 inches behind the chairs, the everyday side with a bench gets 36.
Example 1: a 12′ x 13′ dining room
Here’s how I’d size a table for a room that’s 12 feet by 13 feet. That’s 144 inches by 156 inches.
Step 1: The table’s length. 156 inches, minus 36 on one end, minus 48 on the end where everyone walks through to the kitchen. That leaves 72 inches. A 6-foot table.
Step 2: The table’s width. 144 inches, minus 36 on each side, leaves 72. You don’t need a 72-inch-wide table, so this is your breathing room. A table 38 to 42 inches wide is comfortable. Let’s say 40.
Step 3: How many people. 72 inches of table edge divided by 24 inches per person = 3 chairs per side. That’s 6 comfortably, 8 with a chair at each end. Good news for Thanksgiving.
Step 4: The rug. Add 24 inches on every side of the table. 72 + 48 = 120 inches long. 40 + 48 = 88 inches wide. So an 8′ x 10′ rug works. A 5′ x 8′ is smaller than the table plus its chairs, so it’s too small.
Step 5: The light. ½ to ⅔ of a 40-inch-wide table is about 20 to 27 inches across. Hang the bottom of it 30 to 36 inches above the tabletop, and center it on the table, not the room.
Five steps. One sticky note. And now you know exactly what to shop for, and what to skip.
Example 2: a breakfast nook with a banquette
Small space? This is where a banquette earns its keep.
A banquette sits against the wall, so you don’t need clearance behind it. You only need clearance on the open sides.
Let’s use the setup from my banquette guide: a 78-inch L-shaped banquette in a corner and a 48-inch round table.
Step 1: The footprint. From each wall: about 20 inches of banquette seat, plus the 48-inch table, plus 36 inches of clearance on the open side. That’s about 104 inches, roughly 8′ 8″, in each direction.
Step 2: Compare it to chairs. The same table with chairs all the way around needs 36 + 48 + 36 = 120 inches, a full 10 feet, in each direction. The banquette saves you about 16 inches each way. In a small kitchen, that’s the difference between a nook and no nook.
Step 3: The seats. A 48-inch round with a banquette seats 4 to 6 people. Chairs go on the open sides, so people can get in and out.
Step 4: The heights. A standard 30-inch table pairs with an 18-inch banquette seat. Keep the banquette 18 to 20 inches deep so it’s comfortable without eating the floor.
Step 5: The light. ½ to ⅔ of 48 inches is 24 to 32 inches across. Or use a pair of sconces on the wall above the banquette if the ceiling box isn’t where the table is.
The numbers behind Example 2: 78-inch banquette, 48-inch round table, 36 inches on the open sides.A clean-lined banquette, a round table and one rich accent color. Notice how little floor this takes.
Round, oval or rectangle?
The math tells you the size. The room tells you the shape.
Round: square rooms, nooks and small spaces. No corners to bump, and everyone can see everyone.
Rectangle: long, narrow rooms. Follow the long direction of the room.
Oval: a long room that’s also tight. You get the length of a rectangle without the corners in the walkway.
Before you buy: the tape test
Once you have a size, test it on the floor.
Tape the table’s outline on the floor with painter’s tape.
Set your chairs around it.
Pull a chair all the way out, like you’re about to sit down. Does it hit the wall?
Walk around the table carrying a plate. Can you get past a chair with someone in it?
If anything feels tight, take 6 inches off the table and tape it again.
Ten minutes with tape is cheaper than a return.
Once the size is right, the style is the fun part. Same nook, warm and earthy or light and airy.
What happens in November
That’s one decision. In the challenge, we take it the whole way, one short lesson a day:
the table and chairs, starting with what you already own
the light over the table
the rug (or no rug)
the sideboard and the walls
a plan for the one dinner you’re hosting
Thanksgiving lands on Day 25, so your table is ready when your people arrive.
You don’t need a new dining set. We start with what you have and decide what’s worth replacing, if anything. The Entry + Living Room lessons stay in the archive for you too.
A final thought
Your dining table is where the conversations happen. It deserves a plan, not a guess.
If you’ve been meaning to join, this is the time. Become a paid subscriber before Sunday and you’ll be ready for Day 1. Free gives you the ideas. Paid gives you the plan. Here’s everything the November challenge includes.
Already a paid member? Thank you. I’ll see you on Sunday.
Jill
Plan it on paper first
If you like working this out on paper, my Drawing & Layout Library has 85 real floor plans and design drawings by room, including dining spaces, plus printable planning sheets and a short guide to reading design drawings, so you can sketch your table, chairs and clearances before you buy.
If you’d rather have me design your dining room with you, my Complete Room Design is my online design service for one room, $397. The table math above is exactly where I’d start.
How much space do you need around a dining table? 36 inches from the table edge to the wall or the nearest piece of furniture on every side where a chair pulls out, and 42 to 48 inches on any side where people walk behind someone who’s seated.
How do I know how many people a table seats? Allow 24 inches of table edge per person. A 72-inch table seats 3 per side: 6 comfortably, 8 with a chair at each end.
What size rug goes under a dining table? Add 24 inches to every side of the table so the chairs stay on the rug when they’re pulled out. For a 72 by 40 inch table, that’s an 8′ x 10′ rug.
How big should the light over a dining table be? About ½ to ⅔ of the table’s width across, hung 30 to 36 inches above the tabletop and centered on the table, not the room.
Read more on Substack: subscribe free for more room fixes like this, or upgrade for all the perks and the full November challenge.
If you’ve ever looked at your dining room, or the corner where a dining room is supposed to be, and thought:
We only use this table for mail. It doesn’t feel finished, but I don’t know what it needs. The light is wrong, the rug is wrong, and I can’t tell which to fix first. I have people coming for Thanksgiving and I’m not ready.
This month is for you.
The monthly 30-Day Room Redesign Challenge is back, and November is Dining Nooks + Dining Rooms, just in time for Thanksgiving and holiday hosting.
Instead of trying to redo the whole room the week before guests arrive, or buying a new table and hoping it fixes everything, we’ll take it one manageable step at a time.
I’ll walk you through the same process I use as an interior designer: understanding what isn’t working, figuring out the layout, making design decisions in the right order, and then choosing what actually makes sense for the room.
How to create a dining nook: the right table, comfortable seating, a properly scaled rug and lighting that anchors the space.
November: Dining Nooks + Dining Rooms
We begin November 1.
It doesn’t matter whether you have a formal dining room, an open-plan dining area, a breakfast nook or one awkward corner off the kitchen. If it holds a table, it counts.
You don’t need to start from scratch.
You don’t need a new dining set.
In fact, we’ll start with what you already have.
We’ll look at what works, what doesn’t, what can be moved or reused, and what (if anything) is worth replacing.
One short lesson a day, in the order I’d work through the room for a client:
Week 1: Figure Out What You’re Working With (Days 1–7)
Week 2: Build the Dining Plan (Days 8–14)
Week 3: Color, Walls + Storage (Days 15–21)
Week 4: Get Ready to Host (Days 22–25)
Final days: Finish It Like a Designer (Days 26–30)
Day 0, the kickoff, is free for everyone on November 1. Days 1–30 are for paid subscribers, one lesson a day through December 1.
Week 4 lands right before Thanksgiving on purpose. By the time you set the table, the room around it will be ready too.
One of my dining nook + kitchen selection boards. We’ll build yours in Week 2.
Get the free Dining Nook + Dining Room Checklist
Before Day 1, print this. It’s the two-page checklist I’d hand you if I walked into your dining room: what to measure, the clearances that make a table comfortable, the rug and lighting rules, and a hosting-ready list for the week before Thanksgiving.
It’s free. Join the challenge (or just follow along) and use it all month.
As a paid member of Your Design Guide, you’ll get:
The November Room Redesign Challenge: one actionable written lesson each day
Designer instructions instead of generic inspiration
Dining layout + table sizing guidance
Seating, banquette + chair help
Rug, lighting + scale rules
Color, paint + wall finish guidance
Art, storage + window treatment help
Table setting, centerpiece + buffet styling for the holidays
Guidance on what to keep, move, remove or replace
Shopping + sourcing guidance
Printable, checklist-style guides
Paid subscriber Chat for questions + community
The Design Toolkit, with my guides free while you’re subscribed
The full archive of challenges while subscribed, including September’s Entry + Living Room
How the challenge works
The format is simple.
Each day, I’ll publish one focused written lesson with a clear next step.
You can follow along daily or move through the lessons at your own pace. There’s a catch-up day at the end of each week.
Some days will be about planning.
Some will be about layout.
Some will be about the table, the chairs, the rug and the light.
And some will be about deciding what not to buy.
The idea is to take the overwhelm out of the room by breaking it into smaller decisions.
A built-in banquette can turn a corner into the most-used seat in the house. We cover banquettes on Day 9.
The order matters
One of the biggest reasons dining rooms go wrong is that people buy the table first and plan the room around it afterwards.
We’ll work through the room in a logical order:
Inspiration + direction
Inventory
Measurements
Layout: table, seating, rug, light
Color + walls
Selections + storage
Styling for hosting
By the time you start making purchases, you’ll have a much clearer idea of what the room actually needs.
Who this is for
The challenge is for you if:
your dining room has turned into a drop zone
you have a corner that could be a dining nook but isn’t
your table, rug and light don’t feel like they belong together
you’re hosting this season and want the room ready
you want professional design guidance without hiring a designer for a full-service project
you want to work with what you already own before buying more
you want a clear plan instead of more inspiration
You do not need a perfect home, a huge budget or a separate dining room.
You just need a table you want to gather around.
A breakfast room furnishings board: proof that a small dining spot can still feel designed.
Free vs. paid
Free subscribers will continue to receive design ideas, inspiration, practical tips and selected posts, plus the free Day 0 kickoff and the checklist.
Paid subscribers get the deeper guidance:
Free gives you the ideas. Paid gives you the plan.
That includes the monthly challenge, step-by-step lessons, subscriber-only resources, sourcing help, guides, Q&A and the full challenge archive while subscribed.
Know someone who’s hosting Thanksgiving this year? Send them this. The challenge is better with a friend working on their table the same week.
If your dining area is really a layout problem (the table blocks the walkway, nothing fits, you’re not sure where it should go), The Room Layout Fix is my step-by-step guide to planning the room before you buy anything.
If you’d rather hand your dining room to me, my Complete Room Design is the full plan done for you: two layout options, a concept board, paint colors and a shopping list with links, all designed online from your photos and measurements.
When does the November Room Redesign Challenge start? November 1. Day 0, the kickoff, is free for everyone; Days 1–30 are for paid subscribers, one lesson a day through December 1, with Week 4 landing right before Thanksgiving.
Do I need a separate dining room? No. A formal dining room, an open-plan dining area, a breakfast nook or one awkward corner off the kitchen all count. If it holds a table, it counts.
What should I buy first for a dining nook? Usually nothing yet. Most dining rooms go wrong when the table is bought first and the room is planned around it afterwards. Take inventory, measure, then plan the layout (table, seating, rug, light) before you shop.
Is there anything free? Yes: the Day 0 kickoff and the Dining Nook + Dining Room Checklist, a two-page list of what to measure, table clearances, rug and lighting rules and a hosting-ready list for the week before Thanksgiving.
