How do you choose dining chairs that are comfortable for two hours, not just two minutes? Day 8 of the room challenge starts Week 2 with the piece you’ll feel most: the chairs. Seat height, width, depth and arms, measured the way I do for clients.
Day 8: my Dining Chair Fit Guide, with every measurement I check.
YOUR DESIGN GUIDE | ROOM CHALLENGE | DAY 8
Welcome to Day 8.
Week 2 starts today, and we start with the piece you’ll feel most: the chairs.
A dining chair can look perfect in a photo and still be miserable by dessert. Too low, too shallow, arms that bump the table. When guests linger at your table, it’s almost always because the chairs are comfortable.
So today we choose chairs the way I do for clients, with a tape measure first and the look second.
If you’d love a designer’s eye on your own dining space, my $397 Complete Room Design gives you a furniture plan, furnishing selections, a paint palette and a resource list for one room.
What should I measure before buying dining chairs? Measure your table first: the height from the floor to the underside of the tabletop, and the height of the apron if your table has one. Every chair decision comes back to those two numbers.
How much space should there be between the seat and the table? My Dining Chair Fit Guide uses a 10 to 12 inch gap between the top of the seat and the underside of the table.
What seat height and depth are comfortable for a dining chair? The fit guide shows a seat height of 17 to 19 inches and a seat depth of 16 to 20 inches.
What else does the full Day 8 lesson cover? How to check whether armchairs will slide under your table, chair widths and spacing so everyone has room, and my rules for mixing chairs so they look planned, not random.
Read more on Substack: follow along with the room challenge, or subscribe for all the perks, including the full Day 8 guide.
Before you buy anything new, shop your own house. Day 7 of the room challenge is catch-up day, plus my Keep, Move, Sell or Donate method: the 10-second sort I use to decide what stays in a room.
Day 7: my Keep, Move, Sell or Donate guide, the 10-second sort.
YOUR DESIGN GUIDE | ROOM CHALLENGE | DAY 7
Welcome to Day 7.
You made it through the first week. Take a breath.
Today is for catching up. If you missed a day, this is the day to finish it. Your photos, your direction words, your job list, your measurements, your table math, your tape test. All of it builds on the last step, so it’s worth having in place before Week 2.
And if you’re all caught up, we do one of my favorite designer moves: we shop your own house first.
Step 1: Catch up on Week 1
Here’s your quick checklist. Tick off what’s done and finish what isn’t:
Day 1: three photos, the worksheet and your one dinner
Day 2: your three direction words and your north star image
Not sure what to keep and where it should go? Book an online design consultation: send me photos and your questions, and I’ll give you written feedback on layout, paint colors, finishes and which pieces deserve a place in your room.
What does it mean to shop your own house? Before you buy anything new for a room, you look at what you already own, in that room and in the rest of the house, and decide what can stay, what can move in from another room, and what can go.
What is the keep, move, sell or donate method? It’s a quick sort for every piece in your space. Each item goes into one of four piles: keep it here, move it to another room, sell it, or donate it. I call it the 10-second sort.
Should I buy anything new during this step? Not yet. The one rule for this week is nothing new until the Keep pile is placed.
What else does the full Day 7 lesson cover? The 10-second rule, the three Keep questions that make every decision easy, what sells best and how to photograph it so it sells faster.
Read more on Substack: follow along with the room challenge, or subscribe for all the perks, including the full Day 7 guide.
Does your dining room flow? Day 6 of the room challenge is about dining room clearance: where people walk, where chairs pull out and where doors swing. Here’s the clearance map that makes a dining room easy to live in.
Day 6: my Dining Clearance Map, with every zone marked.
YOUR DESIGN GUIDE | ROOM CHALLENGE | DAY 6
Welcome to Day 6.
You know your measurements from Day 4, and you know what size table your room can hold from Day 5.
Today we look at the space around the table, which is where most dining rooms quietly go wrong.
You’ve been in a dining room where you had to turn sideways to get to your seat, or where the door bumped the back of a chair every time someone came in. The table was fine. The flow wasn’t. Let’s fix yours.
Step 1: Mark the chair pull-out zone
On your Day 4 sketch, draw a band about 24 to 36 inches deep around every side of the table where a chair sits. That’s the chair pull-out zone.
Nothing should live in it. Not a plant stand, not the corner of a sideboard, not a radiator cover you forgot about.
Now look at your room. Is anything sitting in that zone right now?
That’s usually the first thing to move. But the bigger fixes come next.
In this guide, you’ll get
The Dining Clearance Map: every zone, with the numbers
The walking path rule: 36 inches minimum, 42 to 48 ideal
The door swing check that saves your chairs (and your walls)
Why the kitchen-to-table path decides where you serve from
The painter’s tape test I use before anything gets bought
A printable Day 6 checklist plus a flow check worksheet to download
The rest of Day 6 is for paid members. Read the full post on Substack.
If you’d love a designer’s eye on your own dining space, my $397 Complete Room Design gives you a furniture plan, furnishing selections, a paint palette and a resource list for one room.
How much clearance do you need around a dining table? Plan on a chair pull-out zone of about 24 to 36 inches on every side of the table where a chair sits. Nothing should live in that zone.
How wide should a walkway be in a dining room? At least 36 inches. If people walk behind seated guests, 42 to 48 inches is the comfortable target.
What is the first thing to fix in a dining room that feels cramped? Look at what is sitting inside the chair pull-out zone, such as a plant stand or the corner of a sideboard, and move it. It’s usually the quickest win.
What else does the full Day 6 lesson cover? The door swing check, how the path from the kitchen decides where you serve from, the painter’s tape test I use before anything gets bought, and a printable checklist and flow worksheet.
Read more on Substack: follow along with the room challenge, or subscribe for all the perks, including the full Day 6 checklist and flow check worksheet.
What size dining table do you need? Day 5 of the room challenge is the table math I do for every client: one simple formula for the widest dining table your room can hold, and how many people it will really seat.
Day 5: my Table Math Cheat Sheet. Keep it on your phone for when you shop.
YOUR DESIGN GUIDE | ROOM CHALLENGE | DAY 5
Welcome to Day 5.
Yesterday you measured in Day 4. Today those numbers start working for you.
This is the day I wish every client had done before they fell in love with a table in a showroom. A table can be beautiful and still be wrong for the room, and you only find out when you can’t pull out a chair.
So let’s do the math. It’s easier than it sounds, and it takes about ten minutes. If you haven’t written down how you use the room yet, Day 3 is the place to start.
Step 1: Find your widest dining table size
Take the width of your dining space from your Day 4 sketch and subtract 72 inches.
Room width − 72″ = the widest table that fits.
Why 72? You need at least 36 inches on each side of the table for chairs to pull out and people to get by. So a room that’s 120 inches wide can hold a table up to 48 inches wide. A room that’s 108 inches wide, up to 36.
Do the same with the length of the room. Now you have the biggest table your room can comfortably hold.
That’s the limit. But it isn’t always the right size.
In this guide, you’ll get
The Table Math Cheat Sheet, ready to save on your phone
How many people each table shape and size really seats
The clearance rules I use: 24, 36 and 42 to 48 inches
When to choose round, oval, square or rectangle
The pedestal trick that squeezes in one more chair
A printable Day 5 checklist plus a table math worksheet to download
The rest of Day 5 is for paid members. Read the full post on Substack.
If you’d love a designer’s eye on your own dining space, my $397 Complete Room Design gives you a furniture plan, furnishing selections, a paint palette and a resource list for one room.
How do I know what size dining table fits my room? Take your room width and subtract 72 inches. That number is the widest table that fits. Do the same with the length.
Why subtract 72 inches? You need at least 36 inches on each side of the table so chairs can pull out and people can get by.
What table fits a 120-inch-wide room? A table up to 48 inches wide. A room that is 108 inches wide fits a table up to 36 inches wide.
Is the biggest table that fits the right one? Not always. That’s the limit, not the answer. The full Day 5 lesson covers how many people each shape really seats, my clearance rules and when to choose round, oval, square or rectangle.
Read more on Substack: follow along with the room challenge, or subscribe for all the perks, including the full Day 5 cheat sheet, checklist and worksheet.
Before you pick a single piece, you measure. Day 4 of the room challenge is how to measure a dining room the way I do it for clients, once and properly, so you don’t end up with the wrong table, the wrong rug or the wrong light.
Day 4 guide: my dining room clearance numbers. These are the spaces your measurements have to leave room for.
YOUR DESIGN GUIDE | ROOM CHALLENGE | DAY 4
Welcome to Day 4.
You’ve looked at your room, chosen your direction in Day 2 and written down how you really use the space in Day 3.
Now, before we pick a single piece, we measure.
I know. It’s the least exciting day of the month. It’s also the one that saves you the most money. Nearly every returned dining table I’ve seen was a measuring problem, not a style problem. So today we do it the way I do it for clients, once and properly.
Today’s guides: my clearance numbers (above), plus my table-size-by-seats chart, rug and light sizing, and my measuring checklist, with a printable checklist and plan sheet in the full post.
Step 1: Gather your tools to measure your dining room
You need three things:
A 25-foot tape measure
Graph paper (one square = 6 inches)
A pencil, not a pen
Write every number in inches, not feet and inches. It sounds fussy, but it’s how you avoid the “was that 7’4″ or 74 inches?” mistake later.
Start at the floor and measure wall to wall in both directions. Write those two numbers in big letters at the top of the page.
Those two numbers matter. But they’re not the ones that usually ruin a plan.
In this guide, you’ll get
My dining room clearance guide: the space chairs, walkways and doors really need
My table size by seats chart, so you know what your room can hold
My rug and light sizing guide for the space over and under the table
My Designer’s Checklist: the 6 measurements I take in every dining room
How to draw door swings and mark outlets, vents and the ceiling light box
A printable Day 4 checklist plus a graph-paper plan sheet to download
The rest of Day 4 is for paid members. Read the full post on Substack.
What do I need to measure my dining room? A 25-foot tape measure, graph paper (one square = 6 inches) and a pencil, not a pen.
Should I measure in feet or inches? Inches. Write every number in inches so you never mix up 7’4″ and 74 inches later.
Where do I start? At the floor. Measure wall to wall in both directions and write those two numbers in big letters at the top of the page.
Is the room size the only number that matters? No. Those two numbers matter, but they’re not the ones that usually ruin a plan. The full Day 4 lesson covers clearances, table size by seats, rug and light sizing and the 6 measurements I take in every dining room.
Read more on Substack: follow along with the room challenge, or subscribe for all the perks, including the full Day 4 guides and checklist.
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.
Day 1 of the dining room challenge: before you measure, move or buy anything for your dining space, you look. Three photos, five questions, one honest score.
This is the step almost everyone skips. They go straight to “I need a new table” or “I need a bigger rug,” and they buy the fix before they know the problem.
When I walk into a client’s dining room, I don’t start with ideas. I start by looking. Today, you’re going to do the same.
Day 1: before you change anything, look at the room around the table: the table, the chairs, the light and the rug.
Step 1: Take three photos of your dining space
Don’t tidy first. We want the room the way you actually live in it.
From the doorway, the view you see when you walk in.
From the far corner, looking back toward the door or kitchen.
Straight on, at table height. Sit in the chair you use most and take the photo from there.
Here’s why: a photo shows you what your eye has stopped seeing. The light that hangs off-center. The rug that ends under the chairs. The sideboard wall that’s been bare since you moved in.
Look at your three photos side by side. Something will jump out at you right away.
That first reaction is useful. But it’s usually not the real problem.
What the full Day 1 lesson covers
In this guide, you’ll get:
The Day 1 worksheet (a printable page you’ll use again on Day 30)
The “what’s bothering you” checklist: the 6 problems I see most in dining spaces
The everyday vs. hosting test, so you plan for how you really use the room
The one-dinner plan: the date and headcount everything this month works toward
The rest of today’s lesson, with the five questions and the honest score, is for paid members on Substack.
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.
Should I tidy my dining room before I take the photos? No. Don’t tidy first. The point is to see the room the way you actually live in it, so the photos show what your eye has stopped seeing.
Which three photos do I take? One from the doorway, the view you see when you walk in; one from the far corner, looking back toward the door or kitchen; and one straight on at table height, from the chair you use most.
Why look at photos instead of just looking at the room? A photo shows you what your eye has stopped seeing: a light that hangs off-center, a rug that ends under the chairs, a sideboard wall that’s been bare since you moved in.
Do I need to buy anything on Day 1? No. Day 1 is about looking, not buying. Most people buy the fix before they know the problem, and this step is how you avoid that.
Read more on Substack: follow along with the challenge, or subscribe for all the perks and the daily lessons.
The November Room Redesign Challenge starts today. Here’s how this dining room challenge works, and the one thing to do before Day 1.
YOUR DESIGN GUIDE | ROOM CHALLENGE | DAY 0
Welcome to November.
And welcome to the Dining Nooks + Dining Rooms challenge.
We are not starting by shopping for a new table.
We’re starting with the one you already have.
Because the most common thing I see in dining rooms is a room planned around a purchase. Someone falls in love with a table, buys it, and then tries to make the rug, the light and the chairs work around it.
Sometimes that works.
A lot of the time, the table is the wrong size, the light is hanging over the wrong spot, and the chairs scrape the wall every time someone sits down.
So this month, we’re doing it the way I’d approach a real design project: first we look, then we measure, then we plan, and only after that do we decide what (if anything) is worth buying.
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.
Thirty days, one short lesson a day. Thanksgiving lands on Day 25, so your dining room is ready first.
How the dining room challenge works
Every day from tomorrow, I’ll publish one short written lesson with one clear next step. Most take 15 to 30 minutes.
Week 1 (Days 1–7): Figure out what you’re working with. Photos, your design direction, shopping your own house, measuring, the table math and the flow.
Week 2 (Days 8–14): Build the dining plan. Chairs, banquettes, the rug, the light, and your own dining board.
Week 3 (Days 15–21): Color, walls + storage. Paint, wall finishes, art, windows and the sideboard.
Week 4 (Days 22–25): Get ready to host. The dinner plan, the table setting, the centerpiece and the buffet.
Final days (26–30): Finish it like a designer. Mix old and new, edit, and make your final shopping list.
There’s a catch-up day at the end of each week, so if Tuesday gets away from you, you won’t fall behind.
You can follow along daily or go at your own pace. The lessons stay in the archive.
What we’ll cover this month
Things like:
how big your table should really be
round, oval or rectangle
chairs that are comfortable for a long dinner
when a banquette beats chairs
the rug size that keeps chairs on the rug
how big the light should be, and how high to hang it
a color story for the room
art and the sideboard wall
storage for dishes and linens
setting a table that feels like you
a centerpiece people can talk over
And plenty of small things that make a surprisingly big difference.
Lowering a light six inches.
Swapping the two end chairs for a pair that doesn’t match.
Turning the table.
Moving a rug that’s two sizes too small to another room.
Sometimes the fix isn’t expensive.
It’s just something you wouldn’t have thought to change.
A round table with mixed chairs: one of the ideas we'll test in your own room in Week 2.
Print your dining room checklist
If you haven’t yet, grab the free Dining Nook + Dining Room Checklist (it’s linked in the challenge welcome post). It has what to measure, the clearances that make a table comfortable, the rug and lighting rules, and a hosting list for the week before Thanksgiving. We’ll use it all month.
Your one thing for today
Clear the table.
All of it. The mail, the laptop, the fruit bowl, the stack of things that “live” there.
Don’t style it, and don’t tidy the rest of the room. Just clear the table, so tomorrow we can see the room honestly.
Then tell me in the comments on Substack: what kind of dining space are you working with, and what’s the one thing that bothers you most about it?
I read every comment, and your answers help me shape the lessons ahead.
Tomorrow is Day 1. We start with photos, a fresh look at your space, and figuring out how you really use it before we change a thing.
Days 1–30 are for paid subscribers: $9 a month or $90 a year. Free gives you the ideas. Paid gives you the plan.
From my shop
Want a head start on Day 2, when we find your dining direction? The Big Book of Mood Boards has 140+ finished boards for every room of the home, plus a holiday section, to help you see what you like before you buy a thing.
The Big Book of Mood Boards: 140+ finished boards for every room.
If you’d rather talk your dining room through with a designer before you buy anything, book an online design consultation with me. Bring your photos and measurements, and we’ll sort out the table, the rug and the light together.
Do I need to buy a new dining table for this challenge? No. We start with the table you already have. First we look, then we measure, then we plan, and only after that do we decide what (if anything) is worth buying.
What if I only have a breakfast nook or a corner off the kitchen? It counts. 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 works for this challenge.
How much time does each lesson take? One short written lesson a day, with one clear next step. Most take 15 to 30 minutes, and there’s a catch-up day at the end of each week.
Will my dining room be ready for Thanksgiving? That’s the plan. Thanksgiving lands on Day 25, and Week 4 is all about getting ready to host: the dinner plan, the table setting, the centerpiece and the buffet.
Read more on Substack: follow along with the challenge, or subscribe for all the perks and the daily lessons.
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.
The open-plan problem, and five ways to fix it without building a wall.
YOUR DESIGN GUIDE | ROOM CHALLENGE
In September we worked on the living room. In November we move to the dining room.
But in a lot of homes, those aren’t two rooms. They’re one.
The sofa faces one way. The table sits a few feet behind it. There’s no wall, no doorway, nothing that says where one stops and the other starts. You’ve styled the coffee table, you’ve hung the art, and the whole space still feels unfinished.
That isn’t a styling problem. It’s a zoning problem. And since it sits right between our two challenges, let’s solve it today: how to define the living and dining zones in an open floor plan.
Why open floor plans feel unfinished
A closed room comes with edges. Four walls tell your eye where the room begins and ends.
An open room has none of that, so your eye keeps traveling. The sofa floats. The table looks like it’s waiting for something. Pieces that would look great on their own look scattered together.
The fix isn’t more furniture. It’s two steps:
Give each area its own edges.
Tie the areas together so it still reads as one home.
One room, three jobs. On the floor plan, every zone gets its own spot before anything gets styled.
5 ways to define a zone without a wall
1. Give each zone its own rug
A rug is the fastest wall you’ll ever build. It draws the boundary right on the floor.
One rug for the seating area. One under the table.
Leave bare floor between them. If the rugs touch or overlap, the two zones blur back into one.
They don’t have to match. They should be related: one shared color, or the same tones in a different pattern.
Under the table, the rug has to be big enough that the chairs stay on it when someone pulls out to sit down.
2. Let the furniture be the wall
You don’t need a wall when the furniture can do the job.
Float the sofa with its back to the dining area. The back of the sofa becomes the line.
Put a console table behind it, at or just under the height of the sofa back. A pair of lamps there lights both sides.
An open bookcase or shelving unit divides the space without blocking light.
Keep any divider low or open. A tall, solid piece in the middle of an open room makes it feel smaller, not more defined.
3. Light each zone on its own
Light is how a zone says “I’m a room” after dark.
Center the fixture over the table, not over the room. If the electrical box is off to one side, a ceiling hook can swag the light over to where the table actually sits.
The living side gets lamps at seated height, not one overhead light trying to cover everything.
Put the two zones on separate switches or dimmers if you can. At dinner, dim the living side and the dining area becomes its own room.
4. One focal point per zone
Each zone gets one thing that pulls your eye.
Living: the fireplace, the TV wall or one large piece of art. Face the seating toward it.
Dining: let the table be the focal point. The fixture above it and the art behind it support it.
A console with art on the wall between the zones can be a secondary focal point. It gives your eye a place to rest on the way from one zone to the other.
They should complement each other, not compete. If everything is big and bold, your eye ping-pongs back and forth. Let one lead and the others support.
Same pieces, more intentional space. One main focal point in each zone, with supporting accents around it.
5. Carry 2–3 colors across both zones
Edges separate. Color connects.
You already know your color story. In an open room, the job is to carry it across the line.
Choose 2–3 main colors.
Make each one show up on both sides: a pillow and the chair cushions, a rug tone and the dining art, the wood of the coffee table and the wood of the table.
Keep metals consistent too. Brass lamps in the living area and a black chandelier at the table can work, as long as each finish appears more than once.
Three open living and dining room layouts that work
Most open rooms fall into one of these. Where your windows, TV and kitchen are decides which one is yours.
Side by side. Living at one end, dining at the other, along the long wall. Best for long rooms with windows on one side.
Front to back. The sofa faces away from the table and its back becomes the divider. Best for deep rooms.
Angled or L-shaped. The zones turn a corner, and the rugs, lighting and furniture placement do the dividing.
One rule for all three: the dining zone goes closest to the kitchen. Always. No one wants to carry a hot dish around the sofa.
Four ways to arrange one big room. Every one keeps the main walkway at least 36 inches wide.
Keep the path out of the conversation
This is the step most people skip, and it’s why so many open rooms feel busy.
People need to get from the front door to the kitchen, and from the kitchen to the table. That path should run between your zones, never through the middle of the seating area.
Main walkway: 30–36 inches clear, and 36 if you have the room.
Behind the dining chairs: 30–36 inches minimum, so someone can walk behind a seated guest.
The test: if people cut between the sofa and the coffee table to get to the kitchen, the layout is working against you. Turn the sofa or slide the table until the path goes around.
(If you did the sprint, this is the same idea as measuring your walkways, applied to two zones at once.)
The two numbers worth taping to your floor: the main path and the walkway behind the dining chairs.
Your pre-November assignment
Five steps. About 30 minutes. Do them before Day 1 and you’ll start November ahead.
Photograph the space from the corner where you can see the most of it. That’s your before.
Tape the zones. Mark where each area starts and stops on the floor with painter’s tape. Then walk your everyday path. Does it cut through the seating?
Check the light. Is the fixture centered over the table? If not, write that down. It goes on your November list.
Test a rug. Borrow one from another room and lay it where a dining or living rug would go. See how much the edge changes.
Move one piece to create a boundary: turn the sofa, pull out a console, shift a bookcase.
Then take an after photo from the same corner. Put the two side by side. You’ll see it.
Sample layouts, a quick list of do’s and don’ts, and palettes that carry color from one zone to the next.
A final thought
An open plan isn’t harder to decorate. It just asks you to make a few more decisions, in the right order.
Edges first. Then the path. Then the light. Then the color that ties it together.
That order is the whole idea behind the 30-Day Room Redesign Challenge. One decision a day, and each one builds on the last. November’s room is Dining Nooks + Dining Rooms: we take the dining zone you just defined and finish it, the table, the chairs, the light, the rug, the walls and the dinner you’re planning to host.
Jill
Want the whole house planned this way?
My Complete Home Design Guide ($47) puts the layouts, dimensions, color and lighting for every room in one 151-page PDF, so you can zone your open plan with the numbers in front of you.
If your open living and dining room still feels like one big unfinished space, I can design it for you: the layout, the zones, the lighting and a shopping list, all done online.
How do you separate a living room and dining room in an open floor plan? Give each zone its own edges: a rug for each area with bare floor between them, the back of the sofa or a console as the dividing line, and its own light. Then carry 2–3 colors across both zones so it still reads as one home.
Should the rugs in an open living and dining room match? They don’t have to match. They should be related: one shared color, or the same tones in a different pattern. Keep bare floor between them so the zones don’t blur together.
How much walkway space do you need in an open floor plan? Keep the main walkway 30–36 inches clear (36 if you have the room) and leave 30–36 inches behind the dining chairs so someone can walk behind a seated guest. The path should run between the zones, never through the seating area.
Where should the dining table go in an open plan? Closest to the kitchen, every time. Then center the light fixture over the table, not over the room.
Read more on Substack: subscribe free for more room fixes like this, or upgrade to join the November challenge and get all the perks.
