Q: I'd love to get some ideas of what kind of dining furniture will go well will in my 1920's craftsman (larger photo below).
Sent by Rachel

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Comments (23)
A round pedestal table and some chairs?
Without likes/dislikes/personal style/budget - There's no appropriate answer.
AT Bloggers should really get more details before posting these types of questions...
anything but very ornate (victorian, filigree, colonial) should look nice. craftsman lines are a great "canvas" to start with--I have a craftsman home also, albeit without the great built-ins featured here in the kitchen, and I think our black & maple round pedestal looks great with the whites and greens in my dine-in kitchen.
Mission and Shaker furniture go well with the Craftsman style. Even though your woodwork is painted, take cues from its details - sturdy, with nice lines, but not ornate details.
How about whatever you like and suits your tastes? You have a blank slate here. This is an opportunity to create a space that reflects your personality.
Rachel - it's a beautiful room you should have fun with furniture. Arts & Crafts cries out for simplicity, natural materials and an honest approach to decor. I'd avoid the "arts and crafts" furniture route unless you want to look like a museum. Some will disagree but to me, modern, ie. chrome, plastic always feels a bit forced in an arts and crafts home.
I'd go for a simple pedestal or parsons table. Something with clean lines, probably painted since your oak floor is beautiful and should stand on its own. In terms of color, depending on how adventurous you are you might go a bit bolder as a way to bring a more modern aesthetic into your space.
Chairs should coordinate with the table but not necessarily match. Here it all depends on budget, you should go for a classic hans wegner wishbone chair or to ikea for the Saga or Bojne chair. There are dozens of stops in between, plus flea markets or garage sales. It all depends on how much you can spend and what kind of work your willing to put into finding a diamond in the rough.
Don't fill the room with furniture, take advantage of the beautiful floor, windows and built-ins to make your house shine.
Good luck and have fun.
Such a pretty, pretty space. Do you like Shabby Chic? You could do a round table with assorted mismatched chairs, or matched chairs with different fabric on each chair.
Or a pedestal table as already suggested. Is the room square?
Or a banquet like table with benches. How are you going to use the space? Is it daily dining, or a formal room?
Love your built ins.
I'd jump on Ebay and have a look. They have some very good deals going on right now.
what a great room! would love to see the rest of the house when you're finished. Personally i'd put a mcm simple clean wood oval or rectangle table or possibly an modern oval pedestal table. Chairs can be any style as long as they're not too ornate. You could buy vintage wood chairs in different styles(same seat height) and paint them all one neutral color.
I am officially green with envy! I'd love to find a 1920s bungalow in my area.
As for dining room furniture, I think that anything with beautiful lines in a beautiful wood, maybe a darker stained cherry to complement the floors, would be beautiful.
wow this place looks a lot like my apartment! i even have a similar built in cabinet painted white. We are always "decorating" our space. since we don't have a lot of money to spend on furniture most of what we have are hand me downs and craigslist finds. it makes for a fun eclectic mix of furniture that actually really works.
good luck! you're going to love the place!
I have the same dining room- we filled it with Japanese stacking tables, a simple parsons dining table, those interlocking squares chairs from West Elm, and a Beaux Arts looking hand-painted plant stand. It might sound weird, but it really works- the clean modern lines and the slightly Asian feel (we also have Japanese woodblock prints on the wall) fit perfectly with the arts and crafts style.
Whatever will make you happy.
I would do a large, round table with simple lines and comfortable chairs, and leave it at that. It looks like a nice space for lingering. Whatever you decide, just take your time and wait for the perfect pieces!
Definitely round or oval. Definitely pedestal. You've got some great straight lines in there, some simple round lines would balance them nicely. If this were my space, I would be scouring antique and flea markets. I probably couldn't bear to bring off the rack furniture into a place with so much character.
All that said, I'm with Jose A. Whatever works best for you.
I want this space.
Since it's all white (most Craftsman's I've seen are dark, stained wood), you can go almost any direction.
Since the largest plane in your room will be the surface of the dining table, to keep it light and airy as it is now, I'd go with a light or white table top. Pops of colour can come from the chairs, or their cushions. Simplify your window coverings to be plain and flat (not shirring or ruffling).
What ever you do, the room should reflect the aesthetics of the era in which it was built: crisp, simple, and without affect. IKEA's book "Beloved Homes" has some great shots of interiors with modern furniture in older homes. This might be a good source of inspiration (although I don't suggest filling the room with their stuff)
Did you know that the Stickley company still produces furniture?
http://www.stickley.com/
The lines of your trim and built-ins are so streamlined, I'd do something to contrast just a little with that, while still being true to the period. Also, contrast all that white trim/cabinetry with natural wood. Don't do a "mission style" table with all those vertical slats of wood. But do use the mission period wood of choice, tiger oak. A round (oval with a leaf) table and chairs that are not ornate but do have a slight bit of curve in the back.
If you are in northern CA, a friend is selling his arts and crafts dining room set:
http://craigssaleitems.blogspot.com/2009/11/granite-oak-and-steel-arts-and-crafts.html
I don't get this question.
There are dozens of different types of styles that would work with this room.
It all depends on what you like...not on the house.
choose something from Room and Board!!
Years ago, the woodwork in your home was probably stained rather than painted. If you were a purist, you'd strip the paint, stain the wood, and buy a mission/craftsman style dining set. HOWEVER, I love the look of your painted woodwork. To me, the house has a really fresh, cool cottage vibe. Take a look at Beth's small cool entry:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/small-cool-2010/small-cool-2010-beths-peekaboo-view-teeny-tiny-division-25-114675
and ask yourself, WWBD? (What would Beth do?)
How funky? How traditional? If it were mine, I'd collect an imperfectly matched set of steelcase office chairs and leave the metal clean but worn, and recover the upholstered parts in a beautiful fabric. I've done the upholstery; it's not hard and doesn't use a lot of fabric. I'd look for a table that fits the space, not necessarily round. You don't need a buffet since you have one built in, lucky you. fFreshly finished floors look great, but dining room chairs are hard on floors, and I love beautiful rugs, so I'd start shopping for a rug as soon as I had the table and chairs.
The gray and white is fresh and lovely. You could add lots of blues and blue-related greens(turquoise and aqua are in vogue) for a nice effect. Hard to go wrong; it's a nice space.
I think this really depends on how often you use a dining area. I have a similar home (also built in the 1920's) and had a similar problem. In the end I decided that my dining table usually was a collector of mail so I opted for another sitting room. I cut the legs of our medium-large sized round dining table shorter so it is more like a large coffee table now. I set up 4 comfy armless chairs (from target) around it and have some books and flowers sitting out on it now. I love the chairs so much that we actually use the room to eat more now than we would of with a formal setting. It's perfect for wine gossip or eating on the floor or sitting with a bowl held in hand. We use the built in cabinetry for board games and some dishes. We are anything but traditional dinners, though. So, just make sure it works best for your lifestyle.