Hello AT,
My husband and I have been renovating our house. Mostly, we've been installing bamboo flooring in most of our house including the kitchen. The kitchen is open to the living area and we thought it would be best to continue the same flooring.
So far we love the look and feel of the bamboo and we are delighted. However, we haven't been able to find a dining table to fit into the space...
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Since our kitchen cabinets are maple and our floor is bamboo, it seems like alot of wood. Is there such a thing as too much wood? We've been looking at alot of sleek and light dining tables such as strut table(ivory or watermelon) and nick dining table from Bludot. Any suggestion on how to furnish this dining room? What kind of materials or look would go well here?
Thank you. Stacey
Dear Stacey,
We love wood, but it is nice to break it up a bit and increase the complexity of your space with other materials and surfaces. We like the direction you are going in with the sleek and light feeling. Bamboo is a nicely contemporary choice, so a modern table will go well with it.
The NICK table is nice, but it is a new wood. The STRUT table would be our preference, particularly in watermelon.
Take a look at Jane and Darko's apartment, because they use the same table very nicely.
Anyone else???
I can definitely appreciate this challenge! You might want to consider a glass table with a painted (colored) back on a neutral base - always light and attractive and can blend in well.... or, perhaps a painted wood table (I'm picturing solid black), so you have the warmth and softness of wood without the grain and competing wood tones?
view helloat's profile
I vote for the Ivory Strut. It's light and airy and complimentary. Too much wood is well, too much wood.
view BB's profile
What a beautiful room. I can only see a sliver of the cabinets, but I think it's possible for the room to have a wooden table without suffering from a wood overdose. An area rug under the table would give the eye a transition from the wood table to the wood floors. The cabinets, being in a separate area, do not look like they'd interfere with the dining area that much. And the ceilings are so high that they offer a breather from all the woodiness.
Of course, since the room is contemporary you have lots of options, many of which are non-wood.
view engineergirl's profile
I'll second the "rug under the table".
It should be large enough that the chairs will never touch the bare floor. It'll help protect the wood and the finish.
Use a rug pad to protect the rug/floor and make the rug last longer. These pads are great in my opinion. They grip the floor and rug yet don't "stick" to the floor.
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-1/qid=1183046473/ref=sr_1_1/602-4730497-9463864?ie=UTF8&asin=B0000A1ZGH
That said - I agree with the glass table suggestion too.
All that wood kind of looks visually heavy. Glass will let you see the beauty of the wood (and rug) and maybe balance things.
I have a "Tulip" table which is a metal base that's very much like a modern art sculpture, and has a glass top. They come in round and square. I have a round one since I am space-challenged (small dining room).
Here's more info on th the Tulip table :
http://www.daniafurniture.com/?page=shop/flypage&page_back=shop/category_items&offset=0&product_id=1035&category_id=f85e462baf927f8e53989dd969c0e430
I used wood chairs with my table. People said "you can't use wood chairs with a metal/glass table" but I love the combination so there. ;-> The ones I have are Italian with a very cool design (I think).
Anyway here's what the combination looks like :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7878321@N03/500132462/
view boomer's profile
mmmm. . .white oval saarinen table with carrera marble top. not cheap ($3500 at Room & Board) but worth every penny. will be GORGEOUS in your space.
view eeeck's profile