A dining room that earns its weekdays

THE DESIGN

A room reserved for special occasions asks a lot of its floor space. Here, the dining table can take an afternoon of household paperwork because the means of clearing it is close at hand. A closed folio and a small pile of papers sit beside the Sojat cupboard. The useful idea is simple: give those things a destination before they settle permanently on the table.

The furniture has enough presence to belong in a Georgian room. A grey-washed oak-veneer top sits on substantial black turned legs, with dark sheesham chairs around it. Their iron lattice backs are more open than the silhouette first suggests. The sideboard takes the same dark timber note in a different direction, using horizontal fluting, rounded corners and a low brass-coloured base.

Olive covers the walls; oxblood goes overhead. The ivory cornice keeps that meeting precise, and daylight from the sash window picks out the table grain. A small amber tealight holder is decorative here in daylight. Above the cupboard, Still Not Empty exchanges the furniture’s carved detail for a few loose lines and a green band. Nothing needs to be laid for a party to make the room feel worth entering.