Decoration & Inspiration: Room Rescue - Dining Room

Rethinking our clutter has given us a family dining room

Wendy’s plan for extra space backfired when her garage conversion became a place for toys and unwanted furniture

Wendy O’Shea, 40, husband Justin, 38, and children Daniel, four, and Tilly, three, live in a three-bedroom home in Buckinghamshire. They struggled with living space, so converted the garage. ‘I thought having some extra space would solve all of our problems, but it ended up being a bit of a dumping ground and full of toys,’ says Wendy. ‘It’s quite a small room and I didn’t know what to do to sort it out.’ Wendy really wanted a dining room not for glamorous dinner parties, but for every day family meals. ‘We squash around the kitchen table – it’d be lovely to have space to enjoy meal times together,’ she smiles.

So Your Home took a look at the room and found a fresh shade of green on the walls, an attractive bay window and some storage cubes. But clever thinking would be required to create a gorgeous, family dining room – Wendy needed more storage, a table for four and an injection of style.

What was wrong with the old room?

Cluttered space
Wendy had piled belongings, toys and unwanted furniture in the room making it almost unusable. It felt very cluttered and there was certainly no room to sit and eat.

Obscured bay window
The bay window was put in when the garage was converted, but an old sofa blocked the space created. The window had no dressing either so the room never felt cosy.

No décor scheme
Although the walls had been painted a fresh shade of pale green, little else had been done. There were bare floorboards, no wall décor and the whole room had a disused feel.

Your Home solutions



Make time a talking point
This huge clock from Brume is actually a sticker that has a working mechanism screwed to the wall. It’s a great feature and will encourage Daniel and Tilly to learn to tell the time too!




Create a bright and colourful table setting
Floral tablemats add pretty colour to meal times, and can be machine washed or wiped clean to keep them looking in perfect condition all year round.




Use contrasting seating
This table was a second-hand bargain, but there were no chairs. It can be difficult to match wood tones, so we decided to have contrasting seating instead, and these stylish white wood chairs give the family
a place to dine in comfort.




Make use of every inch
A bay window always creates a lovely light area ideal for reading. A stunning oak ottoman fits neatly in this space, and with cushions piled on top we have created a relaxing area too.



Create unique artwork
A collection of frames bought in a local charity shop create an attractive photographic montage at a budget price. We chose those with similar frame styles, and made sure all had neutral mounts, as these can be costly. We then sprayed the frames in muted colours picked up from the Roman blind.


What does Wendy think?
I admit I didn’t think we could make the space into an attractive and functional dining room, but I was wrong – it looks fantastic. Not only is it a great place for us to eat in together, but I also have a lovely area to sit by the window, which is a real bonus. Now we can use and enjoy this room every day.