8 Recipes for Modern and Contemporary Dining Rooms
Serve up a perfectly modern or contemporary dining room at home with midcentury chairs, Scandi ideas and more
Becky Harris
24 March 2017
Houzz Contributor. Hi there! I live in a 1940s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe as "collected."
I got into design via Landscape Architecture, which I studied at the University of Virginia.
Houzz Contributor. Hi there! I live in a 1940s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe... More
Clean-lined and cold, stark white with perhaps a little gothic Beetlejuice thrown in – this is what modern and contemporary dining rooms may conjure up in our brains. But modern design is about many things, from the playfulness of mid-century style to honouring the way George Nakashima treated a gorgeous slab of wood, from throwing in some Danish hygge to customising pieces to fit a home. All sorts of ingredients can be combined to create an inviting modern or contemporary dining room.
1. Mid-century Modern Mix
Ingredients: Wood veneer, bent wood, colourful fibreglass, hairpin legs, white Saucer pendant
Table and chair legs are the key ingredient in this mid-century modern mix. The table has classic hairpin legs, while the metal legs of the stackable Eames chairs have an extra flourish on the sides. The bent wood on the end chairs plays off the veneer on the tabletop, allowing for a mix of fibreglass and chair upholstery to add primary colours. Overhead, a classic George Nelson pendant provides a sculptural shape and a glow.
Ingredients: Wood veneer, bent wood, colourful fibreglass, hairpin legs, white Saucer pendant
Table and chair legs are the key ingredient in this mid-century modern mix. The table has classic hairpin legs, while the metal legs of the stackable Eames chairs have an extra flourish on the sides. The bent wood on the end chairs plays off the veneer on the tabletop, allowing for a mix of fibreglass and chair upholstery to add primary colours. Overhead, a classic George Nelson pendant provides a sculptural shape and a glow.
2. Going Curvy
Ingredients: White oval pedestal table, walnut chairs, chrome chandelier
In 1956, Eero Saarinen designed his pedestal tables and chairs to “clear up the slum of legs in the US home.” His gracious table sits atop a pedestal base. But we’ll keep a few extra legs, thank you very much. Rich walnut veneer on a more recent design, Jesús Gasca’s Globus chairs, provides contrast, while the curved cutouts on their backs play off the table’s shape. Overhead, a chrome chandelier composed of cup shapes picks up on the chairs’ chrome bases and accents.
How to get curves in all the right places
Ingredients: White oval pedestal table, walnut chairs, chrome chandelier
In 1956, Eero Saarinen designed his pedestal tables and chairs to “clear up the slum of legs in the US home.” His gracious table sits atop a pedestal base. But we’ll keep a few extra legs, thank you very much. Rich walnut veneer on a more recent design, Jesús Gasca’s Globus chairs, provides contrast, while the curved cutouts on their backs play off the table’s shape. Overhead, a chrome chandelier composed of cup shapes picks up on the chairs’ chrome bases and accents.
How to get curves in all the right places
3. Live-Edge Wood and Cones
Ingredients: Live-edge trestle table, conical upholstered chairs, streamlined banquette
The raw edge of this table brings in a woodsy natural element, paired with playful cone-shaped chairs from Verner Panton. Live-edge furniture was made popular by designer George Nakashima, who combined his woodworking skills with modern design.
Slope banquette: Tori Golub Interiors; chandelier: custom, fabricated using Silver Drop pendants handblown by Esque Studio; Cone chairs: Verner Panton
Ingredients: Live-edge trestle table, conical upholstered chairs, streamlined banquette
The raw edge of this table brings in a woodsy natural element, paired with playful cone-shaped chairs from Verner Panton. Live-edge furniture was made popular by designer George Nakashima, who combined his woodworking skills with modern design.
Slope banquette: Tori Golub Interiors; chandelier: custom, fabricated using Silver Drop pendants handblown by Esque Studio; Cone chairs: Verner Panton
4. Classic Scandinavian Modern
Ingredients: Classic Wegner Wishbone chairs, rustic oak table, simple drum pendant light
White walls provide enough balance here for the addition of lots of wood – on the floor, on the beams, on the chairs, on the table. Hans Wegner’s classic Wishbone chairs are always the star, so the choice of a simple reclaimed-wood table makes for a harmonious pairing. The chairs are maple with paper-cord woven seats and the table is white oak. A simple drum pendant overhead adds just the right dose of a warmer white.
Wishbone chairs: Hans Wegner for Carl Hansen & Son
Ingredients: Classic Wegner Wishbone chairs, rustic oak table, simple drum pendant light
White walls provide enough balance here for the addition of lots of wood – on the floor, on the beams, on the chairs, on the table. Hans Wegner’s classic Wishbone chairs are always the star, so the choice of a simple reclaimed-wood table makes for a harmonious pairing. The chairs are maple with paper-cord woven seats and the table is white oak. A simple drum pendant overhead adds just the right dose of a warmer white.
Wishbone chairs: Hans Wegner for Carl Hansen & Son
5. Playful Classics
Ingredients: Noguchi Cyclone table, two-tone Saarinen Executive chairs, veneer light fixture
A funkier version of Saarinen’s Executive chair adds a pop of personality to this dining area. The black plastic backs contrast with the light green upholstered seats. Their metal legs play off the whirling base of Isamu Noguchi’s classic Cyclone dining table. The wood veneer light fixture looks like something the cyclone swirled up and tossed into the air.
Leonardo pendant: Antoni Arola
Ingredients: Noguchi Cyclone table, two-tone Saarinen Executive chairs, veneer light fixture
A funkier version of Saarinen’s Executive chair adds a pop of personality to this dining area. The black plastic backs contrast with the light green upholstered seats. Their metal legs play off the whirling base of Isamu Noguchi’s classic Cyclone dining table. The wood veneer light fixture looks like something the cyclone swirled up and tossed into the air.
Leonardo pendant: Antoni Arola
6. Rustic and Industrial
Ingredients: Live-edge table and bench, hairpin legs, Eames chairs with metal Eiffel bases
A live-edge bench that matches the table provides a clear view of the table’s beauty. On the other side, classic Eames shell chairs with Eiffel bases nod to California’s mid-century modern heyday.
Eames Molded Plastic side chair with Eiffel base: Herman Miller
Ingredients: Live-edge table and bench, hairpin legs, Eames chairs with metal Eiffel bases
A live-edge bench that matches the table provides a clear view of the table’s beauty. On the other side, classic Eames shell chairs with Eiffel bases nod to California’s mid-century modern heyday.
Eames Molded Plastic side chair with Eiffel base: Herman Miller
7. Banquette Mix
Ingredients: White oak, copper, grey upholstery, plated copper industrial light
The custom-designed banquette and table both have Scandinavian modern-inspired clean lines and light wood. The dowel details of the white oak table’s legs are particularly interesting. After designing the banquette and table, interior designer Elizabeth Mercer Aurandt added Blu Dot’s Real Good chairs, which bring in an origami-like folded silhouette and the patina of copper. She tied them to the banquette by using the same fabric for chair cushions that she used for the upholstery. She made the light fixture overhead using You Make It instructions by Lindsey Adelman.
Real Good chairs: Blu Dot
Kitchen booths with laid-back charm
Ingredients: White oak, copper, grey upholstery, plated copper industrial light
The custom-designed banquette and table both have Scandinavian modern-inspired clean lines and light wood. The dowel details of the white oak table’s legs are particularly interesting. After designing the banquette and table, interior designer Elizabeth Mercer Aurandt added Blu Dot’s Real Good chairs, which bring in an origami-like folded silhouette and the patina of copper. She tied them to the banquette by using the same fabric for chair cushions that she used for the upholstery. She made the light fixture overhead using You Make It instructions by Lindsey Adelman.
Real Good chairs: Blu Dot
Kitchen booths with laid-back charm
8. Glass and Pops of Red
Ingredients: Glass-topped table with metal base, modern captain chairs, dashes of red
In many modern and contemporary homes, large expanses of glass maximise the view, and this one across a wooded valley is a doozy. The glass tabletop helps keep the view open and also reflects it. The chairs are a modern plastic take on a traditional wood chair silhouette. Their bright red colour is a strong contrast to all that green outside the windows. Barely-there glass pendant lights maintain the openness.
Finchum chairs: Baxton Studio
Tell us
What’s your preferred dining room style? Tell us in the Comments section below.
More
See more dining rooms for inspiration
Ingredients: Glass-topped table with metal base, modern captain chairs, dashes of red
In many modern and contemporary homes, large expanses of glass maximise the view, and this one across a wooded valley is a doozy. The glass tabletop helps keep the view open and also reflects it. The chairs are a modern plastic take on a traditional wood chair silhouette. Their bright red colour is a strong contrast to all that green outside the windows. Barely-there glass pendant lights maintain the openness.
Finchum chairs: Baxton Studio
Tell us
What’s your preferred dining room style? Tell us in the Comments section below.
More
See more dining rooms for inspiration
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@Becky Harris, thanks for the ideas Becky but we bought the table already cuz we liked it but the chairs with it were hidious so we didnt get those. Bench? Umm well no... just too rustic for our tastes ;-)
I have a silky oak extendable/folding dining table which comfortably sits just my son and I, but a silky oak church pew along the wall forms a semi-banquette effect when the rest of the family visits.