Adding flexibility - and stools - to our dining table

You'll remember in our search for our dining table and chairs MOH was keen to have a bench seat as part of our purchase. That didn't quite happen, but his reason behind it - apart from liking the look - was flexibility. And he had a point, but we opted for six chairs to go with our white glass table in a mix of colours - and we forewent the flexiblity. 

Until recently that is, when Cult Furniture offered me two of their Grey Hatton Wooden Low Stools to give us that extra flexibility, in a most stylish way. I chose the Dark Grey finish, as these will work with our decor throughout the house, not just our downstairs - as while they're not in dining use, they'll be used in our conservatory and my craft room.

Although they work well without the table extended, and give a similar feel a bench would have done. I think they give more flexibility than a bench, as when the table is extended it makes sense to have the stools at either end of the table, like this:

It also means that dining for eight has become a much more stylish option. 

I like clean simple lines and these have that, and match well with our existing chairs. They're the same height too at 45cm, so no one will need to feel like they're on the "make do" seating option - in fact these are as far from "make do" as I think you can get!  They're very tactile, made of rubberwood and also come in a black and walnut finish, and if you're after a higher stool, there's also a 72cm option.

The curved seat also means they're comfortable - surprisingly so - but that's just what you want isn't it? 

Give me some cook books, a notebook, a to do list and washi tape and I'd be happy to sit here and plan away.  I'm glad they're comfortable as one will have a longer-term home in my craft room (or the study, as MOH is still insisting on making a part-claim) which means when it's not being used, it'll fit nicely under the desk making the most of the space available. 

Once I've got that craft-room-cum-study slightly more presentable I'll show you how it works up there too.  But that's for another day.

I'm really pleased with these stools, and the flexibility they'll give us and I've been impressed with Cult Furniture too.  One of the stools I received was damaged in transit and often you can tell a lot about a company by their customer service. I sent photos of the damaged box and stool and a replacement was quickly sent, but this time using a different carrier - and with better results.  I don't think you can ask for more than that.

What do you think?  And how do you cope with additional people for dinner?

* This is a collaborative post, and I received these stools for the purposes of this review, however all views and opinions are my own.

A precious metals Dining Room at the Ideal Home Show at Christmas

Wow. Just wow. 

This room certainly looks sophisticated and glam doesn't it?  And usually I'd say that blue isn't my colour, but it's the dark cobalt blue that really gives this room its impact, and I love it - it was the first room set that I looked at at the Ideal Home Show at Christmas, and I think it's the one with the most impact.  I'll share my photos from the other two room sets in the run up to Christmas. 

Usually there's more room sets at each show but as I said in my previous post about the show, it wasn't as large overall so I guess it made sense to have fewer rooms.  Plus also I expect there aren't many people that decorate their bathrooms for Christmas, our outside rooms are most likely to be a chill-to-frozen zone and no one needs to see a kitchen that's preparing Christmas lunch looking pristine, do they?

But back to the dining room - it does look like a very grown up room doesn't it?

And the jewel like colours are really set off against that blue.  I wonder now though if the colour is best described as sapphire, as that would fit alongside the precious metals theme nicely.

The other thing I noticed about this room is how well it mixes copper and brass - and how well they go together.  It's the simple things in this room that really brings it together - one of my favourite elements is the string of stars hung vertically in the corner of the room.

Simple and easy to replicate in a corner that could do with some extra sparkle.

And a drinks trolley, my first thought was no, never, but I'm starting to see the attraction. I also remember my parents setting out a drinks trolley at Christmas, out came the embroidered linen and the bottles and glasses were displayed, all ready for a good old snowball or a babycham!   And there's nothing wrong with either of those I can tell you.

So what do you think?  Would you like this for your home, or just somewhere to visit?

Love this #77: Baa baa tablemat

Just a quick post today as I've got some fab new tablemats that I just had to share. 

Since we got our new table (ages ago!) neither of us have been happy with using our old, more traditional mats as they just didn't seem to go.  I'd planned to make some fabric mats, which we could slip the older, less favoured mats into, and I still plan to make these, but like many things I've not got to it yet...

Browsing the Wayfair site one day I spotted these and I was smitten.  MOH is less sure, but even he admits they're an improvement on our French Bistro scene!

Aren't they fab?