Danetti Guides
Social and Commercial Dining – The Rules
You’ve found the perfect dining table and chairs, the dining room table looks every inch an extract from one of those good home magazines, and the candles add the final touch, creating the right mood for your dinner party. Guests arrive and are met by a canapé and wine reception, when everyone is gathered; you guide your guests to the dining table..from then on in it all goes horribly wrong. There is not enough space around the table for guests to pull out and get under it, eventually they manage but your guests now resemble sardines rather then the magazine extract you had planned. This could have been avoided if we had just followed the ‘Rules of Dining’.
Now obviously these are not strict guidelines, they bare room for a little flexibility, for instance to squeeze in that extra person who didn’t RSVP, so you had no idea they were coming, but they are guidelines all the same, to help you achieve the most from your dining experience.
Choosing the Right table: - The table should be 750mm in height, allowing room from the slightest to the most robust guest. So chairs should be around 450mm high at the seat.
Choose Numbers: - Each diner requires 600 mm to eat comfortably, whilst leaving 100mm between each person to avoid any stray elbows landing in soups.
For four persons dining, a square/circular dining table is ideal for creating the right level of dining intimacy and gives enough room for all. For six plus , you should look at rectangular tables, the standard length of these dining tables is 1200 mm, many come with folding leaves so are easily extending to fit all guests comfortably. We suggest the Innocence Dining Table for four diners and the Lenda Classic Dining Table for six diners or more.
Choose the Area: - You will need to keep at least 600mm free space around your dining room table to allow easy access in and out. So for a square dining table measuring 1200mm x 1200mm, a space of 3600 mm sq is required.
Commercial Dining
Every restaurateur knows the importance of a restaurant layout and you only get one chance to get it right. There are many important factors to consider but top of the list is – layout. It is crucial to get the right spacing, leaving enough room for your waitress to manoeuvre comfortably for both them and diners, around the dining tables and to and from the kitchen.
The space needed around the tables is slightly more than standard dining, this is to allow for the flow of traffic between the tables and give each tables its own level of privacy. The distance around each table should be 900mm for comfortable dining.
Which Table to serve what? : – Dependant on which cuisine style your restaurant is serving, will be a deciding factor on the different level of space required by individual diners, a diner in a coffee shop requires less room than someone in a restaurant having a three course meal.
5 Tips for Choosing the Right Product for the Space
Before buying a product it is important to consider not only the style and colour of the product itself but the environment it is going into. Thinking about how the product will be used and where to put it in the space is fundamental when choosing the right product.
Draw A Floor Plan
Before you start arranging the furniture, a floor plan normally helps to plan where you are going to put large pieces of furniture. Remember to include key features in the room such as windows, doors and fire places. Always read the measurements box on our products pages to ensure that it can fit into the space selected. This is useful with a multi functional room, you can easily see what can go where.
Use Focal Points As A Guide
Think next as to how the space is going to be used and who will use it. Identify the focal point in the room whether it be a fireplace, view, television, etc and orient the furniture facing this accordingly. If you plan to watch television in the room, the ideal distance between the set and the seating is three times the size of the screen.
Try To Create Space
When you are arranging your furniture always ensure the path between doorways are clear. Don’t place any large pieces of furniture in that path if you can avoid it, and allow 30-48 inches of width for major traffic routes, and a minimum of 24 inches of width for minor ones. In bedrooms, allow at least 24 inches between the side of the bed and a wall, and at least 36 inches between the bed and a swinging door. In a dining room, make sure there’s at least 48 inches between each edge of the table and the nearest wall or piece of furniture.
Regal Chair
Oko Coffee Table
Use Contrast To Achieve A Casual Look
Combine straight and curved lines to create a casual look. If the furniture is modern and linear, contrast with a round table. If the furniture is curved, contrast with an angular piece. For example you could choose our Oko Coffee Table and our Regal Chair to create this look.
Nova Table
Kalka Chair
Use Symmetry To Create A Formal Look
If you want to create a more formal atmosphere symmetrical pieces work best. Try to use products that are of a similar design and style . For example to create a formal look with our Nova Table and Kalka Chair.
Colour Theory
Complementary Colours
Complementary colours are colours found on opposite side of the colour wheel. The Primary colours complementary colour is a combination of the other two Primary’s mixed together, for example:
Complementary Colours
Red complements Green – which is created through mixing blue and yellow
Blue complements Orange – which is created through mixing red and yellow
Yellow complements Purple – which is created through mixing blue and red
Complementary colours are important to recognise because if they are placed in a room next door to each other they will make the other seem brighter, creating the most contrast.
This can be exploited in your rooms, if you feel confident enough, or it can be a useful tip to know in order to avoid problems
Monochrome
Monochrome meaning one colour. However, you can include different tones of the same colour to stop the scheme seeming to monotonous. For example; should you choose the colour black, any of the different tones desaturating all the way up to white can be used, so this would include the whole grey tonal range (as long as it was exempt of all other colour).
Another way to add interest to a room when using a monochromatic theme is to introduce a variety of textures in that colour.
Analogous Colours
Analogous Colours are a collection of colours found adjacent to each other in the colour wheel, one of which is normally a primary colour (red, yellow or blue).
Analogous Colours
When using an analogous range of colours, one is normally dominant while the others can be varied in intensity to create a myriad of different variations.
Tip : If you are having problems putting colours together, look to nature. Everything in nature has perfect harmony and balance, you will never go to wrong if you use that as a basis for choosing your colours.
Split Complementary
Split Complementary is a variation of the complementary colours, except this uses one of the complementary colours and the two colours adjacent to the opposite complementary.
Split Complementary Colours
For example : yellow and purple blue and purple red (as above)
This provides similar colour contrast to the standard complementary colours but without the tension.
This could be a more viable option in comparison with the complementary colours as you can still achieve a high contrast, but with a smaller chance of creating major issues. Its always worth remembering that these colours should not be used in equal measure and to their full saturation. To get the best effect one should be most dominant and they should range in saturation/brightness.
Triadic Colours
Triadic Colours are three that are equal distance around the 12 segment colour wheel.
Triadic Colours
For example : yellow orange and blue green and red purple (as seen above)
With this scheme one colour is normally used as a dominant, whilst the other two are accent colours. These trios of colour are considered to be more harmonious and balanced than the complementary colours and are a popular choice amongst artists.
Again once the main colour is chosen it should feature the most in the room with the other two colours used sparsely, like on cushions, a vase, a rug etc.
Tip : By using accessories to display the accent colours it also means should you want to update later on, you can easily replace them to give the room a whole new feel, providing not only a cheap option but a quick one to.
Choosing The Right Dining Furniture
With good food, good company and comfortable furniture, I’m sure that we all would agree the most important and enjoyable part of the day is sitting down to dine, whether it be with family or friends. Finding a dining table and dining chairs that can fit well in your dining space can be challenging.
So Here is our Danetti Guide To Choosing The Right Dining Furniture
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Measure The Space
Measure the dining area, there should be at least a 900mm gap between the wall and the edge of the dining table. This ensures that the chairs will sit comfortably under the table and that the chairs are easy to pull out.
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Consider Who Will Be Using The Space
When sitting down to dine, the last thing you want is to be knocking elbows with the person next to you, so always think about the space and how it is going to be used. If you will use the area for family dining then a 4-8 seater dining table can be sufficient enough but if you hold frequent dinner parties then opt for a larger dining table seating over 8 people. If you only entertain large groups on an occasional basis, consider buying a smaller table that can expand. Ideally, the dining table should measure 900mm inches across. Narrower than that leaves no place in the middle for food; wider than that makes conversation difficult with the person seated opposite you.
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Choose Chairs That Compliment Your Table
As being a formal occasion, choose a dining chair that has similar design elements to the table to create symmetry. Advisably match the legs of the table and of the chair.
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The Chair Must Be Comfortable
We recommend a choosing a dining chair that is 435 mm wide as a standard size and at least 400mm deep. Obviously if you have a larger space and have opted for a bigger table then this can be increased. Dining chairs that are under these dimensions should be avoided as they cannot offer enough support.
Now you should be able to create the perfect dining experience!