Bold Dining Room Doubles as Workspace and Play Space
A multipurpose dining room in Dallas serves up style and function for a creative family
Two things were immediately clear to designer Tracy Martin Taylor when she walked into the dining room of this modern home in Dallas’ family-friendly Lake Highlands neighborhood: First, this would be no ordinary dining room, and second, this was no ordinary client. The homeowner — an occupational therapist by day, roller derby player by night, and mom always — wasn’t afraid to take over the formal dining room for use as a bold, colorful work-and-play space in which to dream and create with her kids.
Martin Taylor loves the homeowner’s adventurous spirit and her willingness to explore color. As they were sourcing wallpaper, they paused at “all the stuff you normally flip past because it seems too wild for most people,” Martin Taylor says.
They landed on a design that featured vintage bottle caps in a rainbow of colors, which they applied like a backsplash and header around the existing built-in cabinetry. It was a way to do something colorful “without being too in-your-face,” Martin Taylor explains.
They landed on a design that featured vintage bottle caps in a rainbow of colors, which they applied like a backsplash and header around the existing built-in cabinetry. It was a way to do something colorful “without being too in-your-face,” Martin Taylor explains.
As for the rug, they wanted something colorful and bold to set off the table and to break up the wood floor and wood tabletop. The upholstered poufs in the corner get even more use than the designer expected: The kids regularly use them as ottomans or floor lounges.
The credenza on the back wall is filled not with china and linens but with craft supplies. A collection of architectural plans stand in a wire basket and aren’t too precious for the kids to pull out and draw on. “We told the kids, ‘Go crazy — create something,’ ” Martin Taylor says.
Browse area rugs
The credenza on the back wall is filled not with china and linens but with craft supplies. A collection of architectural plans stand in a wire basket and aren’t too precious for the kids to pull out and draw on. “We told the kids, ‘Go crazy — create something,’ ” Martin Taylor says.
Browse area rugs
Martin Taylor says that the owl photograph from Brooklyn gallery Art + Method is really the focal point. “While a lot of people could probably appreciate it, not everybody would be bold enough to put it in their house.” In choosing the color scheme, Martin Taylor and the homeowner vacillated between using a colorful piece of art against a white wall or a monochromatic piece against a navy wall. The owl print, which they found online and immediately fell in love with, made the choice easy for them.
Wall color: Hague Blue, Farrow & Ball
Wall color: Hague Blue, Farrow & Ball
The two matching built-ins that guard the entrance to the kitchen hold a collection of personal mementos, many of them handed down from the client’s grandparents.
Martin Taylor added new brass hardware to the built-ins to complement the brass Sputnik-style chandelier above the dining table.
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Browse Sputnik-style chandeliers
Martin Taylor added new brass hardware to the built-ins to complement the brass Sputnik-style chandelier above the dining table.
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Dining Room at a Glance
Who lives here: A single mom and her two preteen children
Location: Dallas
Size: About 300 square feet (about 28 square meters)
Designer: Tracy Martin Taylor of Eleven11Design
The dining room is the first room you see when you walk in the house. On the other side of the long window pictured is the front door, so the homeowner and designer Tracy Martin Taylor really wanted this room to set the tone.
The house has a breakfast room that the family usually uses for dining, so the client wanted the formal dining room to double as a space for homework and making crafts and costumes. For the designer, this meant durable furniture and finishes, starting with the live-edge table. “The more weathered it gets, the better,” Martin Taylor says.