Dining rooms are often cozy little spaces used for little else other than, well, dining. But in a loft, without the definition of four walls, the dining area can feel afloat. How to anchor it down and define it? Here are some ideas:
1: The heavy timber structure of this loft is used to separate the dining area from the living room. Two large-scale pendants further give shape to the area.
2: A built-in, high-backed bench gives this dining table a place to call home.
3: Dramatic lighting catches the eye, fills the space between the table and the ceiling, and - when hung low - creates its own ceiling plane at night when the lights are turned on.
4: An oversized centerpiece does a similar thing, giving a focal point at eye level and closing that gap between the low tabletop and the high ceiling.
5: Here, it's the flooring (an area rug) that separates the dining area from living "room".
Do you have a loft? How have you distinguished the dining space?
Related: Kitchen Tour: Joanne Chang's Casual Loft Kitchen
(Images: Jaklitsch Gardner, Tori Golub Interior Design, Shelton, Mindel and Associates via Apartment Therapy, Incorporated Architecture & Design, Claesson Koivisto Rune)
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We built our place loft-like in that it's one, big, industrial-looking space. The floors are concrete, but we laid tongue-and-groove flooring in the dining area. It was left over from one of my husband's construction jobs. It was already painted gray, tying in subtly with the gray concrete.