When we moved into our Victorian house, the last room we furnished was the dining room. That was not because it was the least important, but because we wanted to get it just right and couldn’t agree on the right dining furniture! If you saw our house, you would understand why. It was originally two Victorian terraces, built around 1850. These became one larger house in the 1960s, when property was inexpensive.
Not being used to having a proper dining room in the past, I was looking forward to that most of all, which was probably why I left it until last. Of course we had thrown a house warming party within the first couple of weeks of moving, but what I really wanted was to hold an intimate dinner party for our group of special friends. That was why I wanted the dining room to be perfect.
We did not want to clutter up the room, like the Victorians did, with too many items of furniture. The focal point had to be the table, which needed to be large enough to seat ten, possibly more on special occasions. And this was our main stumbling block. The Victorians favoured three woods: mahogany, walnut and rosewood and we did not want any of them.
The Victorians liked walnut, which is a beautiful rich-coloured wood, but it was out of our price range. Mahogany was also popular at the time, but we find it too sombre and heavy. We therefore started thinking about oak, which is more affordable than walnut and very durable. Middle class Victorians favoured oak for this reason.
Although our dining room is quite spacious, with its typical Victorian high ceilings and deep bay windows, we did not want it to be overpowered by an enormous dining table. Our best option therefore seemed to be an extending table for those occasions when we had friends to dinner. For most of the time it would be a standard six-seater and the additional leaves would be stored away.
Although the Victorians were still reproducing earlier styles like Chippendale, Tudor or Sheraton, there was gradual shift towards less ornate furniture which was hand carved by Victorian craftsmen of the Arts and Crafts movement.This was more the sort of style we liked but an artist friend told us that it would not fit with our decor because it would be too modern for our house.
We finally settled on a solid, pale oak table with elegant cabriole legs and concealed leaves that could be wound out to seat 10 people in comfort. This was ideal for our needs and our room. The matching, balloon-backed chairs had sumptuously upholstered seats, which were extremely comfortable.
The comfortable upholstered chairs had the same turned and fluted legs as the table and the ensemble fitted beautifully into our dining room. In fact you would think they had been made for it. It might sound like a huge amount of fuss over a dining table and chairs but getting it right is so very rewarding and was well worth the effort.
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