The dining room

The Dining Room

Set off the hallway, the dining room is a beautifully generous size and can comfortably accommodate a host of events, from intimate dinners to bigger parties for special occasions.

• The main hallway is the centre of all the rooms I entertain in, so this is where I have a drinks table set up for guests to help themselves - I find it to be a symbol of generosity and entertaining.
• You travel down two steps from the hallway into the dining room, which is one of my favourite features as I love how it differentiates a space.
• The dining room remains the original generous size it has always been, and houses a round table for six to eight people, which can be extended to fit ten to twelve very comfortably. For big parties and special occasions, I can even fit three circular tables of eight to seat 24 people.
• The fireplace is a replica of one that I remember from my days at Colefax and Fowler, that I commissioned Jamb to reproduce.
• Like the living room, this dining room is a walking-through space; it's how you get from the main hallway to the pantry and the kitchen beyond that. I love that while I may not use the space to dine it everyday, I still get to enjoy it as I travel through.
• Originally, I wanted to cover the walls in 18th-century Chinese reverse glass paintings; however, nowadays they are prohibitively expensive.
• The palm trees that sit against the wall are made from plaster and are lit from underneath with a single light to give them drama in the evening.
• The curtains are housed by a Chinese pelmet.
• I brought over two of the dining chairs from The Temple in England, and commissioned local craftsmen to replicate the chairs and make eight more.
• The plates on the wall are part of a dinner service of 250 pieces made in 1815 that I bought at auction. The colours are perfect for the room and I was exceptionally pleased to have secured them.
• To one side of the dining room, there is a generous alcove which I have made into a plate room. It is entirely lined with wooden racks to store and display plates.
• I love when a dining room has glamour, theatre and comfort, and this one certainly has all three.