The Affect of Lockdown; On our Homes & our Dining Table

The Covid-19 pandemic enforced new rules upon us, mainly to spend at lot more time at home to keep ourselves, each other and the NHS as safe as possible. For many of us, being at home has heightened our appreciation for our surroundings and put a whole new importance on the space we occupy. It’s really made me think about what the future of ‘home’ will mean for us.

Lockdown has forced our spaces to work hard to suit our changing needs throughout the day. Whether living alone, with a partner, a housemate, friends or families, there has been an element of juggling around what space we have and how we use it. Living rooms have turned into yoga studios and zoom meeting rooms, bedrooms into offices, gardens into a way for us to see our loved ones in a socially distanced capacity and we’re spending a lot more time in the kitchen, cooking and washing up 3 times a day!

The living room set up for Zoom time with friends, glass of Prosecco included.

In my home, and probably for a lot of you, my dining table has been one of the most hard working pieces of furniture. It’s importance has elevated from; general dumping ground, housing piles of ironing, deliveries, house keys, gatherings of documents that need filing and general ‘miscellaneous’ items, to; home office, studio, a place to sit and contemplate, to plan the day, and a place to eat. As well as an area for home schooling for a lot of families in the UK.

A hard stop to dining out has probably been one of the luxuries that I’ve missed the most. Ordering your favourite meal in a familiar environment, or the excitement of trying somewhere new has been put on hold until further notice, which has made me think about the value of the dining table, an area previously mistreated and very underrated. 

As you may know I love a bit of Habitat sale, and when they have their 20/25% off I like to snap up some of their gorgeous items at a lower price. I’ve had my eye on their Clara crockery for quite some time. I hand painted my dining table with black and gold 3D cubes back in 2015 (a painstaking process but hey, it’s been 5 years and still looks great!) and I imagined the bold curvaceous pattern looking fab against the straight lines of the cubes.

The current available Clara range at Habitat

The Clara range is made in Portugal from earthenware and each piece has a lovely glossy glaze, allowing the colours to really shine. There are two colour ways; the black yellow cream and pink, and then the orange cream and yellow. True to form I prefer to mix and match rather than having the ‘complete set’ look, and I knew this would work well with the bold black spot Sicilia side plates (also from habitat), against the intense backdrop of the dining table. Pattern on pattern is my thing, with a bit of added bling!

Styling up the Clara crockery by Habitat

I’m not really a formal dinner party kind of person but I do like to make an effort with dressing the table, not just for Christmas but for meals with friends and family. Lockdown seemed to be the right time to enjoy glaming up the dinner table in lieu of being able to go out.

I styled and photographed a few stories with my new Habitat items. Me and my parter have a real sweet tooth so I thought it would be fun to include some of the sweet treats we love; chocolate, fizzy pop, peanut butter, hot chocolate… basically all the scrummy food items that I had to hand at home!

Good enough to eat. The Buzz vase is also from Habitat.

A feast for the eyes

Some of us have also enjoyed a cheeky afternoon tipple during lockdown, mine being any kind of sweet flavoured gin with lemonade (double sweet, I know!) so introducing some of my favourite tipples to the scene seemed like a good idea to create a fun image. Namely Parma Violet Whitley Neill gin, Zymurgorium Realm of the Unicorn gin liqueur, and Chambord Black Raspberry liqueur, all of which come in beautiful bottles that look as good as they taste.

Teamed with vintage flourishes including cut gin glasses, gold candlesticks, opalescent Arcopal French teacups and saucers, roses and dusky plumes, made for a gorgeously decadent afternoon table scene. 

Too early for a gin?

A hint of vintage

My top 8 tips for informal (but glamorous) dining

So you can re-create these looks for your dining table:

1. Don’t ‘save for best’ .

I know a lot of us were bought up like this but why do we do this?! Let’s make the most of each dining experience by utilising our favourite plates and ‘best’ glasses. We need to celebrate and appreciate the good stuff that we’ve worked so hard to purchase.

2. Candlesticks don’t have to be formal.

Lit candles create a lovely relaxed and intimate atmosphere. Coloured candle sticks can help towards a more informal setting rather than more traditional red and white variety.

3. Have fun with your crockery.

You don’t have to buy a complete set of the same pattern. I love the mix and match look and if you love pattern and colour as much as me this is a sure fire way to create an individual tablescape unique to your taste, packing some punch with colours and layers of different styles and shapes.

Mix & match crockery

4. Flowers, always.

Faux, dried, fresh, foraged. Whatever you have or can get your hands on, pop a few stems in a vase or across a plate as a table setting.

5. Table cloth

I have a collection of satin fabrics that I buy in 1 meter lengths. I then layer the different colours to create a luxurious and inexpensive backdrop, but I also like to lay items directly onto the dining table to show off its pattern.

Lilac satin fabric from eBay

6. A touch of bling.

In my case I love gold cutlery - it goes with everything. And cut glasses, mine are the Timeless range via eBay.

7. A level of streamlining.

If you feel like you need an element of uniformity, napkins and a set of glasses will do this. It will stop the table looking haphazard. Fabric or disposable napkins will simplify the table. Marimekko have the most amazing disposal napkins and I buy a lot of my glasses from eBay and supermarkets.

8. The Playlist.

Because music is as important as the food. Think about your audience to get the mood right. Having your mum and family round for lunch will require a different vibe and atmosphere to your mates wanting a dance after dinner.

How have you been using your rooms at home during the coronavirus lockdown? Have you been utilising your dining table more than usual? I’d love to hear if you’ve been getting creative with the furniture in your home.