Something that my boyfriend and I didn't add to our home for a really long time was a dining table. You know what it's like when you've just moved and you're trying to get everything in at all once and a table just wasn't a priority to us. But now it's been a little while and the festive season is upon us we want to get ourselves off the sofa and create a real dining area for us and here is how we're making a start with the help of Murmur*.

THE ESSENTIALS

My love for interiors grows stronger by the day, I used to spend my paycheque in Topshop but now I spend it on homewares. As we're pretty much creating a dining area from scratch there are a few key things we knew we wanted as well as the real basics like plates and cutlery;

Vase

If you hadn't guessed by now that I really love to add greenery to my living space and having a vase for our table was key. I also love things that can be multipurpose and this jug from Murmur* is perfect. A large dove grey jug that can be of course used for serving but we currently have some dried flowers in it.

Carafe

We only drink water in our household when it comes to meal times and something that I've always wanted is a carafe. It makes it so much easier than constantly going back and forth to the kitchen and I absolutely love the way they look at a table setting too. It also allows you to infuse water with lemons and limes to makes tap water a little more flavoursome.

Glasses

Of course, a really obvious choice for a table when you only drink water is glasses. We're both quite particular about the glasses that we use and we like something that is quite large and minimal in terms of design as they're the most functional pieces.

Serving plate

We're food sharers in our house, so often when we have Mexican night or want bread to share we want somewhere functional where we can put things. So a little serving platter that we could between us was something we really needed. This beautiful blue plate from Murmur* has been such a great addition to our dining experience.

SHALLOW bowls

As we eat a lot of pasta and rice dishes as well as plenty of salads we wanted something that could make eating those dishes a little easier as trying to chase rice around a plate is never fun. A medium-sized bowl that has shallow edges has been such a good addition to our crockery collection. And I'm such a sucker for texture in crockery too as well as different colours. Some might not love the whole mismatched thing but I absolutely adore it and it makes dining so much more fun when you have beautiful bowls and plates to use.

STYLING A DINING AREA

This is the first time that I've ever had a dining area to style myself and it's been such a fun challenge. I've loved playing around with the layout and set up of it all and making it our own. So here are a few things that I've learned along the way;

Be practical over anything else.
Invest in high-quality pieces that will stand the test of time and see you through many meals. Buying cheap will more than likely result in buying twice.
Work with textures and colours to add a little bit of excitement to the area.
When adding candles make sure they're unscented as nobody wants to be inhaling a strong scent of vanilla whilst trying to eat their dinner.
Have a center point of the table, my favourite way to do this is through florals but you could do it with a larger serving platter etc.
Add in seasonal pieces when and where you can. Right now as we're in prime pumpkin season and they're such lovely way to add a touch of autumn to the table. As well as of course being able to incorporate them into what you're eating.