Dining Room

This section describes the role of the dining room through the Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian periods, and on into the 1920s and 1930s. It covers the architectural and decorative features, and typical furniture of the dining room.

Charles Eastlake wrote in his book Hints in Household Taste:

"It is an old English custom to hang family portraits in the dining room, and it seems a reasonable custom. Generally large in size, and enclosed in massive frames, they appear well suited to an apartment which experience has led us to furnish in a more solid and substantial manner than any other in the house. Besides, the dining room is especially devoted to hospitality and family gatherings, and it is pleasant on such occasions to be surrounded by mementoes of those who once, perhaps, formed members of the social circle which they have long ceased to join."

1920s design for a dining room