Manly beach houseContemporary Dining Room, Sydney

… geared for entertainingAs teens, the girls loved to be social. They had lots of friends and loved hanging out. While they may have moved on from their old friends (I think most of them died from drug overdoses), Debbie and Sue would likely have plenty more to invite over for grown-up dinner parties. They’d certainly have some interesting stories to tell!

A long table like this one can not only seat a crowd, but is also pleasing to the eye because it echoes the shape and dimensions of the kitchen island behind it and the long bank of concertina glass doors in front. MAKE IT BETTER: If you need to be able to feed a lot of people regularly, you can make it feel less like a boardroom set-up by choosing more casual chairs. Or opt for an extendable table that can shrink to cosier proportions for everyday use. There’s nothing intimate about eating dinner with empty chairs your only companions.Vitra Panton chair

3. The knock-on effectOne of the reasons that renovation projects have a habit of leaking money is because of the knock-on effect, where one decision will have an impact on several others down the line. For example, the decision to remove a non-load bearing wall may seem like the obvious thing to do to open a room up. However, that wall is also connected to the floor, the ceiling and two other walls; and once the wall is removed, you will then be required to repair and patch the gaps that the wall leaves behind.

Ship shape. Think about the shape of your room as well as how to best facilitate conversation when you’re choosing a table – some tables make it impossible to talk to anyone but the person seated next to you. A relatively narrow table like this one, however, can open up conversations with many different people, so the risk of a guest getting stuck talking about something they have little interest in is vastly reduced.

The dining zone, opening up to the pool deck, catches the eye with turquoise artwork and ‘60s-style moulded plastic chairs. Splashes of colour – a striped rug and a vivid blue light fitting – add interest. Dive right in

Love the neutral tons with pops of color

Ignore those weird chairs lol but layout of kitchen island and dining area with open doors to backyard

PROPORTION: This room has good proportion because the table is short and so are the chairs. Also, the windows are rectangular and not squares which makes the room more pleasing to the eye.