How To Bring Warmth And Intimacy To A Vast Dining Room Space - A Virtual Room Tour

The Seasonal Living Magazine Virtual Luxury Designer Showhouse that debuted on December 3rd was a smashing success!

We have been featured in Forbes, among many other major publications!

If you have followed me here on the blog, or you are a member of my design community, you would have seen all the announcements I made leading up to the VIP launch party on December 3rd, and you would have known about my involvement as the designer of the dining room. In case you missed it, you can get caught up here, and the showhouse is open 24/7 and free to tour HERE .

You can flip through to page 23-24 of the special edition of Seasonal Living Magazine to begin the tour. It is easy to click around and navigate. You may also find video instructions on how to navigate the space on page 22.

Dining Room Rendering - Seasonal Living Magazine Virtual Luxury Designer Showhouse #SLDS21

When Leslie Carothers, CEO of Savour Partnership and one of the masterminds behind the showhouse, reached out to me to ask for my participation, I was ecstatic. It was such a forward-thinking, innovative and history-making concept that I was immediately intrigued. When she explained Gary Pettitt's vision and why the time was now to put forward this concept into the market, I was totally onboard. Gary is the CEO of Seasonal Living and publisher of the Seasonal Living Magazine, and believes in living in your home in harmony with the four seasons.

There couldn't have been a better time to introduce this concept of sustainability, flexibility and wellness in our daily lives in our homes, as we face a global health crisis. And although this 20,000 square foot home only exists in the virtual world, it serves as inspiration that you can take and incorporate into your own home. Be sure to take the tour HERE and be on the look out for the hot buttons where you can click to shop the products from our 15 fine sponsors. There are about 50 products included with augmented reality QR codes, which will allow you to try them in your own space. It is pretty cool.

Thanks to the eDesign Tribe team - Jenna Gaidusek, Annilee Waterman and Sarah Durnez who pulled off one of the greatest feats I have seen in my design career. Rendering this entire home and every product in it in record time. And many thanks to the 15 sponsors, who immediately saw the vision and understood the impact that this is the future of design - Robin Baron Collection, Seasonal Living, Nathan Anthony, Global Views, Niermann Weeks, Universal Furniture, Stressless, Howard Elliott, Jaipur Living, Fabricut, Consentino, Signature Kitchen Suite, Minka Group, Revel Woods, and Sherwin Williams.

A Shot Of the Empty Dining Room - Note The 48' Ceiling And Views To The Ocean

I chose the dining room before ever seeing the home or even the space itself. When I saw it for the first time, I knew right away that I needed to cozy it up a bit and create a more intimate dining experience for the homeowners. You can tour the empty space HERE to get a better feel of it. While the room was very tall with 48' ceilings - yes, you heard that right - 48' ceilings, the footprint of the room itself was pretty small. Not to mention that the footprint was further reduced by the fact that the room was a pass-through to the beautiful covered terrace just outside

You can see here in the floor plan that the dining room is a main thoroughfare to the exterior living space

This meant that I couldn't bring in a lot of furniture to create that cozy feel, so I had to rely on the materials and textures to do that.

I love the beautiful wood floor by Revel Woods. They introduced a whole new collection inspired by the showhouse called The Showhouse collection. Check it out HERE. The floor reminded me of a sandy beach, and with the ocean just outside, I wanted to follow that same organic, nature inspired theme

I drew out the space to get a better feel for its volume as it relates to arranging furniture

With the strong modern architectural lines of the staircase opposite the fireplace, I knew I needed to balance that somehow

I chose to clad the entire fireplace wall - all 48 feet of it in Cosentino Et Noir Silestone. I knew that it would be dramatic and grounding to the space, yet it would still allow you to appreciate the volume of the space without feeling miniature in it

I wanted the rest of the walls to remain light and airy, so I chose to use a creamy white - Eider White SW 7014 by Sherwin Williams.

I designed the walnut bookcases to flank each side of the fireplace, backed with the textured Tremezzo Bark wallpaper by Fabricut (S. Harris) for a subtle natural texture. I did not want a high contrast on the wall overall, so the colors chosen were meant to have a calming effect. The gorgeous Eclipse hardware by Robin Baron Collection adds a bit of sophistication to the bookcases

This was my initial rendering before submitting to the eDesign Tribe to render for the showhouse

3D Rendering Of The Dining Room Space by Chinh Vuong

The furnishings were not exactly what we close, but it gave us a good feel of the scale of the space and how the materials would work together.

Next order of business was the area rug. I knew I wanted something that had an organic pattern and/or texture. Enter the gorgeous Transcend rug by Jaipur Living. The rug's pattern has a similar movement to waves in the ocean, and it was perfect for the space.

I wanted the room to have some element of flexibility. Whether the family was entertaining a large group of family and friends or they were just having a nice intimate meal as a family, I still wanted the room to feel just as cozy and conversation-friendly. I chose the Global Views Oculus dining room table as the main table and then I designed 2 smaller round tables topped with Cosentino White Macaubas slabs to nestle underneath. These tables can be pulled out into the room for smaller groupings and some separation in large gatherings.

The main chairs; the Elder dining chairs by Global Views covered in Fabricut (S. Harris) Alistair Smoke mohair offers a wonderful visual texture to the space. The Bell Bottom end chairs from Nathan Anthony are sexy and unique. I chose the Pokhara Onyx by Fabricut (S. harris) to cover them in. I had to bring in my signature pattern mix somehow ;-)

I wanted statement light fixtures in the space to really play up the natural elements of the live wall nearby and the ocean landscape right outside. The Niermann Weeks Palm Chandelier was the perfect statement. Instead of just one, I decided to do three to really showcase the natural texture against the silestone wall