Trends with Hilary: The great dining room debate

0:00Home is where connections are made. Memories are formed and ideas are born, and no one knows home better than NFM. Thanks for tuning in to I Am Home, the podcast that goes deeper than trends and dives into what it means to make your house a home. Welcome to I Am Home, the home life best life podcast. I'm Tyler Weisscup, and we are doing a special live episode. This is the second live podcast that we've done for the NFM lives, and it's really, really fun. I'm excited. I'm here joined by Hillary Waldemath, who brings a fresh perspective to the table. Oh, hey, Tyler. And Amy Gatula, who keeps a pulse on what's actually happening around the table. Oh, bringing around town. Good morning, Tyler. Hello. Thank you for having me. Of course, of course. Well, today I'm so excited. We're going to be

1:00tackling a surprisingly controversial question. Do you even need a dining room anymore? For years, people have predicted the dining room was disappearing, but at the same time, people still create places to gather, connect, and spend time together. And so we're going to get into all things dining room in just a minute to kind of unpack this question. If this is something that like, are we just evolving the dining room or is there something brand brand new that we need to be considering when it comes to our dining room spaces? But before we do that, let me remind you, or maybe you're hearing about this the first time, but we're giving away $200 NFM gift cards during today's live stream. So just leave a comment or ask us a question or share your opinion, whatever, just any time during the show. And we'll be giving away that those gift cards at the end. Very last thing before we get started, we're able to do this podcast today because NFM is more than just your everything home store. We're in the business of improving lifestyles because your

2:00home life should be your best life. And you can learn more at nfm.com. So Hillary and Amy, I'm wondering if we can settle this debate. Like we said, people have been predicting the demise of the dining room for a while, but lately designers have been saying like the exact opposite. And that were like really jumping back fully into the dining room. So listeners, curious from from all of you, do you even need a dining room in 2026? But Hillary and me, just when I ask that question right off the bat, what are your thoughts? Yes. No, I am a big dining space person. I like to have a surface when I eat, whether that is the countertop or a dining room table, but I do personally like to have that separate space from the kitchen or the kitchen counter. I think there's a place for both of those things. You know, the casual dining is done at the counter with the barstools while you're doing homework.

3:03And then I like to have it, I like to entertain myself, not entertain myself, but entertain a lot. And I like to have that space for when I entertain and have people over and just bring everyone around the table. I personally have a round table because I like to be able to converse with everyone and see everything and what's going on. So I'm a big on dining tables and dining rooms. The round table feels like your personality. We're just bringing around together. Everyone's equal here. Good job. You brought that one together. I love that. I love that. We had to bring that full circle. These are too many puns. Too many. Too many. Hillary, what do you think? Well, as someone who does not have a like established dining space currently, I really, really, really want one. My husband and I just got married. This is the first time on the podcast. It is. This is my first time podcasting as white.

4:07Wait, what was your what's your new name? It's not Hillary anymore, right? Well, when I was a kid, I wanted to be Cinderella really bad. So okay, either one, either one, either one, but Walt, but Walt, either way. So we are getting ready. Well, we want to move in the in the not so distant future. And a dining room is very high on my wish list. I am really looking forward to the opportunity to have a formal dining space. We just have a kitchen island right now that I love. And it fits three barstables, a little snug, but it works. But yeah, I also like to entertain and I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to have a dining space. And it's funny because I remember when I lived in Texas and buying a home and a lot of them had formal dining rooms.

5:07I was going to see that for a very like popular thing where it would have like glass French doors, but the the conversation and this was what back in 2016, 2018, I think. But all the conversation was, oh, people turn this into a study or an office like it was the conversation then was like nobody does formal dining anymore. And so it was almost pitched as or sold to you as not a dining space. It's like an entirely different bonus room that you can do whatever with. Oh, it's so such opportunity for you. Interesting. We actually have a comment here from Paul and he said large dining room table is essential. Yeah, which I kind of love that comment. And I kind of that fits in with what you're saying is you're wanting your yearning for that space that larger table because you do love to entertain. But I do think it's interesting they would sell it as a different space because I would think in the South, you know, the Southern hospitality, we have the big Sunday dinners and get together. So that's just kind of interesting that take.

6:12Yeah. And I think that's certainly I feel like that's probably shifted a little bit now to like, you know, aligning with our the topics we've kind of prepared to talk about today as I think people are craving connection and like what better place to do that in my opinion around a dining table with food and yep, good conversation. So well, I would be team. You don't need it. Oh, you don't need it. After all that. Yes, yeah, it sounds so great. But like frankly, you know, I feel like who works from his dining table? I know that's what I was going to say. I thought he worked from a dining table. That's that's part of the point though is like I don't know that like the dining like I feel like when I think about a dining room, it's like I got to use that as the space where we're having family dinner and yeah, yeah, yeah, it just feels too stuffy to me. Oh, okay. And so I guess like I came in with a hot thing. But it's more about like being that space and be able to do a lot more with it than to like feel like it has to be the dedicated

7:15room that I open that has the French doors that I open on a nice formal occasion. So I don't mind the idea of us of a big table like Paul, if that's something that you're into, but I do think that there is an opportunity to like maybe you have a smaller space and you carve out a little room and like I said, we'll kind of dive into these options. But like maybe carve out some room for a reading look or you have like a little extra bonus entertaining area. If you've got kids, maybe you want to make it more into a playroom. Some of those ideas before. I think there's more things that we can do with our spaces and I'm always advocating for people to rather than think about like what you think that that space should be used for. What do you want to use it for? Oh, that's a good, that's a good take. So thank you. I'm curious like though back to childhood for you guys. What do you like sit down at dinner every every every night and like how does that compare to like your dining habits today? For me, it was interesting because my dad was an administrator. So a lot of

8:20times at nights, he was gone for a basketball game, football game conferences. You kind of name it, he would be gone a lot. So my mom really made a point though that we eat together for dinner. And we had two separate areas. We had a nook, a little nook area. And that was really where we spent a majority of our time eating homework. It was the flex space kind of everything space. But a lot like me, my parents entertained a lot, whether it was having faculty and staff over or other things. We did a lot of parties and things that nature. So we used our we had a separate dining space. And it was kind of like you were saying like it had the big bay windows specifically for dining. And that's where we would do Sunday dinners and almost every Sunday we would have a Sunday dinner of some sort and sit. And I'd say that applies to me today because I do like, I have two littles. And we I do like to have us all three eat together as a family unit. And a lot of times sometimes

9:21that's at the kitchen counter. And I'm standing up. But I always like for us to sit together. And every once well, I'll make a bigger meal and we'll sit at the dining room table and kind of have that Sunday dinner vibe that I grew up with. But yeah, it was it was yeah, those are some of my best memories that growing up is, you know, everyone's sitting around the table just talking we didn't have cell phones back then or anything else like it was it was just a different time where you really could sit and connect. And I remember neighbors coming over and just big parties and dinners too, just any form of entertaining. Yeah, some of the best memories. Yeah, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And echoes with some of the comments that we're getting in from from folks, Deborah saying I definitely enjoy having a separate space to sit down as a family for meals. Yep. And Pam says no separate dining room with walls, but still want the table near cooking area. Yeah, that's fair. I think that's a total fair call out. Absolutely. So people are are like

10:22are definitely a feeling the space and having that that like you said, the opportunity to gather and entertain and you did tell me my heartstrings a little with that memory. So now I'm like wavering back and forth. I need a dining. Why am I going to see what your opinion is at that end of this? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I think that's the goal. I think maybe just like fully fully pull me to the other side. Yeah. Hillary, what about you from a family perspective compared to today? What's your dining habits? Yeah, we I would say most of the time eight together as a family and growing up in a in a split household, it varied a little bit to you know, whether my family was in a position at the time with like a like a more traditional work schedule like especially for dinners. A meal would be prepared and you wouldn't eat until everyone sat down at the table. Everybody had their like responsible like one one of us had to set the table one of us had

11:23to clear the table one of us had to do the dishes. But there were like busy seasons with sports and after school activities where we weren't all there. But if it was always at the dinner dinner table and some of that was like a format like my mom didn't want us to spill food anywhere else was was part of it and yeah, my dad's I just like kept up with a lot of traditions in like which I think is like kind of leads to like some healthy eating habits to like versus like mindlessly eating in front of the TV just like being. Yeah, yeah, that's a really good point to like at the table present doing one thing at a time I think is a good thing all around. Yeah, one of the other reasons I'm looking forward to having that space too. How do you Tyler? Because I'm curious like how you grew up and what you're dying experience and if maybe that tailors what your mindset is with it. Listen, I think a lot of my dining opinion right now if we're

12:30if we're if you've got me on the psychiatry couch. My parents forcing me to eat green beans at the table and not being able to leave until I finish my green beans. Yeah, so finish your play and now they're like donate everything. Yeah, stop when you're full. Yeah, don't waste a bite of those beans but they were the canned green beans and they're all mushy and gross. It tastes like aluminum. Oh, oh yes, I'm so disgusting kind of like them. Can vegetables. You look a little keir monster. I know. I love fresh but I don't know I we grew up in a lot of canned food so there's something totally nostalgic about it. Yeah, it's like sodium so good. Stockholm, I think it's what you hear. That's not nostalgia. Except for when they were mixed with the tomatoes I hated that. Tomatoes. Yeah. But we did have family dinners and spend a lot of time at the the table for that but like maybe that's part of it for me is just the the the Stockholm syndrome thing that's like your horse to sit and eat like it was it yeah, that makes total sense. Absolutely.

13:35Absolutely. I wanted to get out of that space as quickly as I could and then like I had to do the dishes. That was my job. So like, oh, I just wanted to get out of that kitchen. But I think today like I'm not doing as much like beyond like having a dinner party which like do you guys have dinner parties like how it does because she's fancy but like okay, well you too. Yeah, but like Pete, my friends that when I come over and do set like nobody wants to leave the house because they got kids and they're just like, oh, I have my friends production. That's the thing is that like nowadays it looks a little different but I do what I've been calling family nights and my kids are in a split household as well. So what I like to do is bring my friends and their kids over and we'll do taco night and just hang out and let the kids friendly to yeah, I make it kid friendly now and I remember that's what my parents really did too is like they're like, you know, your family comes over. Let's grill out and just hang out and yeah, we just have to stay there. Yeah, exactly. You can't come out and we'll have staple you have boil hot dogs. I

14:38gotta twist arms and get people to come over like unless we're doing like the big like family because we host like Easter we host big news party we host like certain like events throughout the year where we get folks to come but like doing just like a casual getting people to come to my dinner. My people are there. I just can't get it. So I'm curious like if like if everyone just likes you more which is probably true. I don't know like I'm one of those. You vote folks. Okay Scott, I would love to pull up. We've got some top trends that we're tracking and I'd love to pull up our deck to kind of walk through some of these and maybe just chat about like what we're seeing with with dining room trends and you know Amy you've got some great ideas that we want to kind of cover for our audience and yeah, absolutely. Help educate folks on what we're excited about for 2026. So the first thing that we have on our list here are Moody dining rooms

15:38with architectural details like handled walls plaster finishes and rich dramatic colors. So we've got a couple of examples here and I'm excited. Let's move forward. I think there's a couple more on this list but really dig this vibe. I think it's really really sharp. A Moody color plus like the velvet texture of the previous chairs. It's just a wonderful combo. Yes. What I like about this one too is this is a really I feel like could be a flex space. If you are someone who you know this could really be a work from home situation with that background. I think they've done a really nice job of just making it seem multipurpose versus this is just dining with the way they decorate it with the books and and some of the other elements of decor just as kind of seems like it could be dining or office or homework. So I love this. It makes me think I think it was Chris loves Julia in one of her I think it's like evolved a couple of times but she in her home made a

16:42dining slash office and it was very similar to this where if you removed the dining tables and just put like a chair in between the built-ins and the table and I think she was just like working laptop like my dual monitor setup would not work with that but yeah they had a space for the chairs to go I think or I can't remember exactly where the chairs went but she would like flip between doing like family dinners in that space versus using it in an office and I think she had like a buffet instead of like a built-in unit which again is storage for either either setup. So I aspire to have like a space like this. This is the kind of thing you're you're thinking about for new homes. Okay. Scott let's move forward. I think we've got a shot from our catalog here of a little bit more of a movie space that we're excited about. This is a preview.

17:45I'm probably like getting Derek mad because I don't know if some of this stuff is out yet but these are some products and shots that we've got from our some of our moody setting that we're excited about the share with customers. Yeah it looks really really good. These chairs are so cool. They have like a warm oh brass metal lay it's maybe closer to bronze than brass but not like a super deep like oil rub bronze and then the chair has like a bit of a pattern to it and it has like a bit of a velvety texture but it's not like a salt that the pattern is textured also. And so it's just like a really beautiful mix of materials on this and I think probably a closer-up image. Look at this does the products some justice but yeah it's just like a stunning mix of materials together here. Yeah

18:46absolutely I don't know if we've got the shoppable link we're experimenting with some new technology on the lives but there might be an opportunity to shop them right from the from the live hopefully in the near future if it's not already on there 40 right now. Let's move forward Scott and take a look at the next trend which we're tracking which is layered lighting and this combines statement chandeliers with sconces and picture lights and other warm lighting. So in this example it's got some really nice overheads and there's some lamps in the in the background. Scott let's move forward and there's a couple more like great examples of how some of that layered lighting looks like I love this one under cabinet kind of under shelves or whatever it is over there. Yeah and the sconces really shows the way to kind of layer your lighting in the space. And we've talked about this in the pod quite a bit of like especially this this time of year when like the big overhead sometimes is way too much like having some of these other light interests helps kind of

19:49set off your space and makes it look a lot cooler I'm not gonna lie when I'm thinking about like whether or not I need a dining or might see something like this and I get really excited. Scott I think there's one more on the the layered light. I like it because it does separate the space like in your first image it looked like there it was a little bit more of an open concept and I feel like there's a big white pendant really made it so it was a separate space you know it was combined right so I think that's another way to look at lighting is not only can it add something to it it can really separate the space if you have a open concept. Yeah absolutely so doing stuff like this obviously is making the case for dining in 2026 any other thoughts are like tips on layering lighting specifically in dining spaces comes in line. I think you're a first photo with the two large like oversized white pendants are is a good example of how to get drama in maybe a more affordable way you know like this is a very elaborate intricate design with a lot of little pieces

20:53in this chandelier that you're seeing here but that first one a lot of times you can like find them in like a paper lantern material or like a thin metal and like that design is going to be a little bit more cost effective and so hanging two big ones gets you like the the drama but you're not it's not going to cost you right if you were to get this giant fixture to yeah yeah yeah or to like if you're trying to ground the space like Amy you were talking about or like make it feel distinct like putting up a whole wall or so or adding French d'Ork like that's a huge investment but like just big lamps that are a little bit more affordable easy way. Yeah yeah you're I needs like spots to stop and rest and that's the challenge you brought up with open floor plans Amy is like when you can see the whole whole space and kind of one turn of your head your eye doesn't always have places to stop and so adding a light fixture like this is a great way to

21:54ground a space and and sort of like give it its own distinct personality yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah absolutely yeah absolutely and I love that livern called out and I know it's not online but the abstract wall art um hmm we'll talk a little bit more about this and some other slides that I have as well but I think this is a great way again to differentiate your space um you see a lot of that peel and stick wallpaper yeah and Chris loves Julia that space you were talking about she has a full on wall mural yeah as well that um again you could use fur on office space or dining space it's just something different that you can do uh with your dining yeah I really love stuff like this because it shows a little bit more of the personnel yeah like the energy that you can bring again making the case for like the intentionality um Scott let's move forward I think I got a shot from our catalog of a little bit of layered lighting we got some warmer I love that like just a little bit smaller space not so big than the first catalog picture but yeah this one's great too

22:56I love the colors again this is a little sneak preview I don't think the the catalog is live yet but like it's it looks so good it looks so it's gonna be awesome and and this overhead I think is great in some of the candlelight that's a simple way to add some some layered lighting to your space as well it looks really dramatic a night for sure and to speak to like the trend a little bit of somebody who has been involved in nearly all of the photo shoots we've had is we used to like getting lighting in these shots is takes it's not easy yeah I would imagine it is not easy um so is is Adam holding the shield here over the table off camera you know um depends on whether the safety team is listening but um we used to like just work a couple in just for like exposure but now we have to like hold ourselves back on how many because yeah we just it's such a fun

24:00a lot statements yeah to the space but it can be something that like slows us down in our in our photo shoots but um we're so much more motivated to figure it out now because it just it brings the look together yeah and there's there's so many different styles and to your point about layering like it we would only do matching lamps yeah living room and now we're like oh no way you know and some looks we do but um pulling in a a number of of different styles there's well most of us can't walk into the room and and pie by the whole package every single time we build it over time so it feels more real to me to have like things that seem like they could have collected over time for sure a lot of intentionality and work goes into these so I definitely wanted a preview and show off some of these great dining spaces that we've we've covered and especially speaking to some of these trends um Scott let's move forward to the next trend which is playful patterns and textures yeah um through wallpaper bald artwork and wall treatments and these are

25:01just some great examples that I was able to kind of scour up of like bringing in a lot of the boldness here I love how this is like traditional and then it feels like really modern and fun and energetic on the other other side of it as well yeah great uh mix of like pattern and and color um there's a more intricate pattern on the wall you've got something more bold and abstract in your wall decor and then you've got a little texture in the light fixture so those things aren't in competition with each other um but they all play like the scale of everything is like very amazing see done it's like more of a cherry and then some of the the color if we're listening I'm reminding myself about the podcast later oh yeah absolutely you've got to come listen to look at the video to see some of the the great pictures as they pull together but like we got some cherries and some greens and some yellows and some some um some uh I don't know some tomato e can't that's not quite tomato but like a little reddish it's it's all very warm and it's a little really great together

26:01there's another great example of some some pattern mm-hmm yes um one thing that is being called out or um a question from a listener is if we offer home design services we definitely do offer those services and it's not about we we don't pay our our um designers by the hour it's more about the product that you purchase so it's actually can be very affordable um you can come in with your ideas your inspirations they'll sit with you they'll work with you and find really well all budgets all budgets all sizes we we cover all masses and classes so um you can bring a few inspirational pictures and they can help you fill up your space and make it special so and if you want to listen to like some of the process of that we've got some old podcast episodes of like talking to some of our designers and how they've gone through and real projects yeah absolutely yeah different budgets and price points yeah to so yeah I even like referred a friend who she and her

27:04husband own a business and they needed to furnish an office space um that's what they didn't really want to like they wanted to do good stuff but they weren't trying to like spend a ton they'd already like invested a lot and so this is an area where they were trying to be really thoughtful and one of our interior designers like set them up with like office furniture for their for their space and so yeah I think it's it's an underutilized um service we offer here for sure absolutely Donna I think was mentioning online about the mix of patterns and I was just referring to the last one or this one but like both of them are some good examples of a mixture of patterns and I got one more I think on uh the um uh more collect uh playful pattern examples yeah I love this mixes a little bit moody but like still great use of of color and pattern and just like a lot of textures a lot it seems like a lot's going on but it just like plays does so well together and the ceiling I love when people I really want to do that do that ceiling or

28:08doing it a different color the color drenching looks gorgeous in this uh I think this is so well done and you can tell to some of these pieces are newer and some of them look like they're probably some type of vintage like that table looks a little more vintage I love how it has that live edge to I think what design and what I love about it now is there are no rules you can color outside the lines and nothing you know anything and everything can exist like you could put a stripe with a plaid and it can be done very well if done right it can also be done really bad trust me but it can be done right if you bring in the fun and that is kind of the fun is mixing those colors and and um again you know you could come somewhere like NFM and if you can achieve this on your own you could have NFM right services help you achieve this very easily so um yeah that's what I love about dining too is it can just be this separate space yeah um or it can be a part of your space

29:10and their joint space too so these are great examples I think they absolutely make the case for like these dedicated spaces that you're proud of and yes and you like I'm sure like if this was my dining room maybe my friends would like me more and they would come and see and and see right maybe maybe oh I gotta be at a statement ceiling yeah that's perfect for a fresco that's what I'm going for so thank you for touching exactly yes yes I have an example I think from her catalog sky of some some some color and some pattern here um especially in the in the chair pattern and just the chair design too I'm just a good example of of some of that that that that fun and flavor that you can bring into it this is still um it's not as over the top of some of the other examples but shows like how you can add a lot of fun and and playfulness depending on where you are on the scale maybe a full colored drench isn't something that you feel comfortable with but like adding some little touches like you're like the patterns on the on the chairs and

30:14the and the type of chairs that you select is a good way to be able to do that yeah and that plaid pattern is only on the host chair so like the the two ends so with like pattern it feels like a big commitment this is a nice like to pop it in yeah I was just thinking that same thing yeah so if you like happen to get like tired of those at some point I love a little um corner like room chair as um I don't it's it serves like purpose and like sometimes like it's a place to drop or land things um and it's like sometimes how I store extra seating um like I've got a dining person's chair by my front door and I don't sit in it that often but that's where like my purse my purse go so you can you can take pieces like this can have a home in another room or have another life if you decide to move on to it so I think host chairs are a great great way to bring in a little interest color

31:16pattern texture um without a huge huge commitment great advice okay so moving forward I'm making more of a case for um collected mixed-style spaces as well as like blended dining and and um living spaces that just have a lot more going on now you can kind of like flex out the space a little bit so this is an example um they are cutting down on the amount of space that they've got in this room but it's really devoted to like reading and entertaining I think this might be a frame tv type situation on this side as well so kind of helps like you can do all of those things in this in this space and I know that we've hosted um for our birthday parties one year we had a um a Bob Ross paint a thon situation we had to like break up a projector which was fun to do but like maybe this is a little more key way to kind of do like some art some crafts in this space I love that they took the the wishbone chair which is like a classic design that's been around a long time and then

32:21modernized it a little bit and painted um each one I think a slightly different color of blue or green so again a way to bring in a little bit of color but it doesn't like overwhelm the space yeah absolutely there's a great comment about having a dining room but wish my table fit the space better and I think this is a really good example of that where it almost seems like they designed the space around the table versus the table in the space which I think we we do a lot is well we'll we'll find the table and then we'll make it work for the space one thing I would suggest is almost taping off if you are in search for a dining room table and furniture is taking painters paint and measuring your space and then just taping out how long the table would be um and and that will help you know if you need to go smaller or bigger or whatever the case may be that'll help you with that space for sure yeah you can really see it doing it it's a great tip yeah absolutely yeah and they make um there's some really interesting designs with extension tables now like I

33:28remember we always had um extra leaves for our dining table and it would take at least two of you to yank unlatch the bottom and where do you store the leaves yeah dig the extra leaves out of the out of the basement try not to pinch your fingers or smash your fingers in the process but now they like they like fold and tuck under oh yes underneath um I think we even have one like sponge and like expand yeah most of our dining is hidden I think they've needed for the function I mean not even think it's for the functionality and kind of have same purposes I remember growing up and getting the leaves out and then it's like all right we're going to pinch it go one two three uh and you're like moving your hands immediately yeah but you have to push it at the same time so the functionality has completely changed to your point where a round can kind of expand or even dining with the lazy Susan in the middle is still something very popular in the lazy Susan yeah well the lazy Susan um that also you know I think a lot of other families really

34:33enjoy with other traditions too that we offer so yeah absolutely there's a lot there absolutely okay so this is up someone who's like really into indoor gardening and planting and just an example of like how you can use that space so there's still the dining situation in there but like a lot more of the space has been devoted to like plants and um I know that there's so many people who are like into that kind of yeah today my my wife has been getting this garden thing right there working and we actually do have like a little kind of bump out with quite a few plants that are going to like take it space yeah so this this one definitely spoke to my heart um I know we have a couple more images I want to make sure that we get through Scott before we end and today this is a couple examples of someone that's used their dining area that's for working in a lot more art inspired so this whole wall on the left um good example of like somebody who's uh got some canvases and then they've got like their own like little gallery

35:34area where they've got some that stuff up and on the right is an example of like more of a selling kind of workstation but it still can be used for dining when you when you need it so some examples of like do you need the dining room how you can might might evolve that this is a dining room this this example I found someone turned it just the whole dining room into a play room and I'm like uh we're we're eating in front of the TV anyway we've got little side tables like we need more like I don't want to take over my living room every single time that like it's kid play time so here's an example of how we'll be able to um enjoy this space and use it for what we need it and I think the next example gives a peek at like a blended look of like here you got to play area but there's also kind of a very sweet dining situation as well and a great example of how like your home can evolve I was thinking that as you were going through this is like you know that space right now is a kid space but then you can make it into something like this you see yeah you know those dresses

36:35of eventually and unfortunately will go away and you can you know evolve it even more so that's a great collot hillyry on there yeah on the involvement absolutely absolutely okay um those are what I had to share on some of the top trends that um we were seeing in advance kind of preparing for um this episode you may know that you had a few more things that you wanted to call attention to do you want to like pull up that deck and walk through some of the yeah the top trends that you're seeing as well I'll go through this pretty quick if you don't my bringing that deck back up Scotty um real quick and moving to the next slide these are just some trends that I've I pulled a notice within the dining space of everything's just getting a little bit warmer you'll see those what was maybe a little bit of a brighter gold is now turning a little more brassy to your point Hillary um and just again some elements that um I'm seeing broadband in in um the industry right now yeah yeah the colors are so yeah very rich everything's just very

37:39rich I think from covid everything was so light and we needed that we needed that lightness seeing there were so much going on I think we needed that in our space and we gravitated towards the neutrals which I love but I also love how we're getting deeper and we're throwing that color back in richness um next slide please this was just an example of what we see a lot today of that joint space where you have the um big counter and um you have your bar stools under there and then you have your dining space along with it this is a little bit more modern of a look but you can see too with the lighting how it's differentiated the space and and it's still different and works all at the same time for a combined space how like how long do you think it's been since people have like been eating at at counters I feel like that wasn't I don't know what at least my childhood I don't remember a ton of like the countertop with the with the bar stools and sitting but

38:41I really love it I dig it I think it's really a smart use of space but now that's where I see I don't know like you were mentioning earlier like a lot of the casual eating quick eating farmhouse tends to go join a game that's what it was I mean really that's when you really saw the involvement of open space yep and that's also where you saw the involvement of having that big counter with um the bar stools under it and then having that separate dining space I really feel like Joanna gains kind of like pave the wave of this a little bit in this design overall how popular it was sure yeah I we had like counter space but it was just for this where we had breakfast really quick before we left for school but it was it was like only for those yeah it was more prepping cooking on the counter not eating on the counter that's what we kind of had the separate space for yeah we've got them deeper and wider and now there's a lot more like cuter ways that kind of like somebody great like countertop options for people and barcel options I feel like that has just

39:41made it a lot easier for people to like actually see that space working instead of it feeling a little stuffy okay next image Scotty I won't kind of glaze through some of these these are just some overall callouts I saw this was the nook situation um I think it's a great use of space if you have a little corner area you can very easily DIY a bench yourself and create a really nice space this is if I know someone in the comments had mentioned I don't have the right dining table for my space this is how you make the space for the dining situation next slide Scotty this is just showing the lighting situation and how that can really switch up your space with a little bit more of a dramatic light also the separated space so all these dining and air there's specific space for the dining area in these images where um in the first slide it was you know again the counter yeah absolutely yeah next slide a lot of the dedicated areas are fine and this is

40:41just some took this is the last one and just some decor ideas I think we also think how do we what do we do with this space and one thing is what a big mural I feel like this is if you want a big painting you can put a big painting if you want six mirrors if the if your wall space permits it do it up you can go dramatic on the wall and then go more simple with what you put on the tabletop but here I put a little bit more of a holiday going into fall and just decking your your tabletop out and then also just some basic greenery for every day that you can just get a nice little um round tray and put some greenery and maybe a bowl with some decorative elements to it yeah so that's all I have love these these are a good example and I feel like they connected really well with some of those top transversaries yeah yeah so I think we're getting close to the end of our time I feel feels feels like a natural point for us to kind of talk through where we think the final verdict is the last step of course do you think the dining room after everything that

41:45we've seen and talked about now that we've discussed it do you feel like it so earns its spot in the modern home whatever whatever what's our final verdict like I'm looking at you because I think we know my answer I so sold on the dining space and actually this whole pod made me more rejuvenated and super excited about oh my gosh I need to get fun wall art I just moved into a new space so I'm trying to figure out the whole vibe and look that I have a beautiful forehands table and chairs that I purchased from NFM and you can find on nfm.com and I we all have our people link it but um she's gorgy and I bought the table for the space not the space for the table um but yeah excite to decorate and do some some drama in that area where I have my dining table so I'm team dining team separate space yeah it still earns its spot still earns its keep in my life yeah yeah I started out all 10 toes down on the dining table and I don't have any more toes to put down so too yeah yeah okay yeah okay yeah okay full disclosure we do have a formal dining room and we have

42:51the space for it I think part of my hesitation is like why do I have to like you weren't using it why does it have to have a label guys like god it's like that's so you Tyler too don't make so don't make me decorate the box you put me in yep absolutely but some of it like the top trends and things that I was seeing certainly in preparation for the episode some of the stuff that you shown of decorating and how we can kind of like lean into it and make it your own space and then opportunities to flex it out a little bit like I do you think it certainly earns its space you do like need something for those opportunities when when you're getting together and to create some of those memories and those those warm fuzzies I think you can get that certainly out of a a dining space and um certainly it earns its its spot in the modern home I'm I'm on the team now I'm on I have joined I've I have to say Sarah why is cup I don't know if this is your wife or not love a fun dining room one of my favorite spaces and out oh cold out oh cold out the wife you called him out we did buy

43:54your dining table last year and dining some chairs as well so it looks great and but I think I think we want to go further is you want to make a more of a useful that's total yeah absolutely okay well Amy thank you so much for joining us and thanks to my co has Hillary our producers and Scott Megan Danny and I'll be listening and until next time here's to making your home life your best life one story at a time thanks for joining us today for I am home with Tyler Wiseka Hillary Walton Math and Becca Sudbeck no one knows home quite like NFM so if you'd like more information on home design at NFM please check out NFM.com and leave us a review on the podcast platform of your choice