Is there always a cloth and undercloth on the dining table?
Yes again, for coziness. It’s also why we upholstered the walls above the dado. We chose the red, pale blue, and cocoa floral fabric, by the way, because it ties in so well with what’s going on in the living room across the hall. I like the entertaining spaces to relate to each other. The dining table is surprisingly small for the room. That was deliberate. When a table’s too big, the room never gets used beyond Thanksgiving and Christmas. The table sits four to six, but we also had an overlay made that accommodates up to fourteen. Anyone would recognize those chairs, they’re so iconic. They’re copies of the ones Nancy Lancaster had at Haseley Court, her house in Oxfordshire. Hers were in green leather. These are in brown velvet. Do the owners ever light a fire in the dining room? Not really. It just gets too hot for the poor people sitting on that side of the room. Besides, we get all the romance we need from the crystal chandelier. It has both candles and tiny electric lights hidden
