Here at Furniture Village we know how important it is to make the most out of the space in your home and give it a touch of your own personal style. One room that often gets neglected is the dining room – maybe you only use it for dinner parties, it’s become the place where junk ends up building up or you’ve been looking for that perfect dining set since you moved in with not much luck.

Luckily help is at hand in the form of Cathy Frith, creator of cathyfrith.com. Cathy's site specialises in unique and interesting artisan, home decor and home accessories, from picture frames, t-light holders, vases and clocks through to sculptures and soft furnishings.

We asked Cathy to turn her expert eye to our dining range at Furniture Village and design a look she loves using our furniture and her home accessories; a match made in heaven.

The Emily dining range

As the main focus of the room I chose the pretty and understated Emily range from Furniture Village. I chose this range as traditional design elements blend seamlessly with thoughtful modern touches, like the soft close drawers and brushed steel cup handles on the sideboard, and the extra leaf that’s neatly hidden in the dining table. The two-tone finish and walnut tops add to the lovely country-chic feel that I would find so easy to live with.

Multiple tea light holder

Every dining room deserves a real showstopper and I’m always striving to be the talk of the dinner party circuit. I think my multiple tea light holder would look perfect with the Emily range. The clean lines of the furniture contrast with the more jagged edges of the tea light holder to make the whole room more interesting to look at and less bland. When all the tea light holders are filled with candles and lit, the glow will really lighten the room and look absolutely stunning, completing the new look of your room well into the evening. 

Wine cooler ice bucket

For me, what makes a room really stand out from the crowd is the smaller touches that are purposeful as well as decorative. Putting effort into coordinating useful items with your décor will really show off your design skills. I absolutely love this silver wine cooler/ice bucket, it has a sleek design that would be right at home with the simplicity of the Emily range. The stylish leather and jute handles are not only unique looking but make the ice bucket easily portable - ideal for any social occasion.

Cutlery wall art

To tie this whole look together I browsed my site for a quirky and delightful wall decoration and decided upon this cutlery set metal wall art hanging which is both eye catching and fun. This particular piece is great for adding another dimension of character to the Emily dining set without making the room look too cluttered or informal. Wall art is always an effective way of adding an extra touch to really make a room your own without breaking the bank.

Dragonfly napkin rings

I like to have a few little girly pieces in each room of my house to give a homely feel to every space and make it my own. Napkin rings are a great way to accessorize a dining room on a budget and add that little something extra to make your dinner parties memorable. I would have the Dragonfly napkin rings on display at all times in my Emily dining room to add some silvery shine to contrast with a wood-based room. The butterfly style are equally as gorgeous if they’re more your thing.