How to design a dining room you actually want to spend time in
The drawing room in a house in Oxfordshire had been converted into an open-plan kitchen and dining room.
When interior designer Vanessa Macdonald and her husband James discovered an unmodernised Georgian property they loved at the bottom of a valley in Oxfordshire, they lost out to a higher bidder, but the memory remained imprinted in their minds.
On a whim, a few years later, the couple posted a note through the letterbox explaining that they would be interested in buying, if it ever came back on the market. The timing was perfect; the owners were looking to sell.
‘Since seeing it for the first time, quite a bit of work had taken place,’ explains Vanessa. ‘The kitchen, which had been at the back of the house, had been moved into the drawing room, resulting in a large open-plan kitchen and dining room. I wasn’t sure about it at first, but we pressed ahead with the purchase. Now, it’s the room where we spend all of our time and we love the lovely light and the views up the valley.’
As a decorative starting point for the dining space, she chose curtains made up in Indhira by Le Manach, a Pierre Frey fabric that is inspired by a 20th-century Indian sari. ‘I first encountered it on a project years ago and fell in love with it. It works in so many spaces — in London and the countryside — and brings joy to a room.’
The walls are painted in Farrow & Ball’s Vert de Terre, an easy green that doesn’t shout, but which she feels adds depth to a room.
The chairs are part of her own collection and the table came from a shop in London’s Lillie Road, but was widened to function as a workspace, as well as a dining table. Above hangs an Arts-and-Crafts-era pendant sourced from Christopher Butterworth.
The curtain is made from a Namay Samay fabric, available through Tissus d’Helene Ltd.
Vanessa Macdonald leads interior design practice Melissa Wyndham. For more information call 020–7352 2874 or visit the Melissa Wyndham website.
This feature originally appeared in the June 17, 2026, issue of Country Life. Click here for more information on how to subscribe.
