For many, it calls to mind stuffy spaces used only for 'special' occasions, but contemporary designers are redefining formal ...

If your house has a formal ... dining room and adding a door, which can be pricey), but there are several ways to make that dining room more useful with the addition of a few pieces of furniture ...

we encountered a home with an interesting problem – its kitchen had no table (it was displaced by a large island), so its dining room had to split the difference between formal and casual.