Dining Room Decor Tips for Your Home

A dining room with stylish green chairs and a decorative mirror.

If there’s one space in a house that attracts all residents to gather in, no matter the day, it’s the dining room. It’s only fair that this place reflects your spirit and the rest of the house’s style. However, dining rooms usually end up with mismatched crockery pieces, cluttered tables, and unattended walls. If you’re looking for ways to enhance your dining area’s aesthetic without compromising on its functionality, let us help. In this article, we’ll take you through some ways in which you can improve your dining room’s decor

1. Consider the Scale of Furniture

Dining rooms have to cater to the family hustle and bustle and constant trips to and from the kitchen. Their functionality depends majorly on the furniture’s scale and the area’s total space. When you’re shopping for a dining room set, consider the size of your room and family and the frequency of social gatherings in your house. 

You need to leave ample space for everyone to move around but also ensure that the chairs and the table aren’t so small that they can not cater to the needs of a large or a social family. When in doubt, go for an option that’s smaller, as you can always add some more chairs or corner tables to make up for the lost carrying capacity, but you can’t do anything with bulky furniture set in a small room. 

2. Add Color and Texture

It’s easy to keep rolling with default, commonplace colors, but they don’t add much to the personality of a space. Don’t just stick to white crockery, plain walls, and silver tableware; add color elements that match your vibe. 

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Maybe throw some furs on your chairs to add contrast or a pop of color to your space that complements the table linens. If you’re into contemporary minimalist looks, try adding a solid-painted candle stand in the middle instead of a bronze one. Use gold flatware to complement a warm-toned crockery set, or get art deco crockery if you’re into patterns. There are many such things you can do in there without changing furniture or repainting the walls. Mix and match textures, patterns, and materials until you find the perfect combination that reflects your tastes. 

3. Establish the Focus of the Room

Adding a focus to a room gives the eye a place to stabilize upon. The dining table can naturally act as this focus, but you can experiment with a contrasting bold-patterned rug, a giant central art piece, or even a prominent hanging light fixture, like a chandelier. 

Painting one of the walls with a giant mural, adding a patterned wall, building a family photo wall, or maybe building a little aquarium or plant scape are all ways in which you can add that central anchor to your dining room’s aesthetic. 

4. Build Your Tablescape

If you’re comfortable with the idea of your tables and chairs acting as the central items or are hesitant to buy yet another item to serve as the focus for decor, focus on your tablescape. 

Add a faux or real fruit basket or maybe a glass vessel for freshly-cut flowers. Get some good coasters, floral and lacey, for traditional, vintage vibes or maybe color-blocked or abstract ones for contemporary settings. You can experiment with candles, unique kitchen-specific decor like ceramic figurines or frames, and DIY fabric flowers to add personality to your space and turn your house into a home. 

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Whatever theme you go for, ensure you’re not cluttering the table and taking away from its functionality. 

5. Swap Out the Chairs

There’s only so much one can do if the main items of the room are not up to par, to begin with. Whereas table designs are easily covered under table linens or not visible at all due to their lower height, your chairs can set up the aesthetic for your room. 

Whether you want a dark wooden, old luxurious aesthetic or a rose-gold modern one, you’ll likely find a decent chair set to suit your needs in stores that offer specialized furniture, like Kasala. If you’re on a budget, you can always buy from thrift stores or get them from garage sales. 15.3 million Americans are moving annually, and they’re likely not dragging all their furniture with them. 

6. Add Wall Decor

A home’s walls set its atmosphere and add personality to it, so why leave your dining room’s walls bare? From flower wreaths to little packets or clusters of drying herbs, there’s a lot to add other than frames. 

Decorative plates or floating shelves for books and vases are all great options to spruce up the dining room. A glass cabinet for unique crockery pieces, some lights to illuminate the shelves, a unique tapestry, or some photo frames can take care of those bare walls. You can even consider adding ornate mirrors to make the space appear bigger and more well-lit. 

If your dining area has windows, make sure the curtains you’re using complement the visuals. Plain colors are the safest if you’ve already added patterns around the tablecloths or on chair cushions.  

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7. Invest in Ambiance and Atmosphere

Don’t just adjust the visuals; create an atmosphere. Whether it’s by infusing the place with a rich, homely scent through a diffuser or fragrance tablets or using thinner curtains to let the sunlight play with the room, see what you can do given the potential of your home.  

If your dining room is in a darker corner, don’t just go for a sharp white overhead light; try using low-voltage LEDs or Edison bulbs to layer the glow up to one that’s comfortable on the eyes. If you’re into whimsical setups and don’t have kids messing around the place, lanterns and string lights can make your dining room a little more magical. A large plant, like some ficus, or a couple of tall lamps can also let you build calming energy around the place. 

Endnote 

Dining rooms have to deal with heavy traffic but make for the hearts of houses. Make sure you give them the attention they deserve so you can unwind while you enjoy a hearty meal. Invest in quality furniture and add warmth to the place through light fixtures, personal touches, and the right wall decor. Do not clutter up the space and go for a less-is-more approach so that your space gets that aesthetic elevation without compromising on its functionality.

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