Decor Dining Room – The dining room – of all the rooms in our house – is the scene of the gathering. It is a place where we can meet our families, host our pets or simply enjoy a takeaway. And since entertaining is back in style this year, is the dining room back in the spotlight, from the table itself to the venue setting to the over-the-top dishes you choose to cook (Baked Alaska, anyone)?
In the past, dining rooms have gotten a bad rap as overly formal—or even cold—places with upright seats, elbow-free surfaces, and impeccably groomed children. Nothing more: interior designers are reimagining these spaces as spaces for personal expression, where practically anything goes. Just ask ELLE DECOR A-list designer Garrett Hunter, who recently revamped his parents’ modern Hollywood Hills with a dining room full of luscious ’70s hues and silhouettes.
Decor Dining Room
But several stylistic parameters remain, says Hunter. “There are three elements to creating a great dining room: comfortable seating, designer fixtures to create a connection or core, and adjustable lighting,” he says. As for his parents’ house, a beautiful painting pendant by Jeffrey Cheung provides light and a focal point above a “core” consisting of an architectural table by Ettore Sottsass surrounded by comfortable chairs by Afra and Tobio Scarpa with their Pringle-shaped backs and upholstered seats.
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Speaking of seating, “there are no rules for what type of seating can be used in a dining room. An important factor to consider is consistent seating height in the dining room,” says Hunter – who once paired a Børge Mogensen wing sofa with two Christopher Kreiling dining chairs in his own breakfast nook. “It worked well because the sofa is high and created an intimate dining experience in an open space.”
“A rule of thumb is to always test your dining chairs!” says designer Jennifer Bunsa. “If you’re shopping online, order one as a tester to see if it’s comfortable. Or, if you can visit showrooms and test in person, it’s perfect when it comes to the dinner table,” continues he. “For example, if you have a young and messy family, make sure the wood is properly treated or use a stone slab that is more durable.”
Even if your dining room is less of a “room” and more of a dedicated space, nook, or sofa (hey, we won’t judge), there are ways to set up your space to have a discreet dining area—just tap into don’t let your ambitions get the better of you. “One mistake small-space dwellers make is trying to pack multiple zones into one. Creating a hybrid zone works best in small spaces,” says Hunter. Bunsa agrees. In fact, in a recent project in Miami, she incorporated bookshelves into the dining room as a unit to break up the open plan of the home, but also to add visual interest. “You can do something fun with a built-in, and you can introduce a color or a pattern and turn a small space into a design moment,” he says.
Just as there are endless kitchens and parties in them, there are countless ways to configure and decorate a dining room. Do you have an open kitchen? Consider a banquet. Hoping to make your room the center of attention? Choose a dramatic lamp. Do you want to take nature with you? Think of a scenic wall painting, says Bunsa. Wherever you decide to break bread, these dining room ideas are recipes for good taste.
Fall Dining Room Table Decor
A mural of a leopard and cherubs) and the dining room was no exception. To define the uncomfortable space, she came up with an ingenious solution: turning it into a hybrid library. “The space is in the center of the house and is the main hallway, so the bookcase helps define it as a dining area in the larger room,” says Bunsa. “A formal dining room is often not a space that people use very much, so we added an extra feature.”
This Connecticut home—designed by architect Andrew Bartolotto with interior design duo Jesse Parris-Lamb—may have been inspired by Industrial Revolution factories, but it’s not Dickensian. Here in the dining room, floor-to-ceiling windows open onto coastal views, while an Italian travertine table is surrounded by five curved chairs upholstered in gray leather. Please sir can we have more?
ELLE DECOR A-List designer Michelle R. Smith brought her casual yet elegant style to Simon Huck’s Manhattan home (you’ll recognize him as a regular
) and Phil Reportella. In the dining room, that meant rich wood furniture (we love the Giancarlo Valle chairs) that stand out against their muted vanilla backdrop. A swirling green painting by Ammon Rost presents a band of color. “I wanted this house to feel like a perfectly tailored Loro Piana coat,” says the designer. “We used all these cashmere colors, like cream and white, along with the oak.”
Dining Room And Entryway: Summer Decor And Furniture Sources
Designed by Georgia Tappert Howe, this combined dining area and kitchen manages to pack in plenty of style
Enough storage space. A custom leather banquette and marble island feature drawers and cabinets—perfect for this Brooklyn family on the go. “You need to be aware of how much storage space you need,” advises Howe.
This airy house in California, designed by Noz Nozawa, is a rarity because it is surrounded by king redwoods. “They love all of nature right outside their door,” the designer explains of the clients, “and they wanted to make their own living-edge dining table, so we found a cut piece of wood that would be perfect.”
Inspiration was literally underfoot in this Hudson Valley home: Decorator Miles Redd drew an entire color palette from the hues of the rug. However, this sitting vignette is an expression of the homeowner’s love of antiques. Here, Biedermeier chairs lead up to a 19th-century table. And in our humble opinion, you can never have a flower arrangement that is too big.
White And Blue Christmas Decor Ideas
They say everything is big in Texas, and judging by the high ceilings in this Dallas home, it’s true. Designer Chad Dorsey played with the stunning scale of the dining room, installing a series of white pendants that shower the table. This feature adds drama while ensuring the seating doesn’t get lost in the home’s larger-than-life dimensions.
With this spectacular view, the interior has to take a back seat – fact designer Nicole Hollis has expertly navigated this breathtaking desert escape. The dining room has a custom table surrounded by Jean-Michel Frank and anything but a vine-like chandelier by Jeff Zimmerman – an otherworldly touch for an out-of-this-world backdrop.
That’s how you stick to the modern farmhouse look. Designer David Netto swapped chintz and antiques for a more modern, cozier feel for this mansion. In the dining room, this included woven Charlotte Perriand chairs and an antique Italian table surrounded by simple wooden chairs.
Think in 3D if you’re looking for an artistic moment in the dining room. This breakfast nook in Lucy Doswell’s Manhattan residence features an art installation by artist Bradley Sabin. “They’re all hand-made and painted flowers, and he likes to figure out the installation pattern and exact placement,” says Doswell.
Elevated Dining Room Decor Ideas
When designer Jamie Bush approached the interior of this Montecito, California. residence went back to basics: primary and secondary colors. The dining room nods to this theme with gold-toned swivel chairs and red on the side table.
You can never have too much of a good thing, especially when it comes to the entertainment space. Here at Utah’s Park City Ski Resort, design firm Electric Bowery added a comfortable banquette for informal family meals alongside a more formal dining area. To create cohesion, an open shelf works as a room divider.
We love how ELLE DECOR A-List firm Retrouvius limited the palette in this distinctly modern Parisian dining room to just two colors: cream and gold. Our favorite part? The wardrobe door (right) was made from a salvaged parquet floor.
There are few walls in the Brooklyn loft owned by Orior’s creative director Ciáran McGuigan, so the furniture designer created distinct groupings of furniture to define different functions. “We knew we wanted as much open space as possible,” he says. Here, between the original wooden column and the mint-green credenza, he tucked in the Orior table and surrounded it with electric blue chairs—a shade that runs throughout the apartment.
Dining Room Decorating Ideas On A Budget- Glam, Modern & Neutral!
Hey, we hear you: Maybe you prefer stark white walls to a maximalist look. But before you completely ditch the bold florals, check out this chic space from Toronto designer Sam Sacks. Here she introduced pattern through the striped chairs and rug and color through the red antique tapestry.
At first glance, this dining room may look like an ultra-formal space reserved for dinners with your great-aunt. But upon further inspection, you’ll appreciate how fashionista Marc Valeanu has pushed the envelope with color and shape. Note: the celery green walls, the almost black chandelier by Tommaso Barbi, the canary yellow table by Konstantin Grcic and