As we continue to follow stay-at-home orders, many people are using this time to spruce up their spaces. Take a look around your current dining room setup. Does it feel warm and inviting? When looking at it with an objective eye, does it exude comfort just as much as elegance? Take some time and apply these tips for decorating your dining room to reinvent this area of your home and prepare it for future gatherings.
Measure the Room
In the beginning stages, you’ll want to take measurements of the room. This way, you’ll be able to account for added furniture, items that can be moved, or spaces that you can open up a bit. Measuring will allow you to complete the following steps more easily.
Consider Your Furniture
Many people inherit their dining room furniture pieces. This means that in honoring our families, we may have a setup that doesn’t necessarily suit our tastes. Resist the urge to personify these inanimate objects and, instead, make this room yours. Consider investing in formal dining room furniture that both brings your room together and exudes your style and personality.
You can always store the inherited table or china cabinet or find a family member who would cherish these pieces the way you once did. However, if your dining room set doesn’t fit your style and holds no emotional value, it’s time for an upgrade!
Add an Area Rug
Area rugs are a great tie-in for a room. They allow you to incorporate neutral and solid colors into a space to make the area appear more cohesive. It’s a good idea to decide on your dining room table and chairs before finding a potential rug to place beneath them. This is where measuring comes into play, as you want the chairs to fit comfortably on the entire rug, so half of the legs aren’t hanging off it.
Area rugs allow you to bring in a pattern that features the room’s accent colors without making the room too busy or overwhelming. Account for the color of the room and the ages of the diners who will spend time there when selecting a rug. For instance, if you’ll regularly host younger diners, you may choose a rug that will easily hide food stains. You may also choose the rug based on the color of the walls, or you may find that the rug inspires an entirely new paint color. Stick to inviting, pale color schemes and your room is sure to pop in the right way.
Add Essential Lighting
Lighting upgrades don’t take much work. Swapping out a fixture, installing a dimmer switch, or hanging a modern chandelier could all add so much to your new and improved dining room. Being able to control the harshness and brightness of light in a room throughout different times of day will allow your guests to rest comfortably and extend their visit as long as they’d like.
There are several tips for decorating your dining room that could help you incorporate little details here and there. Start with the larger items and most noticeable features, then work your way to the small touches that make the room uniquely yours. With a few strategically-placed decorations or photos, your guests won’t even know they’re standing in the same room. Staying home isn’t always fun, but improving your space can make the time spent indoors worthwhile.