It’s been a year like we’ve never seen before. While it has been challenging, there have been flashes of positivity. One of the biggest upsides to this whole ordeal is the amount of time we’ve spent at home. No, being cooped up indoors for days on end without social interaction hasn’t been a walk in the park, but it has given us the chance to evaluate our living situation, our furniture, and our home décor.
You're at home lounging around, you’re preparing meals for your family, you’re sitting at the table with one another, but do all the rooms in your house feel cohesive? Is your furniture comfortable? Is there enough room for everyone in your household to comfortably sit? These are things we might not have noticed before, but now that we’re spending more time in the house, the issues with our interior design are much more prevalent.
We're getting ready to say goodbye to 2020 and hello to 2021, and a new year introduces new opportunities to revamp your home décor. The dining room is one of the first rooms in the house that could use a little sprucing up. And with the holiday season winding down, it’s the perfect time for a makeover.
If you don’t already have a resolution, make one for your dining room. This gives you the chance to get creative, get the family involved, and get your mind off the chaos this past year had brought. Follow these simple decorating tips to help you get started designing your dining room and ring in the new year in style.
Dining Room 101
The first lesson of dining room décor is knowing what you have versus what you need. This will start the thought process of how you want to arrange and accessorize the rest of your space. Think about what you want your decorating style to be—modern, rustic, contemporary, mid-century—as this will help guide your search of paint colors, furniture types, floor coverings, lighting, and so on.
And if you were with us for our living room design guide, you’ll be able to utilize a lot of the same design techniques in your dining space.
Furniture Comes First
Decorating your dining room starts with the furniture. If you don’t know how to properly arrange your dining room furniture, your space can feel congested and disorganized. It requires a bit more planning than simply pushing in a table and calling it good. Consider how often you entertain, how many place settings you need, what the focal point of the room should be, where traffic can flow in and out, and where the conversation space is going to be.
It’s easy to deck out your dining room with the help of Big Sandy’s collection of high-quality furniture. Whether you’re looking for a new dining room table, chairs, stools, bench, or buffet, we have the perfect furniture pieces to help decorate any dining space. We carry individual pieces, collections, and sets from some of the most popular brands such as Ashley, Bernhardt, Magnolia Home, and Sunny Designs. Every piece of furniture is carefully selected with the home in mind, and our hope is to offer something for every style and design preference.
Some of our dining room furniture includes:
Elegant Area Rugs
Area rugs are another important part of your dining room design because they are used to protect your floor and add an elegant touch. It can be a challenge to get it right—the wrong color or pattern can throw off the balance of the entire space, but if the right area rug is used, it can really elevate your dining space.
Area rugs should be used to claim territory. Ideally, you want your rug to be much larger than the seating space because it allows you to spread out your furniture and open up your dining space. It can even make your room look bigger if you feel like space is a constraint.
And don’t be afraid to go with an oversized rug. The bigger the better when it comes to rugs, as long as it doesn't bisect any major walking paths or prevent you from sliding the chairs in and out. Size is a great way to make a bold statement, but color, texture, material, and pattern all help to balance the whole scheme.
Light it Up
Lighting is a key element in any room, especially in a room where you’re going to be eating. You don’t want it to be so dark that you struggle to see your food (talking to you, Italian restaurants), and you don’t want it to be so bright that it feels like you’re entertaining guests in a laboratory.
Just like in your living room design, there are three main types of lighting you can incorporate in your dining space: ambient, task, and accent. You can utilize these different forms of lighting by way of floor lamps, chandeliers, and pendant lighting, just to name a few. Light sources should be placed at different levels throughout the room to add dimension and allow your space to breathe.
When planning a light source around dining room furniture or window treatments, it’s important to prioritize natural light first. Organize your furniture in a way that allows natural light to enhance and brighten your dining space, and then worry about spacing interior lighting. Consider high and low lighting—do you have room for any lamps, or do you prefer the look of overhead lighting?
For this part of the design, choose any light source that will support the overall aesthetic and act as a sculptural note. Lighting helps to punctuate the space and draw you in no matter the occasion.
An Array of Art
Furniture and area rugs are a good starting point, but if your walls are empty your room will look incomplete. You want to showcase your personality and your character in your interior design, and wall art is a great way to do so. You don’t need to fill every square inch with paintings and sculptures, but adding an artistic touch will help create an inviting and welcoming atmosphere.
Art doesn’t need to be expensive to create a tantalizing and cohesive look—it just needs to match your eye for design and allow your true colors to shine through. Everyone will have something different in mind when they think of art, which is why it allows you to create a dining space that is purely unique to your tastes. Just take your time when it comes to hanging and arranging your art and you’ll quickly have your own personal gallery for all your guests to feast their eyes at.
Set the Table
We briefly mentioned tables at the beginning of the article, so let’s take a deeper dive. Your dining room table will differ slightly from that of a living room table because the dining room is where you’ll do much of your entertaining and well—dining. You aren’t likely to see a coffee table in your dining space, so your main dining room table will act as the focal point. Tables are a great piece of furniture to draw your eye because of their shape and the contrast they create with the rest of the dining space. The right table will help break up your room with its different shape and texture. Wood, metal, and glass tabletops are all materials with inviting textures that can mimic a true restaurant feel.
Other than dining tables, pub tables are great for festive parties and memorable meals. Pub tables or other gathering tables can come in the form of counter tables, bistro tables, and high-tops. If you don’t want a traditional dining room setting, a pub table is a great way to create something iconic. They are still functional for routine dining, and they provide a stylish place setting for your cocktail glass.
Don’t Forget to Measure
Whether you're working on incorporating the rugs, light fixtures, or furniture arrangements, always measure the item and the space where it will go. You can always make adjustments, but it helps to have an exact measurement of your dining room to gauge how your decorations and furniture will fit. Consider what will work best with the space you’re given and what will be the most visually appealing.
Make it Unique
Allow your dining room to tell your story. Make it a unique expression of who you are and what your home should be. Make sure every piece has a purpose and a place and consider how your dining space makes you feel. It's a curation of thoughtful design for both you and your guests to enjoy.
If you’re ready for your dining space to feel like home, it must be time to start decorating and designing your dining room. Give us a call or chat with us today to learn more about dining room furniture and accent pieces. Our expert team at Big Sandy is always happy and willing to guide you through our catalog of furniture and home décor.