Designing Your Dining Room Space
Your dining room is the place for you to unwind and enjoy a nourishing meal at the end of a long day at work. It is also the place where you enjoy some food after a day of relaxing on the couch and watching your favorite movies! In short, you spend quality time in your dining room every day, so it should be decorated with that in mind.
Of course, our dining rooms are seeing a little less action during COVID-19. With formal dinner parties and casual meals with friends both off the table due to social distancing mandates, you and your family are the main beneficiaries of a well-designed dining space.
Take the extra time given to you by COVID-19 to redesign your dining room and get it looking spectacular by the time we are permitted to host dinner parties again!
Some rules of thumb for designing your dining room
For the purposes of this short guide, we are going to assume that nobody reading this is a professional interior designer. It is a good idea to run through some of the basic things to consider when designing your dining space, even if you might have already thought about some of these things.
- Take into account the amount of space you have to work with. The size of your room is important here. If you are looking into new furnishings and dining tables before measuring out your room’s dimensions, you have already jumped ahead of yourself a little! Make sure you know exactly what you are working with so everything is set to the right scale.
- If going for a formal or neat look, think about repeating shapes. A rectangular dining table neatly tucked inside a rectangular dining room will never fail to be pleasing on the eye. The same goes for just about any shape. It makes the room feel more ‘put together’ and can definitely add a formal touch for dinner parties.
- Alternatively, mix shapes up for a different look. If you aren’t the type to go for a formal-looking room, we encourage you to play around with different shapes and sizes. How does a big circular table look inside a square room? Even if something looks a little wacky, it might just work for you and your family.
- There is a minimum distance to aim for between dining chairs and walls. This goes for distance between dining chairs and just about anything, whether it be a wall or another piece of furniture. The minimum distance to allow diners enough room to move freely is 36 inches, whereas an ideal and comfortable distance would be more like 48 inches.
- There are other minimum distances to remember, too. When someone is sitting at the table, you want to make sure the table is large enough to accommodate 2 feet of tabletop space for each person. Also, remember that a room-sized rug should fall between 12-18 inches from the wall and a chandelier should hang no lower than 27-30 inches from the table.
Color schemes
Consider how color schemes are important to the overall feel of the dining room. Complementary colors are a popular choice, as a particular tablecloth might be a perfect match alongside your wallpaper. Speaking of wallpaper, consider how feature walls add a certain character to any space.
If you are willing to pursue a bolder idea, consider a monochromatic color scheme for your dining room. This means that each piece of decor or furniture should be made up of different shades of the same color. If exploring the idea of blue, you could choose a more neutral, navy blue as a base for the room and lighter blue for smaller parts you want to highlight.
Other important design points
As touched upon earlier, always remember to keep the size of your dining space in mind. If you have a long room, you need a long table to avoid creating too much dead space. Smaller dining areas can be interesting too – consider using a round table to create more space, or a table made of glass to give the impression of more space.
Also, remember that a chandelier adds more to your dining space than style. It can look strange if you have a decadent dining table with only one or two small light bulbs or down lights overhead. The lights might be too far away from the table to cast a proper illumination over the dining space!
Lastly, if you are aiming for a visually interesting dining room, it is always important to add some contrasting looks. Although it might be tempting to think otherwise, your table does not have to match your chairs and flooring! Consider adding a large rug with an offbeat pattern, or even surrounding your dining table with different kinds of chairs. Decisions like these truly make your dining room a unique place to sit and enjoy a meal with family and friends.