14 Easy & Elegant Dining Room Ideas

It’s never easy finding ways to maximize space, but just because your dining room is small doesn’t mean it has to cramp your style. Think big by adopting practical decorating ideas that can fill your small dining room with loads of charm. From eye-catching wallpaper to built-in seating, discover how to make your petite dining area the space of your dreams (even when you’re on a budget).

Statement Tablecloth

Draw attention away from your limited square footage by dressing your table with a brightly colored tablecloth. It’s also a surefire way to mask stains.

Fresh Wallpaper

Small spaces present the perfect opportunity to go bold with pattern. Hang wallpaper to create a focal point in your small dining room.

Built-In Seating

Make the most of every inch of your space with built-in seating. Style it with your favorite patterned pillows—a decor trick design pros swear by.

Modern Dining Nook

This modern dining space uses chairs with a slight build and a narrow wooden table for a minimal effect that feels like it could be picked up and moved ease. Warm gray and blue tones add to this easy, serene feeling, while a rug and a gallery wall ground the space and make it feel intentional.

 

Small Dining Room Design

If your kitchen connects to an open great room, carve out a small dining room in the area in-between with a few design tricks. In this combined space, extending the kitchen floor tile out into the living room helps separate the cooking and eating area. Choose a dining table and chairs with simple, streamlined shapes that won’t take up too much space, and hang a light fixture above to define the table area. A small cushioned bench provides extra seating and adds a sense of comfort. A large window dressed in simple window treatments brings in light to help the room feel more spacious.

 

Traditional Style Dining Room

If you have traditional home with no formal dining room, fear not. You can make any space feel traditional with the furnishings you choose. Here, classic upholstered chairs and a gorgeous velvet banquet flank an antique table for a regal, timeless look that can be recreated in a space of any size.

 

Select a Narrow Dining Table

Sometimes, a narrow table is the only way to make a dining space work, and that’s okay. Narrow dining tables make for intimate, dynamic gatherings and fun, maximalist tablescapes. When you’re shopping for a table, keep in mind the minimum width for a dining table is about 30 inches; any smaller and your dinner guests will feel cramped.

Small Breakfast Nook

A small circle table with a tulip-shaped base (echoed on the light fixture above) allows maximum use of space in this 1920s breakfast nook. And even if your space is small, be sure to think about contrast in scale. The large black and white tiles give this space a grandeur and presence that small tiles wouldn’t.

 

Create a Corner Banquet

If you have a spare corner, you have space for a dining nook. Use benches (or build your own) to create a banquet to get more use out of the corner space. A round cafe table is the perfect size to shop for to complete this cozy look.