How to Create a Striking Dining Room to Entertain

Striking Dining Room
Striking Dining Room

Nowadays, most homes embrace the idea of open-plan living. As a result, we’re seeing a number of homes lose their dedicated dining rooms. However, we think this is a mistake. After all, a dining room is a place that’s great for the whole family to get together away from the TV. In addition, it’s also a room that’s ideal for hosting and entertaining away from the chaos of the kitchen and the washing up. With this in mind, here are some ways you can transform your dining room into a striking space that’s perfect for entertaining.

1. Add an Extendable Table

Extendable tables are perfect if you’re limited for space in your dining room. This is because they allow you to prioritise your day-to-day floor space by keeping the table compact, but they provide you with additional seating capacity for when family and friends come over. If you’re looking for a particularly striking option, then opt for a dining table that’s made from solid wood. An oak table will make a statement in the middle of any dining room and you can accessorise it with table linens to add some warmth to your space, too.

2. Prioritise Comfortable Dining Chairs

If you’re going to regularly host dinner parties, then you need to ensure that your guests are comfortable. For this reason, it’s worth splurging on some new dining chairs that are both comfortable and striking. Although fabric dining chairs are incredibly popular, we think that leather dining chairs make more of a statement. After all, if you choose a leather dining chair in a dark colour, then you’ll create an interesting contrast with your table and you’ll add a luxurious feel to the space. Plus, leather dining chairs don’t have to cost you a fortune, and you can achieve the same look for less by choosing budget-friendly faux leather options like vidaXL’s faux leather dining chairs.

As a bonus, if you choose leather or faux leather dining chairs over fabric ones, you’ll find that they are much easier to look after and you can simply wipe them clean if your guests spill.

Striking Dining Room

3. Add Unique Furnishings to Create Talking Points

Striking furnishings can be great conversation starters. As a result, you should try and design a space that creates intrigue. As these examples from House Beautiful show, there are a number of ways that you can incorporate your own tastes in your designs. So, try using bold wallpapers to draw the eye or include abstract artwork to spark discussions.

Along with this, you should also think about how you can include different colours and textures in your space. Panelling is particularly useful for adding both elements, but soft furnishings can be useful for adding warmth if you’re worried your dining space includes too much wood.

4. Find the Right Lighting

As this article from The Spruce shows, beautiful lighting can make a dining room look much more expensive than it really is. After all, if your lighting is too harsh and bright then your guests are likely to feel uncomfortable. But, if your lighting is too dim, then your guests may struggle to enjoy the experience in the dark!

You really can’t get more striking than a chandelier, but if this isn’t your style then there’s no need to worry because hundreds of lighting choices are available. However, you should avoid downlights where possible as they tend to create dark shadows on faces. Instead, try to get as much light as you can at eye level. This usually means hanging ceiling lights low and adding wall washers.

Convert your unused and unloved space into a striking dining room by following these tips. If you do, you’ll find that you’ll soon be hosting more dinner parties and gatherings than ever before – quickly becoming the host with the most!

Mary Desilva