Three Bold Dining Room Looks We Love
These luxe dining room décor ideas will elevate one of the most important rooms in your home.
Your dining room can set the tone for a gathering well before you set the table. Rather than decorating it in a predictable, matchy-matchy way, go unabashedly á la carte and create a bold buffet of your favorite colors, patterns, and furniture styles.
Shaker Things Up
A reimagined Colonial setting proves that some styles never grow old; they just evolve. Subtle design tweaks refresh foundational pieces: an unfinished trestle table that's slimmer than its forebears, a wrought-iron chandelier stretched to a dramatically wide wingspan and Windsor chairs with ample seats and not-so-knobby backs that invite you to linger. To make the spare staples look alive, set them against vibrant botanical wallpaper and a geometric rug; shared blue tones tie them together.
Shop Now: Schumacher Lotus Garden Wallpaper, in Jade, $462 for two 4.5-yd. Rolls, decoratorsbest.com; Currey and Company "Saxon" Chandelier, $1,572, shopcandelabra.com; IKEA "Möckelby" Table, $699, ikea.com; Ethan Allen "Gilbert" Armchair in Charcoal, $429 ethanallen.com; Ethan Allen Side Chair in Charcoal, $329, ethanallen.com; The Rug Company "Mazarin" Rug, $76 per sq. ft., therugcompany.com; Hawkins New York Simple Candlesticks in Matte Black, from $38, hawkinsnewyork.com; Sir/Madam Toleware Nesting Trays, $178 for three, shopsirmadam.com.
Round Things Out
To cultivate a space that melds high design and high comfort, swap sharp lines and corners for modern curves, organic materials, and a glowing backdrop. Statement seating takes center-room with an oak and antique bronze chair featuring "buttons," which give the Thomas O'Brien for Century Keira chair ($2,085, aerostudios.com) serious presence. The Kelly Wearstler Crescent ($592 for 10 yards, kellywearstler.com) wallpaper mirrors the chic aesthetic. A rug in a sepia palette will quietly echo the wallpaper, and this one similar to Williams Sonoma Ivory Blossoms hand-knotted rug, (from $2,295, williams-sonoma.com) will look great. For an artful accent, black metal and brass envelop the Atelier de Troupe Cigale ($790, atelierdetroupe.com) single sconce. It rotates on a ball hinge and looks different from every angle.
Say It in Swedish
Channel a less-expected era of Scandinavian style—the 18th-century Gustavian period—by borrowing the refined pastels that ruled Stockholm and illuminated those endless winter nights. The Lillian August side chair's ($840, lillianaugust.com) taupe linen upholstery plays nicely with a table in a light finish, while its dark-gray frame references the stunning Schumacher Pyne Hollyhock wallpaper in Blush ($205 for two 4.5 yard rolls, decoratorsbest.com). Incorporate a gilded accent with something hand-hammered in Sweden, like the Malin Appelgren brass sconce (from $335, marchsf.com) which amplifies candlelight and creates a hypnotic focal point. Round out the soft accents with a strong extension table, like Wisteria's Gustavian extension table ($1,999, wisteria.com). It's a formal piece that checks all of the traditional design boxes—washed-ivory patina, intricate fluted carvings, slender legs. But it has a practical modern element, too: leaves that expand it to seat up to eight.
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