If you’re struggling with how tiny your dining room looks but aren’t sure how to make a quick, significant impact on a budget, keep reading. Interior designers are chock full of knowledge pertaining to making small spaces appear larger without making any structural changes.
Here, three pros share six of their favorite hacks for the dining room specifically. With the help of some fresh paint, new seating, and/or a special modern light fixture, you can work some major wonders in this space.
Use Open-Back Chairs
Gone are the days of ultra-formal dining rooms with ornate furniture. Today’s dining rooms are much more carefree and welcoming. Not to mention, heavy furniture is only going to make a small space look smaller. To that end, Mary Roberts, the co-founder of Dunn & Hall Interiors, will be mindful of using dining chairs with some sort of openness to them.
Roberts explains how this will help keep the visual plain more open and less cluttered with chunks of furniture. Roberts also adds that any color is fair game here, but bright, fun hues are best, whether they feature a pattern or are solid, which allows the chairs to serve as a focal point within the dining room.
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Try a Bench Seat
Another designer-approved approach that helps to both literally and visually maximize space in a small dining room is using a bench seat.
“We love this detail for small dining rooms because it transforms a wall into a cozy seating area and opens up the flow around a small dining space,” Megan Baker, the founder of Megan Baker Interiors, explains.
Whether you opt for a bench that directly complements your dining table, like the one shown here, or design your own using some scrap fabric, you can’t go wrong.
Add Drapery
Design by Megan Baker Interiors / Photo by Janis Nicolay
Installing drapers in a small dining room is never a bad idea, according to Baker.
“If there are windows, adding drapery is the perfect way to frame a small space and make it feel larger and more luxe,” she says.
Paper the Ceiling
Make your small dining room appear larger by adding an extra wall to the mix—the ceiling—Roberts suggests.
Roberts likes to cover the ceiling in a fun, vibrant wallpaper. This can be the same print you used on the other four walls of the dining room, or you can opt for wallpaper solely on the ceiling, depending on your desired aesthetic.
When tackling the ceiling, Roberts recommends opting for a wallpaper with a smaller scale pattern. This way, the ceiling accents the space but doesn’t dominate it.
Color Drench the Space
Another approach you can take (which also involves embracing the ceiling) is color drenching the dining room, Michal Rubin, the founder of MR Interiors, adds.
This means painting all of the walls and all trims in the space, from the doorways to the baseboards, in a singular color.
“This gives the effect of a larger, continuous space,” Rubin says.
Choose the Right Chandelier
Design by MR Interiors / Photo by Linda Pordon
Lighting can work wonders in adding personality and style to any room of the home, and in a small dining room, Rubin recommends going with a Sputnik-type of chandelier specifically.
“Sputnik styles have arms that point in different directions, which can help guide the eye and keep it moving in a smaller dining room,” she says.
Renters can make this type of upgrade, too. There are so many affordable Sputnik-style chandeliers on the market that will complement every aesthetic and are easy to install and take with you to your next space down the line. Simply keep your original builder-grade fixture on hand somewhere safe to reinstall it before moving out.
When selecting your lighting, don’t go too small just because your space lacks major square footage, Baker adds.
“Too often I see small dining rooms with small light fixtures,” she says. “A large scale pendant or chandelier will make any small dining area feel like a full-size dining room.”
