Designing a dining room in a modern way: inspiration + tips

Designing a modern dining room: ideas, inspiration and tips. Very often, the dining room is quite neglected. The table and chairs should be sufficient. But the eye eats and people want to feel comfortable in their dining environment. Make the dining room modern and comfortable!

Designing a dining room in a modern way: ideas, inspiration and tips

Designing a dining room in a modern way: everything around it makes a difference

You and your family will definitely need a table and chairs to eat your meals. But that's not all because if you want to feel good while eating, you also need a pleasant environment. This is achieved with lighting and beautiful wall decoration. The food tastes much better and the dining room becomes a meeting place. The family meets here to talk about the day and eat.

Friends also meet here and have more or less in-depth discussions about the world or current issues. Therefore, it is important to give the dining room an atmosphere in which you and your family feel comfortable, but where guests also feel welcome. By the way, this does not necessarily require designer chairs and the latest designer table, but rather a sense of creativity and sophistication.

When designing the wall, consider whether the table will be in the middle of the room or if there is a seating group that needs to find its place in the corner. (#01)

Dining room design tips

The dining room looks especially beautiful if you give it a personal touch. Pictures and photos of major life events are especially suitable for this. Snapshots from a wedding, with friends or on vacation. These life hacks prove that you don't even have to nail it and nail it.

Make the walls in the modern dining room

Not everyone has their own dining room, usually the dining area is just part of a large kitchen. However, it is quite easy to make a limited space recognizable here with wall design. The walls should be kept modern and above all light. Dark colors promote a depressive mood and no one wants to have that while eating! For everything to be comfortable and enjoyable, the wall colors and wallpapers should be coordinated, but still contrast with the rest of the room. If the dining room is a separate room, you can work more freely with colors.

When designing the wall, consider whether the table will be in the middle of the room or if there is a seating area that needs to find its place in the corner. Tip: If there are still small children at home, the wallpaper or the colors on the walls should be washable, at least in the area around the dining table, or at least wiped with a damp cloth. Otherwise, flying yogurts, mugs full of tea and cocoa or spinach escaping from the fork will quickly destroy the effort of a great dining room.

There should be a chandelier or lamp just above the table that provides soft light but still provides adequate brightness. (#02)

Modern design: brightness in the dining room

With any luck, your dining room will be right next to a window, perhaps even integrated into the conservatory. For those less fortunate and whose dining room is quite dark, it is essential to help with artificial light. Design the walls in bright colors, they will make the room look bigger and more intimate. Make sure to take advantage of natural light and position sideboards or shelves so that the light hits them. Light furniture reflects the incoming light rays and the room looks brighter.

Directly above the table should be a chandelier or lamp that provides soft light but still provides sufficient brightness. Height-adjustable pendant lights are particularly popular. Dimmability should not be underestimated either: If you sit down at the table in the evening and review the day, you definitely want it to be brighter than the couple sitting together over a glass of red wine.

If your dining room is very large, you can make it modern, but use a flashy chandelier as a contrast. However, this is not effective in small rooms and is therefore only an option for “dining rooms”. Additional floor lamps provide the necessary light and provide comfort.

Some will now ask themselves what furniture should still be in the dining room: Enough tables and chairs are enough! Depending on the size of the room and the available space, a sideboard and a display cabinet are useful. (# 03)

Designing a dining room in a modern way: it depends on the furniture

Some will now ask themselves what furniture should still be in the dining room: Enough tables and chairs are enough! Depending on the size of the room and the available space, a buffet and a display cabinet are useful. The necessary dishes can be stored here and are therefore always accessible from the same room. The display cabinet serves as a decoration and holds, for example, collections.

When you install an old sideboard (or a sideboard decorated in this style), they give the dining room its own charm. If it is closed at the bottom, it offers a great opportunity to stack dishes. The top is mostly behind glass and therefore combines the advantages of a display and a sideboard.

Old and new furniture can be combined with each other, but you should not place them randomly next to each other. The furniture should follow a style or include a conscious break in style. You can also get different shapes and colors, but it should always be known that this furniture combination was chosen consciously.

Now we come to the individual pieces of furniture that can give you suggestions for the dining room:

For larger groups, rectangular tables are a better choice, especially since these types of tables can often be enlarged with extension pieces. (#04)

How should the dining table be?

If you want to create a modern dining room, you should sit at a round table. However, this requires more floor space than a rectangular or square table. The advantage of a round table: Everyone sits at the same distance from each other and can have a good conversation. No one has to lean over to talk to someone else at the table. A table with a diameter of one meter is enough for four people. If the family is larger and needs to accommodate six people, the diameter should be around 1.20 m.

For larger groups, rectangular tables are a better choice, especially since these types of tables can often be enlarged with extension pieces. Square tables take up a lot of space because they look bulky and visually block the room.

Wood is the classic material for dining room tables and is as modern as ever. The reason: It looks warm and welcoming, whereas a plastic table reminds us a bit of a hospital canteen. When choosing a wooden table, make sure it is made of solid wood and especially hardwood.

Softwood species such as alder are particularly unsuitable in children's homes, as the wonderful patterns can be pressed in with a fork. It is questionable whether you would want it that way. Ash or oak are better, both are hardwoods and therefore extremely robust. If the surface is not painted, even small damaged areas can be touched up. A solid wood panel can be sanded and refinished, but should be maintained with varnish or oil.

Important to know: Even though it is much heavier than wood, glass can also be damaged. A glass table is particularly sensitive to heavy contact with heavy objects. It can also quickly develop oil stains.

Depending on the number of people at the dining table, you will need different table sizes:

• one person: 70cm
• two persons: 140 cm long, 40 cm deep
• 100 cm for a rectangular dining table for two to four people

When choosing a table, remember that bowls and terrines should also be in the middle. It is often possible to see tables that are completely full and those sitting at them only have space equal to the width of their plates.

Don’t have room for a large table but want to host guests? Then choose a table that can be extended. Most tables come with a mechanism that allows the table to be “extended.”

On wooden tables it is important that the extension plates are stacked inside the table as this means they cannot bend in the same way as the rest of the table. This is a common problem with wooden furniture but at least here it is uniformly taken into account.

If you want to design the dining room in a modern way, you should also carefully consider the choice of chairs. (# 05)

Chairs

If you want to create a modern dining room, you should also carefully consider the choice of chairs. They should fit your table and the style of your dining room, be comfortable and not torture you for long hours. In some models, the seat and backrest are adjustable so that the seating furniture can always be moved to new positions. Choose for yourself whether you want to sit on classic wooden chairs with a toilet seat or on a console chair that can swing and relax your back. Should the chairs even have armrests? There are no limits when designing a dining room, at least thanks to furniture designers, and you can design the dining room as the center of your home or apartment.

How do you find the right chair? You should definitely try it out, as this is the only way to find out if it is as comfortable as advertised or if it is just an advertising scam.

Also consider your family situation: If there are children in the house, stains are to be expected. Therefore, do not invest in well-upholstered chairs that will soon show the first signs of abuse. Wooden chairs are a better choice because their varnish makes it easier to wipe off dirty food. Stacking chairs are modern and also a good idea because they can be put aside to save space and to wait for guests there.

It doesn't always have to be a chair: a dining bench can also look modern and help you to design your dining room individually. You can combine such benches wonderfully with chairs, fill them with cushions and turn them into comfortable seats. Many such benches have storage space inside and can accommodate pillows or blankets. Very practical in a room that should always look clean and tidy at best!

If you want to create a modern dining room, that doesn't mean you have to give up on decoration. (# 06)

Great decoration in the dining room: modern and personal

If you want to create a modern dining room, this does not mean that you should give up on decoration. The only thing that really matters is the amount of decorative elements. Under no circumstances should there be too many, so that the room looks overloaded. This destroys the whole effect and there is no longer any sense of well-being.

Decorate in a modern way with wall pictures and flower vases, unusual objects or a small rug. Of course, this should not be under the table for cleaning reasons.

You can also decorate and design the table yourself, which is easily possible with damask or linen tablecloths. But these are more for guests. Cotton tablecloths are sufficient in everyday life and are easier to clean.

Decorate with candlesticks and flowers that you put directly on the table. Especially with flowers, it is important that they are always fresh, because who likes to look at a depressing bouquet of wilted flowers while eating? Despite the extra effort, choose real flowers instead of artificial plants, it is more stylish and comfortable.

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Photo credit: © Shutterstock – Cover image: Photographee.eu- #01: Photographee.eu, – #02: Artazum, – #03: tangyan, – #04: ben bryant, – #05: terng99, – #06: Domenic Gareri