Small dining rooms are awkward; there’s no getting away from that. Sure, you can eat your meals on your lap in front of the TV, but honestly, you don’t need to. You just need to get creative with the space you have. The truth is, it’s not about how big the room is; it’s about how you use the space you have.
And when you know exactly how to style your small dining room, you will discover a space that actually works for you, not against you.
Pick Furniture That Earns Its Place
This is really important because not everything deserves a space in a small room. You need tables with clean lines, lighter legs, and skip the chunky frames – do your homework to uncover dining room table styles that work with the space you have for a better fit.
From here, choose chairs that tuck into the table, not stick out, benches that can slide away and move away from solid backs and thickly padded seats that will eat into the space even more. It’s not necessarily about choosing smaller furniture, but about looking at the style of furniture in the room and making every inch of space count.
Don’t Block Light
Small rooms need more light, that’s a fact. The more light a room has, the bigger and brighter it feels. A single pendant in the centre of the room, for example, pulls everything towards it, but wall lights or a soft lighting strip under a shelf, changes everything and adds light and depth to the room to make it feel more spacious.
The same goes for natural light, too. Avoid placing too much in front of windows or doors where light comes into the room; you want to flood the room with as much light as you can.
To build on this, you can add play with surfaces too. Gloss, glass and polished wood reflect light differently and can make a world of difference.
Reduce Storage
It’s not about minimalism, it’s about not putting too much in a small dining room. A table, a few chairs, maybe a plant or a print – that’s enough, you need to think less when it comes to small rooms, as when you put too much into the theme, they lose their calm and the busyness takes over and the room feels cluttered, stressful.
If you really need the storage, pick items that will pull double duty, a storage bench for around your dining table, or open shelving for the essentials – don’t overfill them though, leave spaces in between items so it doesn’t look too cluttered.
Simplify Things
Clear surfaces make a space feel bigger and more open, bare walls help to feel like the room isn’t closing in on you as opposed to walls full of pictures or shelving, for example. Again, it’s not minimalism per se, it’s making it feel like a room you want to spend time in and can enjoy, not just a place where your “stuff” takes over.
