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How To Decorate a Traditional Dining Room
Highlight your dining room with a range of decor that suits this unique place in your home. Traditional dining rooms can mean many things, from modern touches on classic elements to a full-fledged throwback to a bygone time.
Here are some elements you might want to consider for your traditional dining room, including how you can integrate your own personal style.
Traditional Dining Tables
The central feature of the traditional dining room is the table. This is the place for you and yours to gather and share a meal. It might also be the place where you go for some solitary quiet time, to read, work on crafts, or otherwise use this space. The possibilities for your dining room table are endless.
A classic traditional style might invoke a long, rectangle table made out of solid wood. The older style mandates it is stained a deep brown, perhaps with a lacquered coating that gives it an appealing sheen.
But a dining room table can also be small and round, multi-functional as a games room or party table. It can be an area for you to sit and plan meals. The table is multifunctional: a respite private space or a gathering space.
If you’re not partial to deep brown wood, consider lighter, unfinished wood or even lighter shades of grey paint to make a wooden table look a bit weathered and worn.
Traditional Dining Chairs
In your traditional interior design style guide, you’re likely to see a specific category of chair: wooden, high-backed, possibly with armrests. This is the ideal fit for a dark wood dining room table that seats several people for a formal dinner.
Fitting with this theme, high-backed wooden chairs come with a range of variations. You might consider an upholstered look with a padded seat, or plain wood that offers a refined style. Both can fit nicely with your table, in particular if you match the precise shade of wood.
A more modern take on the dining room chair is also a nice fit if you’re modifying a plain classic look. A low-seated, wide-based chair covered in fabric can make sitting down for a bite comfortable and inviting. It’s also nice to linger in post-meal, over coffee and dessert.
If you’re not partial to deep brown wood, consider lighter, unfinished wood or even lighter shades of grey paint to make a wooden table look a bit weathered and worn.
China Cabinets
A ceiling-high cabinet with china on display is a quintessential element of a traditional dining room. These cabinets are functional decor items where people keep their formal dinnerware while making it part of the design of the room.
The traditional china cabinet is enclosed with glass, but there are more modern variations on this theme. A set of standalone metal shelving, or cabinet in painted or lighter shades of wood, are other options to show off your fancy dishes.
Classy Dishware
The dining room is meant for formal dinners, so part of the design element is how you set the table. The dishes are typically coordinated; no mismatched bowls and plates, or cloth napkins that don’t pair well with the centerpiece.
A classy dining room set up might roll out the crystal glasses for wine and feature a floral bouquet in a matching crystal vase. This might also be the time that you open the china cabinet and use those precious plates.
Speaking of centerpieces, you can use this feature to ground the entire aesthetic of the room. A large bundle of dried flowers in a clear vase can be a perfect fit for a large table in a lighter shade of wood, in particular if you have a farmhouse or cottage theme.
Other options are formal candlestick holders in metal with ornate designs that go nicely with the traditional dark wood table.
Traditional Lighting
People enjoy their food more when they can see it; that is part of the experience. Your lighting choice can go far to add to the atmosphere and aesthetic of your traditional dining room. You can opt for the traditional chandelier — make it crystal if you’re using glassware on the table — or even modern track lighting if your design is more modern.
Candles have a place here too. Even if you’re not always in the mood for candlelit dining, you can add these to your decor. Keep extra stock of tapered candles handy, perhaps in a drawer underneath that classic china cabinet.
Traditional dining rooms typically rely on overhead lighting. But if you have an adjoining sitting area you might adorn the chair in that room with a side table and a lamp. That acts as an additional lighting source especially in the late evenings as meals finish and people disperse.
Walls and Floors
With all the focus on furniture pieces, it’s easy to miss the critical role of the space itself in crafting your traditional dining room. If you have hardwood or laminate flooring, consider adding a large rug under the table. This brings a bit of style to the space and ups its profile as a formal seating area.
A truly traditional dining room might include some throwback wall covering, like light-colored wallpaper with a floral pattern. You can hang onto this classic aesthetic if you find it appealing, and play it up by adding a mirror with a classic round wooden frame or some pieces of art.
Reclaimed pieces and antiques can fit seamlessly into the space. So, consider pulling out that grandfather clock from the attic or family heirlooms to create a sense of celebration and remembrance.
Use Your Own Style for a Traditional Dining Room
A traditional dining room is a dedicated space for enjoyment of a meal. It can also be a space where you bring your preferred classic style elements together. Consider your preferred aesthetic and feel comfortable adding in some modern touches along with the old.
With heirlooms to celebrate the past and decor that indicates evolution and change, your traditional dining room can be the centerpiece of your home.