You don’t need to have a huge dining room to host wonderful meals, but it certainly does help. Nobody likes bumping elbows with their dinner guests or tripping over chair legs. But if you don’t have a lot of space in your dining room, this experience is probably all too familiar. Thankfully, the welcoming and beautiful dining room of your dreams is within reach. We’re not suggesting you move to a new house. With just a bit of visual trickery and the right furniture, you can make your tiny dining room feel spacious and grand — without breaking the bank. Keep reading to learn a few small dining room ideas on a budget.
Use the walls to your advantage
Though it’s typically considered a design faux pas, placing furniture directly against a wall in your dining room may be a viable solution to your space problem. It can free up valuable walking space in a narrow dining room. And when guests arrive, you can scoot the table out to make room for additional seating.
Optimize your storage
Storage is always an issue in small rooms. Cabinets and sideboards are often bulky and can dominate the space. If you want to increase the amount of storage in the room, install floating shelves. Not only are shelves generally less expensive than a large furniture piece, but they can also be customized to suit your storage needs.
Swap chairs for a cozy bench
Depending on the dining set you have, even extra chairs can add bulk to a limited space. Swap out a few chairs for a cozy bench to ensure you have plenty of seating around your table. Benches can seat multiple people without taking up extra room. And when you’re done eating, you can tuck the entire thing under the table and out of sight.
Choose light colors
In general, darker colors make a space look smaller, and lighter colors make rooms appear larger. Try to keep things light in your tiny dining room. If you don’t mind a simple DIY project, paint the room in a light shade. Or simply let the natural light flow in by hanging light-colored and breezy curtains.
Use mirrors to your advantage
Hanging a mirror can instantly make any room appear larger than it is. This visual trickery works twofold. The reflection is excellent at faking extra space. Plus, mirrors bounce light around the room, making it seem brighter and thus larger.
Choose the right lighting
Make the dining room feel bright and cheerful with the proper lighting. Prioritize natural light from the windows and select fixtures that provide soft lighting. Hanging lights are a great option for dining rooms. They can make the room look lighter and, if you choose a stylish and ornate one, it can draw the eye up toward the ceiling, making the space feel taller.
Scale down the furniture
When dealing with a small space of any kind, scale is key. If a piece takes up too much space, it can overwhelm the room and make it appear smaller than it actually is. Avoid filling your dining room with lots of large, heavy pieces. For furniture, try searching for streamlined and airy pieces to create a more open feel. With wall art, choose smaller pieces that are more suited to the space.
Find an extendable table
In most cases, your home (and dinner table) won’t be at full capacity every day; your beautiful, large table will just serve to take up space in your already crowded room. Consider trading your current table for an extendable one. You can add the leaf in for special occasions, but you won’t be bumping into the furniture every time you need to pass through the room.
Choose a circular table over a rectangular one
In addition to choosing an extendable table, you should also try to find one that is circular or oval-shaped. Round tables are generally smaller, freeing up more space in a crowded dining room. Plus, the lack of corners allows you to comfortably seat more people around the table.
Put away the clutter
Rooms packed with stuff, both furniture and clutter, tend to look more cramped, disorganized, and small. Start by putting away all the extra things that have accumulated in your dining room. Then, consider moving any bulky and unnecessary furniture out of the room. Keep the floor as bare as possible to make the room feel more spacious.
Making your small dining room look spacious, bright, and beautiful doesn’t have to cost a lot of money or even take a lot of time to do. Push the kitchen table against the wall or choose a circular table with a removable leaf. Allow plenty of light to fill the room using mirrors, light paint colors, and the proper lighting fixtures. Finally, prioritize smaller furniture pieces and decor that won’t overpower the space. With these few minor changes, you can make your room appear much larger than it is, and your guests will never know the difference!
