Top Tips for Making the Most of a Dining Room

Many of us dream of having a separate dining area that we can use for family meals and entertaining, but sometimes this can become a redundant space that's not used as much as it could be. If you want to make more out of the room and create a great family space, here are some top tips to revitalise your dining room.

Getting the Colours Right

Colours can make a big difference to the atmosphere in any room, and this is particularly true for dining rooms, where you want to create a relaxed and warm environment. Shades of red are ideal and are often used in restaurant design schemes as they stimulate blood flow, but if you don't want it to be too overpowering, stick to using it on just a couple of elements.

Incorporate Features

Sometimes you might have to work round a particularly awkward feature in your dining room, such as the main staircase, but this doesn't have to be seen as a problem. Instead, look at bringing this into the design by having a new staircase installed from a specialist company, such as Bradfabs, which becomes a focus of the space rather than something you want to hide.

Choosing Furniture

When you're buying new dining-room furniture, it's a good idea to invest in a quality table and chairs that will be a feature of the room, and this will be more cost-effective in the long run. You also need to ensure that the size of your table and chairs will suit the dimensions of the room, as you don't want something that is too big and takes over the entire space or a dining set that isn't big enough to fit everyone round.

Add in Some Outdoor Space

If you have the space to do so, it would be perfect to add in an outdoor area that flows straight from your dining room so that you can use it for drinks before or after the meal or for the actual dinner on a beautiful summer evening. For properties that have an upstairs dining space, a balcony, such as those manufactured by Bradfabs, would provide great views, or you could use French doors that lead on to a patio or decking to open up the space.

Create a Versatile Room

A room that can be used for a number of different reasons will get more use, so you won't feel as if it's a wasted space. Look at how you can utilise the dining area better, such as turning a corner into a small office space or adding armchairs around the window for relaxing in.

Add in Softer Features

Dining rooms typically have a greater number of hard surfaces than other rooms, so you need to balance this out by adding in some softer features such as rugs and cushions. Try placing a large rug under the dining table and chairs to bring the room together, or add draped fabrics around the windows to soften blinds.