20 Dining Room Ideas for Small Spaces
Our lives may have been changed in recent years (Seamless, Covid, and a whole host of other societal shifts), but one thing is for sure: entertaining is back, and—in some cases—more elaborate than ever. While some have the luxury of a standalone dining room, many of us small space-dwellers are stuck with nooks and crannies to feast in. Before you throw your hosting dreams out with last night's takeout, hear us out: you do not need a dedicated room for dining. Dining rooms of today can be a corner, a bookmark, or a cubicle of surprisingly small sizes. It all depends on how you use the space. Don't believe us? See below for 20 designer-approved small dining room ideas to help you make the most out of even the smallest footprint.
No dining room? No problem!
If you are one of the many with no dedicated room in which to dine, the most sensible thing is to make the room where you cook double as a dining room. In this old Connecticut house, former model Anne Bannert placed a small pine trestle table at one end of the kitchen. A pair of chairs from the 1930s and a bench under the window allow for a party of four while a pine hutch nearby can be used for easily accessible table settings.
Pattern Play
Treat your tiny dining room with all over pattern. In this Vermont house, designer Sheila Bridges did what she does best—putting colors and patterns together like they were always meant to be. The effect unifies the room (or corner of a room) where you will dine and invites guests to sink into the moment. Bridges covered these walls in wallpaper by Morris & Co. and the Roman shade and nearby curtains are done in a Castel Maison fabric. To finish the look she covered the vintage dining chair seats in a complementary Schumacher ikat.
Find Space Anywhere
Rebecca Gardner knows how to throw a good party...and she won't let her teeny New York City apartment stop her. In fact, she can pack up to 40 guests in, thanks to some clever spatial tricks, including unfolding a table for eight in her bedroom.
Forego a Sideboard
Most traditional dining rooms have not just a table and chairs, but a sideboard as well. If your dining room is as narrow as the one in this New Jersey house, move the settings storage and serving station to the kitchen and reserve the dining room for dining. This dining table is by Castlery and the chandelier is from Currey & Co.
Corner It Up
If your dining area doubles as another room, utilize the corner of said room (usually an under-programmed space!) as your dining area. In this Aspen escape a cushioned banquette provides ample seating around the Harvey Probber table. Two 1950s Hans Wegner chairs allow for easy access seating.
Bay Window Banquette
Some dining rooms sit comfortably within the curves of a bay window. If your apartment or house is blessed with this kind of architectural detail, don't waste it. Instead of placing a plant or floating reading chair in the nook, outfit it with a built in, wraparound bench and place a bistro-sized table in front of it. In this New York City kitchen, designer Nanette Brown chose one unifying color: pink. The Roman shades make sense for the space and are made with Pindler fabric. Mood lighting is provided by way of two vintage Swedish sconces by Aneta.
Try Your Entry
If you have no room to spare for dining, consider using using your entry. Since it is the first room guests see, it will need to be adaptable: cover the table with a sumptuous fabric of some sort so that it reads more like a luxurious entry console, just centered rather than abutting a wall. In this Spanish apartment Lorenzo Castillo placed an 18th-century rug on the table and added a Regency-style bench in front of it for added flair. Pull the chairs away to the corners of the room or into another room and decorate the table when not in use.
Rethink the Island
If you have no dining room and are blessed with a large kitchen, you can kill two birds with one stone. Replace your kitchen island with a dining table instead. It can double as a preparation surface when needed (ever peeled potatoes sitting down?) and a dining table when it's time eat. In this Upstate New York house the owner chose an antique American dining table and chairs and stool from Calvin Klein Home.
Treat Your Space Like a Gallery
In this Manhattan apartment, artist and jeweler Federico de Vera treated his kitchen and dining area as carefully as the rest of his art-filled home. If your space is small, that is even more of a reason for everything to be finely chosen and fully functional. A steel-top table by Gregor Jenkin serves as a bridge between the steel-toned cabinetry and countertops by Armani Casa and the antique chairs surrounding the table. One is a 19th-century Louis XV–style chair that's upholstered in a Richard Saja embroidered toile de Jouy and another is in the style of Gerrit Rietveld. Scattered wood and gilt frames on the nearby wall complete the cultured mood.
What's Your Order?
If you are using one side of a larger room as your dining area why not treat it with a glamorous touch? Base the design on your favorite booth in your favorite upscale restaurant. In this Miami apartment the walls were covered in Sebastian Herkner tiles from Kaufmann Keramik. A Studiotwentyseven table provides space for a least six guests with extra seating by way of two Cassina chairs. Peter Zumthor-designed pendants from Viabizzuno hang over the table.
Define With Color
If your dining room exists without doors, define the space with color. A bold choice in color paradoxically makes small rooms feel more powerful, and often, more spacious. In this Victorian Toronto row house the dining room’s walls are painted in Farrow & Ball's Rectory Red with the company's Preference Red used on the trim.
Furniture should be just as grand as the colors used on the walls. Here a Biedermeier-style table surrounded by 18th-century Italian chairs painted green and covered in a Pierre Frey fabric ups the ante. A juicy glass Venetian chandelier overhead is the final word in glamour.
Windows Do Wonders
If you have no dedicated dining room in your home, find a quiet corner with ample natural light and make it your dining nook. In this Ashe Leandro designed Texas house a custom bench upholstered in a rich red Dedar fabric defines the space. A table from B&B Italia allows for enough room for a meal of six (at night or in the light!).
Keep It Simple-ish
Monochrome does well in many instances, including in small rooms. In this chic, straightforward Kentucky farmhouse black and white was all that was needed to create a gracious space. The dining room’s Restoration Hardware table was painted black to match the 1940s dining chairs. Above a rock-crystal chandelier hangs with tiny black shades that match the candelabra lamps from Mumbai in the background. A 19th-century Swedish console and plant stands, also black, drive the theme home.
Library Living
In the great mansions of 19th-century industrial titans there were rooms to retire to after dinner. These "smoking rooms" were often overstuffed with bookcases, armchairs, and objet d'art, and sometimes a tiny table for post-dinner snacks. Why not expand on this idea and marry your library to your dining room? In this San Francisco loft, Steven Volpe placed a dining table of his and Roth Martin's design in front of an aluminum bookshelf by Martin Szekely. A 1950's light fixture hangs above it and wood dining chairs are as useful for reading as for dining around it.
Art It Up
Your dining area doesn't have to be big to take big art. The bolder the better. In this dining nook in a historic Manhattan apartment, a photograph of Jackie Kennedy by Harry Benson hangs above the custom banquette. Chairs by Laura Gonzalez in Le Manach fabric complement the colors in the photograph, while a dining table by Pluhowski Furniture roots the space.
Try A Sectional
When space is tight, consider bringing the living room into the dining room. In this rustic lodge the owner used a sectional to shape out his dining area. The curved mini-sectional is by Ballard Designs and is paired with an antique table that plays into the home's welcoming, traditional character.
Matchy Matchy!
If your dining area is in your kitchen and there is not enough space to distinguish preparation areas from dining areas, lean into the constraint and make your dining furniture match your kitchen. In this Rayman Boozer-designed Harlem home, the custom cabinetry is painted in Benjamin Moore’s Cat’s Eye green that matches the green stripes on the seats of the vintage Thomas Harlev dining chairs. Wallpaper that mimics hanging plates by Matthew Williamson for Osborne & Little picks up the greens in both.
Dining Room or Pool House?
If you're blessed with a swimming pool perhaps make it part of your dining room? Or at least make use of the view. In this Key West home, the dining area overlooks the luscious backyard—swimming pool and all—making for a calming, playful experience inside as well as out. Interior design firm General Assembly used a light blue green paint for the walls (above the millwork) and playful, vintage Joe Colombo chairs around the circular dining table. A Pelle chandelier mimics bubbles and if you are lucky enough to dine under it you would notice painted palm fronds on each glass surface.
Cloud Control
If you are one of those straight-to-the-point types, perhaps pick one simple, straightforward decorating scheme: white. In this Nantucket home (the ideal place for a pared-back dining room) architect Rebecca Ascher chose white paint for her walls along with a white dining table by Catherine Memmi and white Eero Saarinen chairs from Knoll.
Go Retro
If your pad comes complete with the wood panelling of the 1970s, don't rip them out, make them work! In the dining room of this New York City apartment, designer Bachman Brown let the wood walls lead. A restaurant-style banquette in a similar timber provides a comfortable seat to eat from, while the chrome dining chairs across from them are straight out of the 1970s. The Carlo Nason pendant light and bookcase on the opposite wall remain on trend, and jolts of bright blue on the baseboards and doorways keeps the room as relevant as it is retro.
You Might Also Like
