How to design a dining area for the modern home

Merino Laminates, October 24, 2024

Our dining spaces have evolved over the past few years. From homes with a large dedicated room with a hearty dining table to the modern dining area design which is much smaller, often combined with living rooms or kitchens, we have seen a shift in both the space allocated and the design of the space itself. Today, dining table styles have changed and with homes becoming smaller, their dining spaces have also become much smaller in order to cater to nuclear families with a fast paced life. Here are some tips on how you can design your dining area to ensure that you have a pleasant dining experience while making the most of the space:

1. Optimise the space available

Space is a crucial factor to be considered in the homes today and it is important to make the most of it to cater to the changing needs of your family. Your design should not only focus on comfortable seating, it should also help you create dining area storage where you can store home linen, crockery, cleaning essentials etc.

If you have a small space in the living room that you wish to use as a dining area, you can opt for a collapsible dining table or expandable one where you can alter the dining area seating when needed. Having a settee with storage below or a bench is also a great way to add more seating using less space. In much smaller spaces, you can also consider a breakfast counter that can be created by extending the kitchen counter to create a quick dining and preparation area complete with bar stools or high chairs.

2. Minimal colours and interesting artwork. Accent walls, design elements

Keep the colours minimal and integrate it with interesting artwork, accent walls or other unique design elements. The modern dining area design must be functional while also offering a pleasant dining experience to guests. Keep the dining area colours subtle and play around with wall treatments to create a fine balance of designs and textures without being too tacky. If you wish to have a lot of colours, opt for shades or orange or yellow to make the room look more lively. Deeper shades of blue and green have also become a big trend across the globe.

Merino laminates (Best Decorative Laminates & Surface Solution | Merino Laminates) offer an exciting range of laminates that you can use to create panelled walls, accent walls or even as a backdrop for the display of your art or sculptures. This is the space where a family relaxes and comes together, so make sure that this place reflects your style and decor elements the best.

3. Keep it tech savvy!

In many homes, where there is no dedicated study room, the dining area often doubles up as a work nook or can even be upgraded to add a small study area. Hence, it is imperative that you add ample number of plug points as it not only facilitates the plug in of work devices, but you can also have a coffee maker, oven or any such devices in this space. Pair this with a small bookshelf or portable work desk to double up the role of your dining area. The dining area seating should have proper lighting over it, could be in the form of focus lights or pendant lights to make the dining experience more pleasant and comfortable.

4. Make way for storage

Dining area storage can be a real saviour, especially in small homes. You can create storage under the bench or sofa in your dining area or you can add a chest of drawers or storage unit to store your cutlery, fine dinnerware etc. You can also add slim cabinets and hidden storage for cleaning supplies, home linen etc. If you have space, you can have a small counter that can be used to prepare your meals, used as a coffee bar or a liquor bar and have storage underneath.

5. Experiment with seating

Gone are the days when the dining area seating was just about chairs. Today, we see plush sofas, benches, bay windows and stools as options for dining area seating. If you have a large window, you can create a dining area around it, with a bay area seating and storage underneath it. For breakfast counters, you can have bar stools or high chairs whereas you can opt for plush chairs if you want to have a more luxurious dining set up. If you are really short on space, you can even go for foldable chairs in your dining area.

We hope that these tips help you in creating the perfect dining area in your home, irrespective of the space you have. Smart decor hacks and careful use of material can help you carve a beautiful area irrespective of how big or small it is.