Gallery Dining Rooms

Return to Splendor

Fine antiques and rich fabrics give this dining room a heightened sense of grandeur. The Louis Philippe dining chairs were upholstered in an orange-melon hue pulled from the antique Oushak rug. A gold and crystal French chandelier continues the high-minded style overhead.

Simple Design Dining

The elegantly simple design of this contemporary dining room is easy on the eye with painted walls and ebony wood floors. Gently curving lines balance the starkly linear look of the wood floor and French doors.

Simple Dining Style

Devoid of frills, this dining room adopts traditional elements displayed with an eye for contemporary simplicity. Diagonally installed wood flooring mimics an area rug, while up at the ceiling a crystal chandelier stands out against the casually rough brick fireplace.

Small but Mighty

In a small room, space planning is the key to success. To make the most of this diminutive dining room, which shares some of its 200 square feet with the front entryway, an efficient butler's pantry with a glass counter hugs the wall adjoining the kitchen.

Splashy Spot

This smart dining room is lively and current but built around pieces that will last, including sturdy dining tables and classic parsons chairs. Affordable accessories, such as the textured rug and modern artwork, add bursts of color and reflect trends but are easily replaced as the owners' tastes change.

Tailor Made

A simple palette of white, cream, and deep brown flows throughout this home, including the dining room where rich stained oak floors complement the walnut furnishings. The dining table's clean lines are accompanied by such details as angular notches on the legs.

True Blue

Though furnished with fine antiques, including a stately Federal table, and accented by old oil paintings, this room possesses a casual air thanks to smart color choices and use of texture. The lush embroidered silk that hangs in luminous panels at the room's windows sparked the room's design.

Two-Tone Banquette

Though this kitchen is fairly neutral, the banquette makes a color statement in a mix of blue vinyl (for kid-friendly clean up) and a coordinating fabric on the backrest. The view is dominant so window treatments were eliminated and the chandelier was kept out of the way.

Uniquely Refined Dining

To achieve a sense of elegance and refinement, this small dining room skips applied decorative elements -- window treatments, finials, textured walls -- in favor of simple architectural details. Flat paneling and a picture rail complement the scrubbed-oak dining table.

Beautiful Dining Rooms

Glitzy Gallery

Inspired by the glitz and glamour of Old Hollywood, this luxe dining room features a dynamic display wall. Identically framed and symmetrically arranged prints by a French painter lend the air of a classic library to this traditionally furnished space.

Golden Glory Dining

Drenched in red and gold, this dining room looks like a million bucks. Tinted plaster mixed with marble dust coats the walls, buffed to produce a soft sheen. Dining chairs upholstered in gold damask are a soft touch against the wood table. A large area rug brings color underfoot and gold drapes tie the palette together.

Light Dining in a Kitchen

Raising the roof took this breakfast room from mundane to fabulous. On the left, wood cabinets with clean lines and contemporary hardware give the space warmth and style.

Living in Light

Though this home's color palette is pale, each fabric features a texture to help hide the dirt and wear common to a home that includes three children. In this dining room, an oversize lantern-style chandelier reinforces the center of the room and the mahogany dining table.

Minimalist Dining

Bare wood floors gleam under the 1940s Heywood-Wakefield table and modern designer chairs. Overhead, a trio of pendant lights serves to illuminate the length of the table and supplies a touch of tailored and striped pattern to the otherwise plain scheme.

Modern Masterpiece

Turn the tables in a dining room by blending designer goods with items from discount stores. In this splashy dining room, a flea market table teams with pricey Louis XVI-inspired armchairs. Bargain-priced accessories justify a few splurges, including a focal-point rug.

Modern Merger

This dining room perfectly reflects both its owners' tastes. Clean lines, a cool color palette, and minimal accessories please the husband's contemporary leanings, while heavy drapes, a dripping chandelier, and rich wood tones satisfy the wife's traditional interests.

Punchy Palette Living

This room is a fiesta of color! The blending of styles includes retro, modern, country, and even a little tropical (notice the hint of a pineapple motif in the chandelier), based on the look of Fiesta pottery.

Decorating Dining room

Conversation Starter

Setting a chatter-provoking table is as important as the food you serve. Here, a mix-and-match approach guarantees guests will take notice. The different chairs work together thanks to similar shapes and aged finishes. Even the place settings are a mix of old and new.

Conversation-Friendly Dining

A small circular dining table is the centerpiece of this small-space dining area. Chairs from a catalog were reupholstered in stain-repellent fabric. To-the-floor chair skirts contrast with the exposed table legs, making a nice transition to the floor.

Cozy Cottage Dining

A simple banquet is the perfect solution for a small space dining room. To add a bit of cottage flair, this room pairs a mix of antique inspired chairs with an oak table.

Dine in Style

Using modern materials in a vintage home gives it a young energy. This once-formal dining room was given a pared-down casual style more appropriate for daily use. Fiberglass chairs are child-friendly and provide a contrast to the dark patina of the table.

Dressed in Plaid

In this vibrant dining room, a curvy valance adds height and impact to the arched windows. Instead of an expensive arched rod or curved board, the valance is secured directly to the wall by hooks. The fabric is pulled into casual pleats and "horns," then tied with a rope trim that runs the length of the treatment.

Easy Elegance

A formal dining room is all about entertaining. This dining table seats six for an intimate affair or can expand to accommodate a party of 12. French doors around the room allow dinner parties to spill out onto an adjoining patio. A traditional sideboard, which stores extra linens and dinnerware, can serve as a buffet.

Formal, Not Serious

Easy elegance and theatrical touches set the tempo for this casually divine dining room. Traditional elements that might be expected in such a room are given elements of surprise. Chippendale dining chairs, normally finished in a mahogany stain, wear a matte gold.

Function First

A wall of cabinets holds china and glassware while providing a long and useful buffet top for entertaining. Highly reflective, the tabletop contrasts with the matte textures of jute carpeting and linen draperies.

New Ideas Dining room

Bold & Beautiful Dining

Flowing traffic patterns and abundant natural light make this uncluttered dining room perfect for entertaining. Its oxblood-and-ebony color scheme plays out on a neutral background. In the adjoining kitchen, polished granite-tile countertops grace custom-built maple cabinetry.

Brown Banquette

This banquette niche, created from a former laundry room, embodies what modern traditionalism is all about. The streamlined shape and warm wood recall the spare but inviting look of Scandinavian design. Brown vinyl upholstery, cozy pillows, and pretty accessories make the space feel more like a living room than a kitchen.

Casual Wicker Dining

Family-friendly wicker chairs surround this homeowner-crafted farmhouse-style dining room table. Nearby sits a 400-year-old carved chest with hand-forged hardware.

Changing Table Style

Are you stuck with a table that's no longer your style? Take heart. This dining room surrounds a neutral contemporary table with French Country style. Tones of white and cream on the walls are reflected in the creamware collection and the chair fabric as well.

Classic Eclectic

A blue Asian-style rug contributes fresh color to an otherwise neutral dining room. Though all of the room's woodwork was painted white, none of its linear quality or substance has been lost.

Classic Touch

A palette inspired by nature creates a serene scheme in this vintage-look dining room. Architectural details add subtle interest to the clean design while down-to-earth furnishings, including a large trestle table and slipcovered chairs, anchor the room.

Colorful Kitchen

Splashed with color, this vintage kitchen looks thoroughly modern. Blue and pink cabinets, green floors, and burgundy built-in banquettes are lively additions to the white-walled space. The table serves as a dining spot and extra workspace, while a fabric-covered corkboard above the banquette displays mementos and photos.

Contemporary Cool

Fluid indoor-outdoor connections make a home feel larger. Here, the dining room flows onto the porch thanks to a wall of doors. Limestone on the porch continues inside, where it is paired with a band of oak. The pattern leads the eye outside to emphasize the sweeping view.

Dining room Decoration

A Little Bit Country

Blend rustic charm with French elegance in a dining room reminiscent of a countryside chateau. Wide-plank floors and a chunky farm table are traditional basics, while a detailed chandelier and transferware plates up the ante, introducing sophisticated French elements.

Adding Warmth and White

A warm-as-toast raised hearth and an extra-large firebox bring views of a roaring fire to the dining area. The fireplace's sculptural limestone surround complements a pale terra-cotta tile floor, off-white walls, and dark-stained antique English table.

An American Classic

Simple styling and farmhouse furnishings give this mid-century Texas ranch the look of a centuries-old New England home. Historically accurate paint colors set the tone in this spare dining room, which features antique and reproduction furniture and no-fuss accessories.

Antiqued Grace Dining

French antiques fill this beautiful dining room. The warmth of neutral colors on the walls, rug, and drapes combines beautifully with dark-stained oak flooring. Soft pastel pink tones and patterned dining chairs complete a feeling of grace.

Beauty in Windows Dining

This dining room was updated with new architectural detail, furniture, and lighting in keeping with the Craftsman style. The far wall was once plain and uninteresting, marked with only a small door on the right. A second door and new upper windows created an open-plan feeling, yet keep adjoining rooms separate.

Beyond the Pale

A dramatic painting gives this sunny dining room its punch. The other elements in the room are kept clean-lined and neutral to balance the powerful focal point. Chairs covered in washable white duck surround the simple farm table. The light-tone wood floors are left bare.

Black Dining Area

A neutral background and simple parquet flooring allow interesting accessories to be the main attraction of this eating area next to a kitchen. Though the chandelier is traditional, the art and furnishings are contemporary.

Black-and-White Delight

In this cool contemporary space, only a muted green rug and vibrant vase break up the simple black-and-white palette. Italian woven chairs surround a vintage table refinished in chocolate brown. A Kapa shell light fixture from the Philippines hangs from the ceiling.

Modern Bedroom Decoration

Grand Bedroom

Arched windows, curlicue furniture, and a swirled Oriental rug give this room plenty of interest. But the real stars of the show are the upholstered walls, which are covered in deep-cream silk fabric, tufted into harlequin diamonds and accented with cotton ribbons and decorative gold nailheads.

Hip to Be Square Bedroom

A vaulted ceiling adds visual appeal, but it can make a room less inviting. In this voluminous space, a low-slung bed serves as an anchor. A grid of upholstered squares above the bed and long curtain panels bring the space into scale, while earth-tone accessories add warmth.

Historically Handsome

An abundance of natural light, which tumbles in from windows gracing three sides of the room, helps this master bedroom feel larger than its actual footprint. White walls and a largely neutral color palette also add to the voluminous feeling.

In the Bedroom

A wall of draperies calls attention to the focal-point bed with an extra-high headboard, plump pillows, and striking geometric throw. Nearby, matching contemporary lamps sit atop similar, yet different, night tables in dark wood.

In the Trees

Pale yellow walls set off spring green valances and pillows in this master suite. The windows on either side of the bed are small, but have been given a larger scale with draperies of cotton damask that extend on the sides.

Italian Style

Soft striped wallpaper, nature-inspired fabrics, and a medley of stained and painted wood finishes give this bedroom its European style. In keeping with the lush yet tailored aesthetic, draperies made of a sumptuous peony-and-bird print are topped with painted pelmets.

Lap of Luxury Bedroom

Rich shades of gold and red create a warm, upscale look in this master suite. A supple leather headboard, linen Roman shades, layers of soft bedding, and a pair of upholstered slipper chairs add to the look of luxury.

Masterfully Modern

A spacious master suite requires smart furniture choices. In this large room with a tall tray ceiling, the upholstered bed, bedside tables, and desk at the footboard are all the correct scale for the room. Tall draperies also help minimize the room's volume.

Modern Amenities Bedroom

Pump up a room's personality with contemporary styling. Keep the look sophisticated with clean lines and graphic shapes. Use an unusual color pairing, such as orange and red or lime and black, and limit accessories to a few interesting pieces displayed in an unexpected way.

Old Meets New

In this master suite, classic styling sets the tone while unexpected elements add a shock of the new. Original woodwork, heavy draperies, and an Empire-style headboard are traditional touches. A shag rug, Asian-inspired prints, and mirrored tables update the look.