Small Dining Room Ideas: How to Make the Most of Your Dining Space

Extending Tables

Big family, small dining room? It’s a common issue many of us find ourselves stuck with, and oftentimes we feel we have to choose between a small table that won’t accommodate visiting family, or a huge table that dominates the room at all times. This is where extendable dining tables come in very handy for economising on space.

An extending table features fold-down leaves at one or both ends, which allow you to conjure up extra dining space as if from nowhere. This means you can accommodate visiting guests whenever you need to, and then fold the extensions neatly away afterwards to get back that much-needed space.

Dining Benches

If you want all the seating capacity without compromising as much on floor space, dining benches make perfect small dining room ideas for making the most of every inch. Aside from the fact that they are incredibly stylish and give a wonderfully minimal, Scandi-style aesthetic, dining benches are master space savers.

Designed to slot perfectly underneath dining tables, a dining bench can be pushed underneath and out of the way while your table is not in use, opening up a bit of breathing space and keeping a small dining room from feeling too cluttered.

Table for Two?

While a large dining table looks grand and elegant, sometimes they’re simply just not necessary. If it suits your lifestyle, a simple dining table for two is often all you need and will keep your dining space feeling much larger than it is.

Rather than cramming in a classic 6-seater, an elegant bistro-style table is the ideal small dining room solution and can often seat up to four people. This means you can still have guests over for dinner without the unwanted squeezing and awkward shuffling that comes with forcing oversized tables into small spaces.

Bright Colours

Now you’ve got your furniture sorted, we’ve got one or two more small dining room ideas to help you maximise your space even further. Starting with colour. It’s amazing just how much of a difference a simple change of colour palette can make to our visual perception of space. Bright colours, when used in a balanced way, can add depth and intrigue to a small space.

The absolute best way to introduce bright colour to your small dining room is by picking out your favourite vibrant hue and applying it to one main wall, with the other walls painted white, cream, pale grey or any other harmonising neutral shade. This will open up your space while adding a pop of colour that draws the eye, thereby drawing attention away from the actual size of the space itself.

Add complementing colour accents with cushions, artwork or table ornaments for a coordinated look and don’t forget to add a suitable amount of lighting to give a brightness boost for small dining rooms with less available natural light. A mirror also wouldn’t go amiss; we’ve all heard of the magic they can work when it comes to enlarging the appearance of small spaces, and mirrors make the perfect decorative touches for a dining room.

Take to the Walls

When you’re short on floor space, the only way to go is up. Your walls are your salvation in small spaces, and they open up plenty of opportunities for testing out a range of small dining room ideas when it comes to storage.

Getting savvy with your space is a must when you have limited amounts of it, so investing in some wall-mounted storage is essential. Whether it’s a wall cabinet, shelving or a storage rack, you can free up lots of floor space while also creating design statements and attractive displays.

For example, you could use floating shelves to display plants and ornaments for a barely-there look, or use slim wall-mounted cabinets to store functional things such as wine glasses or condiments without the need for bulky sideboards.

We hope we’ve given you plenty of small dining room ideas to help you realise your home’s full potential and get the most out of your dining room furniture. Remember, small spaces don’t necessarily mean compromise; a little creativity is all that’s needed to create the perfect dining space.