Mistakes to avoid while designing a dining room

1. Create a Mood Board Before You Start –

This is actually the most crucial and key step in not just dining room interior design, but all interior design. Before you get started, always plan out your mood board; this should be a collection of design inspirations, fabric swatches, the colour palette and even the furniture style you’re going for, and is the best way to avoid having a mismatched and disjointed décor scheme.

2. Take into Account Flow from Adjoining Rooms –

As mentioned above, flow between rooms within your home is very important. Even if you have partition designs between living / dining spaces, moving from one space to the next should still maintain a sense of symmetry and cohesion.

1. Plan for Your Ambient and Natural Light –

It’s quite rare not to have any windows in a dining room, and of course, windows are usually the main source of natural, ambient light. When designing a dining room take into account how the natural light changes throughout the day and plan your lighting around it; dining rooms are used a lot in the evenings / night and you will have to compensate for the lack of natural light at those times in your ambient lighting plans.

2. Balancing the Brightness is Important –

While having a dim room where it’s hard to see what you're eating is obviously not the way to go, an overly bright dining room is equally unpleasant. Make sure the lighting is at a comfortable level for any purpose. Dimmer switches could also be a good idea if you like atmospheric lighting.

3. Don’t Place Lamps too Low or at Eye Height –

As a following point to the brightness level, having your light fixtures at sensible heights should be a priority in your dining area design plan. You don’t want to have glare in your eyes while eating, or bump into hanging pendant lamps every time you reach forward to serve yourself a dish. One of the most practical dining room lighting ideas is to position pendant lamps or chandeliers at the right height so they enhance the ambience without obstructing comfort.

1. Never have Uncomfortable Seating –

We cannot emphasise enough how important this is! While some furniture trends may focus on aesthetics over comfort, this honestly makes the top of the list of bad dining room ideas. Enjoying a good meal just doesn’t work if your seating is too hard, at an awkward height, or simply uncomfortable to you.

2. Pick a Table that’s the Right Size for the Space –

Your dining table design should be sized to match the available space in your dining room. An over-large table will impact traffic flow in the room and reduce the usability of the space. If you like to entertain and so want a larger table for that, consider choosing an extendable or convertible dining table that won’t be in the way on a day-to-day basis.

1. Don’t Place Your Wall Décor and Art All at the Same Height –

While there is of course a place and time for this style of arrangement, nothing looks more ordinary and lacking in warmth than perfectly aligned to the same level, gallery style displays of wall art. To add visual interest to your dining room wall décor, arrange your pieces in a more checkered, free-form style. Essentially, crafting a montage of your mirrors, photographs, painting, wall hanging, what-have-you, will bring more movement to the space.

2. Have Visual Variation in Your Curtains –

While your curtains should match your furniture style and the overall colour palette of your dining room décor, it’s best to avoid creating a flat patch of a single solid colour. You can do this by playing with tone and shade, but also by having a double layer of drapes in differing length and fabric.

4. Avoid the Mistake of Over-symmetry –

Many of us like to display candles, fresh flowers, cute knick-knacks or more practical ​​dining table decoration items (such as a wicker cornucopia or ceramic cutlery stand). If this is your style, then remember that in interior design, it's best not to get too matchy-matchy or overly symmetrical for daily displays, as this can give the room a less homey, colder vibe that can feel very unwelcoming.