Achieve Your Dream Dining Room Look with an Ikea Table You Wont Believe the Price

At a loss for how to design your dream dining room? I was too. Here’s how I put together our dream dining room with stylish, but affordable pieces.

As a food blogger, the kitchen and the dining room are the hub of our house. So when we moved to Boston last May, I spent 5 months looking for the perfect dining table. It’s tough work designing your dream dining room.

Our living room, on the other hand, came together in a cinch. I texted Alex a picture of a couch and we both agreed “yep, let’s get it.” End of discussion.

Dining Room Interior Design & Decor

But designing our dining room (and our table in particular) was something I meticulously fret over. I knew I wanted it to be warm and welcoming, with enough space to entertain a big group. I knew I wanted a mixture of old and new, and I knew I wanted it to be a table that fostered conversation.

Beyond that, I was stumped. I must’ve gone to seven furniture stores in our first month in Boston, but nothing felt right. The tables were either too pricy, too traditional, or too… bleh.

Then I remembered this company Article, who had popped up on my Instagram feed a few months prior. Article has really gorgeous modern furniture at really reasonable prices, all whilst paying attention to quality and integrity in their products.

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After perusing their site, I found this stunning 8 person dining tableand knew immediately it was the one. I loved the grain of the wood, and that the legs were thin enough so no one would knock their knees into a post.

And their prices were really reasonable. Other 8-person tables I was looking at were $1, 500-2, 000. This one was $999. Which, for a solid wood table, in my opinion, is a huge win.

The next step was getting the rest of the dining room together. Article had some really great decorative elements that helped to round out our space, like their Pendula Floor Lampand their Ivory Sheepskin Throw.

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As for our chairs, by the time we shot this post I found these gorgeous wishbone chairs, but Article just came out with these white dining chairs and I’m not going to lie, I think I like them even more.

A few other items that helped to bring everything together? This natural sheepskin pillow, which adds some warmth to the corner of the room, and our pendant lamp, which actually came with our apartment but works SO well. Article happens to have a dupe here.

Most of the rest of the pieces in our dining room are antiques. I found the painting above our fireplace at a pawn shop, the brass candle holders are from Etsy, and the art we have on the floor in the corner is from Etsy and an antique store. These older pieces were the perfect compliment to the more modern Article pieces, creating a space that looks both contemporary and lived in.

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I’m so happy with how the space came together. It’s a perfect mixture of old and new, and a space we absolutely love to be in. I cannot wait to hear what you think!

Disclosure: I partnered with Article on this post in exchange for furniture. All opinions and text are my own. Thank you for supporting the companies that help make Broma possible!Ideally, the dining room is where you gather with loved ones to cherish a meal, with conversations lasting for hours and everyone laughing, debating, and making memories.

However, in some homes, the dining room is seldom used. Daily meals happen elsewhere, while the dining room is reserved for special occasions. And sometimes, this results in an unused space that becomes a landing place for clutter. If this sounds all too familiar, it’s time to breathe new life into your dining room with an inviting upgrade that makes you want to use it every day.

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All it takes to turn your dining room into a comfortable place to lounge with family and friends is choosing the right-sized table and rug, perfect lighting, and eye-popping color. Follow these points to design a dining room you’ll want to use again and again.

Before you even start decorating, it’s important to draft up all the dimensions of the dining room space. After all, a crowded room is not a comfortable one. Measure the room and draw a floor plan to scale. If you have furniture you’re keeping, measure each piece and include them in your drawing. Or, if you have an empty room, use painter’s tape to mark out on the floor where each piece of furniture will go. Then use the measurements to calculate the size of your table.

“The rule for table size is to leave 36 inches around the table, ” says Paige Maurer, CKBD, certified interior designer and owner of Paige Lee Interiors in Traverse City, Michigan, “So, if your room is 10×10 feet square, subtract 3 feet from each side, and you’ll end up with 48 inches. Therefore, a table that is 48 inches or less will be most proportionate for the room. However, it can get more complicated.

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“I ask clients how many people will eat at the table every week, ” says Maurer, “as well as how many they’ll have during holidays or entertaining.” For everyday meals, you want a table large enough, without extensions, to accommodate the family. But make sure that with an extension or two, there’s enough space to seat additional people when needed.

But perhaps the dining room isn’t large enough for a fully extended table. In that case, Maurer suggests you may want to explore the possibility of enlarging the space by removing walls. Or, if you already have an existing open floor plan, you can use the kitchen island to accommodate additional seating.

If you’re in the market for a new table, there are a few things to consider to achieve the optimal amount of space and a visually appealing design. A square or round table works best in a square or round room, while a rectangular or oval table is ideal for a rectangular room. If space is tight, a round or oval table provides soft edges for a more comfortable traffic flow. And if you’re considering a wood tabletop, make sure it complements any other wood in the room, like hardwood floors, molding, or other pieces of furniture.

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If you want the family to linger over their dessert, make sure the chairs are comfortable and kid-friendly if you have children. If you’re going for the popular transitional design style of mismatched furniture, check the chair height to the table before buying them.

Don’t make the mistake of trying to save a few dollars by skimping on a small rug. The last thing you want when your boss comes to dinner is for her to catch a chair leg on the edge of the rug and spill red wine down her blouse. To provide enough room to slide chairs back without going off the edge, purchase a rug that extends about 36 inches beyond the table’s edge on all sides.

Lighting in a dining room is critical. You want direct lighting so you can see what you’re eating. And ambient lighting sets the mood for intimate gatherings. Ambient lighting can include cove lighting, sconces, additional can lighting, or cabinet lighting in a service area, like a bar. When choosing direct lighting, you generally take your cue from the table.

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“You want a light fixture over the table that’s one-half to two-thirds the size of the table, ” says Maurer. “The goal is to light a good amount of the tabletop.” For rectangular or oval tables, choose a linear or horizontal chandelier that streams the light down the length of the table. Or, you can achieve the same coverage with multiple pendants. For a square or round table, choose a square or round-shaped fixture suspended over the center. And when it comes to light bulbs for the chandelier, aim for a total of 200 to 400 watts with a dimmer switch.

How high should you hang your chandelier? A general guideline is 30 to 36-inches above the tabletop. To see what feels comfortable for your space, hang the fixture, walk around to see how it looks, and reposition it as needed before making the height permanent.

Maurer says you also want to be careful not to obstruct a fantastic view with a large chandelier. For example, if your dining room faces a beautiful view of the mountains or a body of water, you don’t want the light fixture to block the scene when guests enter the room.

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Another thing to be mindful of: When the table is extended to full length, you don’t want to leave the diners at each end in the dark. In this instance, Maurer suggests recessed can lights positioned to illuminate the outer ends, which are not under the direct light of the chandelier.

Once you’ve chosen the major elements, it’s time to complete the style with the right finishing touches. “The design style should flow seamlessly to adjacent rooms, ” says Maurer. “For