For those who have and use them, dining rooms are handy feature of the home. They provide a place for everyone to gather round for meals, helping to create a cozy, familial atmosphere that eating in front of the television or in the kitchen can’t quite replicate. With a new year underway, the time has come to redesign and give the rooms most used an upgrade. While some might balk at the cost of such upgrading, it can be done on a budget easily enough, especially if you know what you’re doing.
Dishes and Linens
One relatively easy fix is new, seasonal dishware. Alternating dishes for the holidays is common enough, but doing so for other times of year can help create a festive, homey feeling all year round. Families starting out with a new dining room should also consider purchasing a new dish set, presuming they somehow didn’t receive at least a dozen of them as wedding gifts.
To match the seasonal dishware, or simply to have some more fun, changing up table linens and other covers in the dining room can make a fun variety, too. Runners, tablecloths, table mats, and even napkins can help brighten up a dining room with fresh looks and colors.
Lights, No Camera, Action!
Lighting is another fun upgrade that can really set a new mood for a room. Chandeliers are commonly touted as a good option for this. They can prove a good focal point for a room, and bright colors will definitely draw the eye. Still, lighting fixtures can get costly as they grow more ornate, as can instillation of the all powerful dimmer switch, but the use of lamps or candles can achieve similar results with a much friendlier budget. Those concerned about fire hazards can make use of electric candles. It’s not quite the same, but they do a good job of achieving a similar result.
Furniture and Walls
One obvious upgrade to consider is the furniture itself. A new Amish dining table or dining room set can liven up the dining room with fresh furniture featuring a new look. Families whose kids and dogs have grown up to the point where they needn’t worry about excessive damage to furniture pieces might especially want to consider such upgrades.
While looking to upgrade the lights, linens, and the furniture, you might be looking at the walls as well. fresh wall papers or accessories can really liven up a dining room. if you’re crafty, some old styled needlework will match extremely well with any Amish furniture you decide to upgrade with.
Wallpaper might seem drastic for some, but it can really bring a room together if the colors and patterns are utilized well. For example, by matching with the linen and dishware, which you will want to do if you decide to go that route. Painting the walls is another option, too, and one that can offer a variety of color choices without the patterned look of most wallpaper designs.
Storage
So you’ve bought all these new dishes, candles, lamps, and linens. So where do you put all of them? Storage is yet another way to upgrade a dining room. You probably already have a cabinet or shelf for storage, but, if you have some spare wall space, you might want to consider floating walls.
Floating walls are an admittedly double-edged sword. One the one hand, they beautifully display whatever they’re holding, and it’s easy to grab what you need. On the other hand, the items stored are exposed, so they will get dusty. They’re also not protected from wayward elbows. Utilizing floating shelves probably depends as much on your coordination as it does whether or not you have the wall space.
The Future is Now
Upgrading the dining room can be an expensive proposition, but it doesn’t have to be that way. to face the new year with new looks and colors can be done with just a few accessories and design choices. Adjusting linens and dishes for the seasons can be done cheaply if you buy clearance, discounted candles can add ambient lights, and the same is true for seasonal napkins.
You don’t need home equity to renovate the dining room and give it the new look you’ve been craving. Whether your kids are grown and you want new furniture and looks to reflect that, the old look came with the house and has worn itself out, or you just want to have some fun with the room’s look, upgrading the dining room can be a fun experience with as little or as much involvement as your budget allows.
Don’t be afraid to look at your dining room and think of what you can upgrade. As we’ve shown, even little adjustments can make a big difference. Take a look yourself and see what you can do to make Dining Room 2021 the best dining room it can be.
