If you’re lucky enough to have a dining room, rather than a kitchen eating nook, make the most of that space and decorate it stylishly. While you’ll definitely host special occasions with friends and family in this room, if you make the decor elegant and inviting, you’ll want to use your dining room every day. And why not? A house is for living, after all.

Start with Color

Take a dining room from drab to dramatic with beautiful colors. Deep hues like burgundy red or sumptuous royal blue have an energizing effect that leads to lively conversation over dinner and lends an air of opulence and abundance. When looking for color inspiration, think about other furniture in the room, as well as colors and patterns that are visible from adjoining rooms. While your dining room may have a more dramatic color, you want the overall effect to be harmonious. If you’re inspired by a piece of pottery, your dishes, a pink glass water jug ​​from the Depression, or a wall painting, use that as a starting point when thinking about color.

Create a focal point

Blank wall space doesn’t do much to enhance any room’s decor, and in a dining room it can make the room feel cold and unwelcoming. To create a focal point, you can use one large item and accent it with smaller items, or you can create a wall grouping with several smaller items. For example, you can start with a large painting, architectural or wrought iron wall hanging, wall hanging or mirror and accent it with smaller coordinating items such as candle sconces, antique plates or cast iron accents. Or create a stunning arrangement with a visually interesting collage of smaller pieces – piece them together by color, theme, or material.

Wrought iron wall décor is a great choice for a focal point wall or to use as decorative accent pieces. Because it comes in a wide range of styles and finishes, you’ll find pieces that work with your chosen decorating style. Matte black, brown or gray wrought iron is a perfect accent in a traditional or contemporary dining room. Distressed white or cream painted finishes work equally well in country, country, or casual settings.

Combine style and function.

Choose dining room furniture that does double duty: choose pieces that add style and provide storage space for dinnerware, flatware, and glassware, or elegant pieces that also feature surface space for serving and entertaining.

o A freestanding sideboard or cabinet with solid doors below and glass doors above allow you to store bulky and less attractive items below while displaying your glassware, plates, collectibles and pretty serving pieces with glass-front styling.

o A marble-topped server with drawers and lower shelves and doors gives you a convenient place to store cutlery and linens while providing a flat surface that you can use for decoration or serving during a party.

o A wall-mounted wine rack brings old-world Tuscan style to a dining room and provides a place to store wine. Swirling vines hold and display your favorite harvest so it’s available at any time. Wine racks that include stemware offer even more storage space.