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Small dining room? Make a big impact. Being clever with your furniture and accessories is the real secret to a beautifully designed dining space, ready to entertain guests in style and elegance – no matter the size of your home. Read on to discover our seven small dining room secrets, designed to help you get the very best from every inch of your home:
- Create a Cosy Colour Cocoon
- Choose a Round Dining Table
- Keep the Clutter Away
- Add Depth with Décor
- Set the Mood with a Well Chosen Light
- Pick a Table with Leaves
- Choose Furniture with Clean Lines and Simplicity
Ideas for Small Dining Rooms
1. Create a Cosy Colour Cocoon
Deep plums, earthy terracotta's and midnight blues. Choose a dining room décor palette that leans into the natural intimacy of your small space, rather than trying to make it look bigger with stark whites or pale neutrals. Jewel-toned walls and even ceilings can add richness and depth, making the entire space feel intentional rather than cramped.
If committing to a complete colour drench feels like a leap too far, you can always bring deeper shades in through your soft furnishings. Upholstered dining chairs, like our velvet Cree or Trinny styles, add a touch of luxury – especially in Toffee Red or Dark Green tones. Whether you’re hosting candlelit dinners or early-morning coffees, this palette wraps your guests in warmth the moment they step inside.
2. Gather Around a Round Table
Round dining tables are the easiest shape to work with in tight spaces and compact homes. They’re the heart of the room, so selecting the right one is particularly important. Round styles naturally create better flow. With no corners to navigate, they make movement around the room feel smoother. They also encourage better conversation, keeping everyone equally spaced and included.
When planning your layout, try to leave at least 90cm between the edge of your table and any surrounding walls or furniture. This simple rule means guests can pull their chairs out and move around without feeling boxed in. If you’re working with an awkward nook or room that doubles as another living space, a small round table will give you both adaptability and style at once.
3. Keep the Clutter Away
Tidy room, tidy mind, tidy get-togethers. Clutter is the biggest culprit for making compact dining rooms feel chaotic, so carefully planned storage is absolutely key. A small sideboard or slender shelving unit will hide away dinnerware, table linens, candles – even stray homework.
Slim, streamlined styles that aren’t too bulky are best here. We recommend choosing a sideboard that’s equal in width or just slightly shorter than your dining table. This will keep the proportions balanced and make sure the table stays the star of your space. Our small Manhattan Sideboard is a gorgeous example where design meets practicality, with additional space for serving and the option to expand for extra guests.
4. Add Depth with Décor
Fake extra space and bounce light around your room with a well placed wall mirror – a must have if you want to make things look and feel a little bigger. For particularly narrow spaces, reflecting width will give better balance and proportions to the room, rather than elongating or constraining.
If you can, positioning your mirror opposite a window can also reflect sunlight around the space, reducing any dark corners. Multi-panelled mirrors, like our Elton design, even look like windows at a glance, giving an extra illusion of depth guaranteed to maximise your dining space.
5. Set the Mood with a Well Chosen Light
Lighting can set the mood of your room, so doing it well is a must. The right light will instantly change the atmosphere from cramped to captivating. Positioned centrally above the dining table, a beautiful pendant lamp creates a focal point that naturally draws the eye upward and keeps the visual weight away from your walls and floor.
If your space allows, consider layering lighting for added ambience. A soft, glowing floor lamp in the corner or a compact table lamp perched on a sideboard helps build the kind of warm, inviting atmosphere that makes guests stay long into the evening.
6. Pick a Table with Leaves
Large gatherings can sometimes call for a bit of extra room. An extendable dining table makes sure you have the space you need, without committing to a larger design every day. With a smooth butterfly extension tucked neatly inside, your table will stay compact during the week, extending seamlessly ready for when your guests arrive.
This flexibility also makes extendable tables perfect for anyone whose living situation might change in the future. Moving to a bigger home? Hosting family for seasonal celebrations? No need to replace your furniture – simply extend.
7. Choose Clean Lines and Simplicity
Simplicity really can be your best friend in a small dining room. Furniture with clean lines and minimalist shapes can maintain a sense of openness and modern sophistication. But more ornate pieces, though stunning in slightly larger spaces, can easily overpower a compact area and disrupt the balance you’re aiming for.
Petite designs will help the room breathe. The subtle silhouette of rectangular tables, like our Fraser design, offers elegance without demanding attention, allowing the space to feel calm and considered. And armless dining chairs, such as our Harper and Ryann styles, tuck neatly underneath to make your room tidier, calmer and instantly more spacious too, all while making sure your whole setting stays beautifully cohesive.
Thoughtful choices like these mean even the smallest dining rooms become more than just somewhere to eat. Laidback lunches or dinner parties late into the night – the right pieces help the room adapt to the moment. Clever furniture picks, compact layouts and well-planned lighting will transform tight areas into functional, design-led spaces that feel larger than they really are.
From the colours on the walls to the chairs you tuck neatly away, you can create a sense of quiet confidence and harmony that proves size is never a barrier to style.
