The dining room decor in these 2 example rooms needed an update for today’s lifestyle and look. They both had heavy, dark elements from years ago, with furnishings that reflected a more dated style.

I’m sharing my advice I gave, one of them through my Designed in a Click consultations and one of them as blog reader who submitted their dining room wall for advice, as part of my wall decor series.

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Dining Room #1

This homeowner had some quality furniture here and, like most people, wanted a fresh look without, hopefully, redoing it all.

She wanted to go in the lighter blue/gray range, mentioning some of my past projects as a color she wanted to try. She was looking for a color like in this dining room or this dining room.

Here is the dining room to be updated.

BEFORE - Dining Room decor needing a refresh.

BEFORE - Dining room needing a fresh look.

I have done a refresh in the past with very similar dining room furniture.

Here’s the “after” photo of that room, below.

AFTER - This traditional dining room was given a refresh with new paint, window treatments, lighting, rug, and upholstered chair seats. Carla Aston, Designer | Miro Dvorscak, Photographer

Here were my recommendations:

I think you need to replace the rug and the chandelier, most of all. The art is so traditional, with the heavy framing. I'm not sure that is the best selection here either.

I would get rid of the plant in the corner and move the hutch down to be centered on the table and chandelier. Your draperies look neutral so they are fine there and the seat cushions can stay as they look like a light neutral too.

Rug - Here are some rug options for turning the room in a blue direction. You can get a sample for some of these. You could even do a jute rug with the blue border to bring a more casual look to the space. Click through on the image to find where to shop each item.

Paint Color - Once you decide on a rug, you can pick the paint color. Looks like you can order swatches of all those rugs, so you could do that and then pick the paint color. I would gray down any blue, they tend to look baby blue if you don't do that.

Lighting - New chandelier, less fussy would be nice. Would be nice to see a cooler tone metal finish in here.

Console - You might even consider a new open like console instead of the dresser type you have there now. The one you have looks so deep. Something lighter and less deep would be nice with the lamp and mirror on it. I really like this one even though it is out of stock right now. I like that it is painted and lighter weight. It’s a simpler style that will help lighten things up.

Lamp, Mirror - I like the mirrored frame on this mirror, it’s lighter overall and will reflect the light nicely from window. The lamp is a creamy white color and will look good against the blue walls.

Slipcovers - You might consider doing some little slipcovers on your chairs. There's just a lot of brown furniture there and the more fabric you add, the softer and fresher it will be. Maybe even just a slipcover over the backs would be nice, to brighten up all the wood. Something like these.

Overall, I think you should think about simpler lines for everything. It seems to be the trend with everyone these days and it feels really feels fresh.

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Dining Room #2

This dining room was sent to me with a good start to an update.

The homeowner just wanted to know how to address the wall above the console buffet and what kind of light fixture might be good for this room. She was planning to add draperies in a soft creamy fabric to match the walls, so that was already figured out.

BEFORE - A Tuscan look dining room with gold faux finished walls, curly iron chandelier and heavy, dark furnishings.

Here’s the dining room makeover in progress, below.

Light creamy wall paint gives a fresher, lighter look to this room. I like the rug in this space, it’s a keeper.

Here is my recommendation:

Overall, I think she’s done a lot to freshen up this space. She’s on the right track. However, in this instance, since the rug is staying, I think she needs to repeat that color elsewhere in the room.

Paint - Since she’s already painted the walls and the ceiling looks so bright white by comparison, I think a lovely color on the ceiling would be fabulous. I’d go for that soft, ruddy rose color in the rug, pull that out and paint the ceiling.

Everyone will look gorgeous in that room, with that color reflecting down on them. :-)

Lamps - We definitely need new lamps here. Something more modern and clean lined. I like the idea of a white gesso finish. Still kind of rustic, but with a different finish.

Wall Decor - I like something modern and contemporary here. The furniture is all so trad that we need something totally different to break up the traditional pattern of style. I’d go for some of that soft rosy color with some greens and blues in an abstract landscape type art.

Something like this with the two white gesso lamps in front would be smashing!

Rose and blue abstract landscape painting in 40” x 30”

Table Decor - Something chunky and creamy white here is in order, again, to break up all the brown. I like this concrete pedestal bowl. I have one on order myself and I’m going to put my collection of hand blown glass balls on display there. That will work year round. I love decor like that!

Love the simple form of this white concrete pedestal bowl for a centerpiece in this dining room.

A collection of handblown decorative glass balls look would look great in the white concrete bowl as a centerpiece in this dining room.

Window Treatments - I like the idea of light, drapery panels that just soften the room in the same color as the wall, however, it could be an opportunity to inject that color from the rug here too. I just feel like it will dress things up a bit and feel more intentionally designed.

Chandelier - Some cleaner lines are in order here. Since I’ve lightened up on the wall above the console, I’d prefer to have a heavier iron look here to relate to the table and furniture style below. I like the linear look of this iron chandelier, the blue/green glass pieces, and the overall shape and size work well.

This linear iron chandelier will work well in this dining makeover. The visual weight works with the heavy, dark furniture, but it also has a more modern, cleaner look to make the space feel updated.

Slipcovers - No matter how much you paint and lighten things up, there is still a big mass of dark, heavy furniture in this room. I feel like she has to break it up somehow with some light fabric. My preference would be some creamy white linen slipcovers on the heavy dark chairs.

One of my clients had these made for her Tuscan style heavy wood chairs, years ago. They still look stylish and fresh today.

White and wood dining room with slipcovered dining chairs | Carla Aston, Designer | Miro Dvorscak, Photographer

How To Update Your Dining Room Without Redoing It All

Designer Tip:

One of the most expensive items in a dining room are the chairs.

Rarely do I find chairs for our jobs that are acceptable for the level of work we are doing at under $800 apiece. Most times they are more than that, as we customize with special fabrics, details, etc.

Multiply that times 8 or even 10 chairs, and you have significant cost. That’s why I try to use at least some of the homeowners’ dining chairs in a budget minded update, if I can. It’s usually not a room used that often anyway, but most homeowners do like it to make a statement and be well appointed.

If we can reupholster, maybe change out just the head chairs, or do slipcovers, it can really help with the budget. :-)

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How To Update Your Dining Room Decor Without Redoing It All - 2 Examples

Dining Room #1

Dining Room #2

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