How can you create an inviting, comforting experience that your guests will long remember?
If you’re looking for a setting to delight friends and family on special occasions, look no further than your dining space. Even if your current dining area is a little on the dull side, it’s not too late to get it ready to dazzle! Here are some ideas to create casual elegance for your dining space:
1. Mix up colors and finishes

Mix up colors and finishes of your chairs, table, and companion dining pieces. Photo credit: Hooker Furniture
One of the biggest trends for dining chairs and tables is to mix it up, especially when it comes to the finish of the chairs. You can even mix up the chair styles. Or, mix wood chairs with slipcover or upholstered chairs. Think eclectic. At the same time, you don’t want a hodge-podge look. A good rule of thumb: Keep the armchairs on each end of the table consistent, and keep the side chairs consistent. Also, keep the height of the chairs relatively the same.
2. Mix it up using bar stools, bar cabinets & bar-height tables

Bar stools, counter stools and counter height dining areas are rising in popularity. Photo credit: Marge Carson Furniture
Taking a cue from resort-like restaurants, hotels and bistros where they have been enjoyed for years, bar and counter stools and counter-height dining tables are much in demand today. They make the dining experience more fun, casual and comfortable.

Bar stools and counter-height dining bring an element of fun to dining. Photo credit: Hooker Furniture
Bar stools and bistro-like tables are perfect for parties and entertaining when people like to move around the room, alternating between sitting and standing.
3. Mix it up with cabinets

Cabinets for your dining space are getting smaller and more multipurpose. Photo credit: Hooker Furniture
With today’s open floor plans where the dining space often flows into the kitchen and family room, dining furnishings are going smaller scale, more versatile and multi-functional. Bar cabinets that include some kind of storage and prep area for drinks are increasingly popular. Full-sized china cabinets are being replaced with smaller display cabinets, buffets, bar cabinets and bar carts.
4. Add delightful designer details
It’s the attention to detail that truly makes your dining space—and the experiences you have there—dazzling. In her own dining room makeover, an interior designer relates how she recovered her plain Jane dining chairs in the same fabric as the drapery panels.

Designer details take the dining space form dull to dazzling. Photo credit: Trisha McBride Ferguson
Taking the designer approach a step further and making the space more eclectic and interesting, this homeowner incorporated a second fabric in the room by creating small kidney pillows for the back of the chairs in an aqua and while trellis fabric. Not only do the pillows add visual interest; they’re comfortable.
These are the kind of touches in your dining room or dining space that will take your special occasions this fall and winter to the next level!