Once upon a time, it was common to have a dedicated dining room in your home. But alas, in the past few years, we’ve been witnessing the death of the dining room. If you still want to create that same grandiose effect without having the standalone room, this is how to fake a dining room when you don’t have one.
Whether it’s within your living room or kitchen (as that’s where the dining usually takes place these days), these dining room ideas - or should I say dining areas? - will look elevated and sophisticated despite the fact you don’t have a separate dining space.
‘We’ve talked about the “death of the dining room” for years, but in reality, what we’ve seen are re-designs of open plan spaces, where zoning plays a key part of the process,’ says Rachal Hutcheson, national retail manager at Sharps. ‘It is possible to create a chic and cosy dining space in your living room or kitchen, establishing areas.’
1. Focus on lighting
No matter how small your dining space may be, incorporating some stylish and clever dining room lighting ideas to help define the space always works, according to experts. The top tip? Hang a pendant light like this M&S Chloe light above the dining table.
‘Lighting is a great way to define a dining area – even if it’s only part of the kitchen island or the table shares the space with your sofa and TV,’ says Danielle Le Vaillant, head of photography and film at Cox & Cox. ‘Choose a statement pendant light to hang over the table or cordless lamps to define the space and make sure it can be isolated from the brighter task lighting of the kitchen for a more relaxed ambience.’
2. Zone with paint
Creative paint ideas are another excellent tool for zoning an open space, or a room that serves multiple purposes and you’re looking to visually divide per its use. Whether that’s colour blocking or painting lines around your dining nook.
‘Consider changing the wall colour around the table and you’ll instantly give the area its own sense of identity, almost like a dining “room” within the room,’ says Kate Palmer, creative director at The Painted Furniture Company.
3. Add a rug
As far as defining a certain ‘zone’ in a space goes, rugs are invaluable. It goes for the living room, defining the seating and lounging area with the right size of rug – always keep the 18 inch rug sizing rule in mind. And it goes for dining areas, too.
'If there is space for a full dining table, define the space and set it apart from the rest of the room with a large rug that’s big enough to extend beyond your dining chairs,' Danielle at Cox & Cox advises on how big a dining room rug should be.
Kate at The Painted Furniture Company agrees, ‘One of the simplest ways to “fake” a dining room is to create a sense of boundary, even without walls. A rug beneath the table instantly anchors the space.’
4. Use furniture to define the area
This might not be the ideal small dining room idea – again, I should say dining area. But if you have some space to comfortably fit any more furniture than just the dining table and chairs, something like a sideboard or a console table like this bobbin one from John Lewis can help in creating a somewhat separate dining space.
‘Furniture is also a brilliant tool here and a sideboard, console or even a slim media wall unit can be strategically placed to frame the dining area and give it more presence, almost like drawing an invisible border. Customised pieces are ideal for this as you can have the exact size and finish you need to make it all fit together with your existing room,’ Kate at The Painted Furniture Company says.
Top picks
Dunelm is one of the best places where to buy a rug. And jute rugs like this one work especially great in dining settings - the shape should ideally mirror that of your dining table. So this one would work perfectly with an oval or an extendable round table.
Pendant lights with wide, flared lampshades that direct the light down across the whole table are the best ones to hang above a dining table. The pleated finish and scalloped edge of this design are particularly lovely.
A console table like this one will not only help in dividing the space and defining your dining area, it will also bring in a decorative element thanks to the fun bobbin legs.
Who can say no to extra storage? Especially when it looks as stylish as this DUSK sideboard with rattan inserts. Available in four colourways, it's also currently on offer, so you can save over £100.
I'm currently obsessed with this Habitat display cabinet that's the perfect dupe for my favourite Anthropologie one. You can also define your dining area by incorporating a piece of furniture displaying your tableware like this one.
All of Ruggable's rugs are washable which is ideal for the dining area where spills and stains are more likely to happen than anywhere else. Also all of its rugs come in a rectangular version, as well as a round shape depending on your dining table.
These are the interior experts’ go-to tricks to conjuring up a dining room where there isn’t one. Which one are you thinking of trying out?
