Do you have a dining table that looks ready to host a board room meeting and can’t loosen up for pizza night or a chat over coffee? Here are five simple, affordable ideas to help your dining room look less strait-laced.
1. Use Earthy Accessories
Instead of adorning your table with brass and china, try more informal decor made with natural materials, such as wicker mats or trays, burlap ribbon or placemats, bamboo, or even just artful-looking branches, like birch. Or try creating a small Zen rock garden as a centerpiece for your table. Although a rock garden might seem like a formal idea, the invitation to focus on its simple, natural elements can inspire a calming effect.
2. Introduce Some Color
Dining rooms often feel formal because they only have a few stagnant colors. How about introducing some colorful dinnerware? Fiestaware, which has been around the 1930s, has come in and out of style but has demonstrated staying power over the long haul. Their vibrant colors and fun mix-and-match approach makes them an easy choice to liven up your dining table and give it a more relaxed feel at the same time.
In a similar vein, you can mix various plate styles at your dining table, such as a variety of English floral patterns.
And what about those straight back dining chairs? If you don’t want to throw them out in favor of the recently trendy mixed-chair style, slipcover them in an informal check fabric, a cotton chintz (floral), or—for a Southwestern look—a terra cotta suede with leather ties.
3. Use Informal Accessories
You can use your dining table for other accessories and art besides dinnerware. How about displaying informal pieces that you love? Here are some examples:
- Antique lanterns grouped casually on the table.
- Potted plants can create a less formal mood than cut or silk flower arrangements. As a bonus, you’ll have a reason to spend more time in your dining room. Walking through the dining room to water the plants will help the room feel part of the rest of the house.
- Take a cue from the kitchen. Antique storage jars are a popular kitchen counter accessory. If you have similar jars you aren’t storing anything in, why not display them on the dining table instead? Similarly, clear mason jars with colorful layers of grains and pasta can be at home just as easily in the dining room as they are in the kitchen.
- Antique hardcover books can create a casual display by themselves, or they can be used as risers for other art or collectibles.
You can also think beyond the table. Have a look at my article, 8 Ideas for Casual Dining Room Wall Decor.
4. Choose Casual Dinnerware and Accessories
If none of these ideas appeal to you and you want “real” dining room decor on your table, then it’s just a matter of making more casual choices. Here are some examples to get you started:
- Use chunky, textured candles rather than formal tapers.
- Choose candle holders in less formal materials and styles, like shabby chic wood, iron, plaster, or earthenware.
- Mix up your materials. For a more casual look, use a variety of materials that complement each other. Try adding tablecloths, napkins, napkin holders, or trivets. Using fabric, metal, wood, and other materials in combination help all of them feel more approachable.
- We tend to arrange pieces on a dining table symmetrically in all directions, which increases formality. Try a looser arrangement of pieces, such as a meandering path, a spiral, or asymmetrical triangles.
- Use an asymmetrical floral arrangement as a centerpiece.
- Instead of steam ironing every wrinkle out of your table runner and pressing it flat, let it bunch up in a spot or two so it looks like it was casually tossed there.
- Try draping your tablecloth at an angle off the table.
- Arrange candles more like they’re meandering down the table rather than lined up straight.
5. Turn the Tables
Lastly, if you have space in your dining room, try turning your table at an angle. If you have a rug underneath, align the rug to match the table. This intentionally off-kilter arrangement alters the sense of space, allowing the room be more fun and informal. I talk about informal rug styles in my article 6 Ideas for Casual Family Room Rugs.
Try This at Home!
What ideas have you tried to make your dining room more casual? Did you like the effect? You can find more ideas for casual rooms in my article What Makes a Casual Room?
