Creating an Elegant Dining Room in a Small Space

Do you have a small apartment or home but long to throw dinner parties your (small) group of friends will talk about for years? There are ways to take the limited amount of room you have and turn your eating and entertainment area into a sophisticated place. While you may not have enough room to seat a hundred people, there are ways to make the few you can have over feeling like they’re dining in dignity. Here are several tips for creating an elegant dining room in a small space.

Pick a Spot

The smaller the area, the easier it’ll be to decide which part of your space you can allot to a dining area. If you live in a studio apartment, you might have a counter or similar overhang intended for eating. That’s well and good, but think of it as the serving area for your future dining “room.” Find a spot with a little space and lots of sunlight that can fit a table and a minimum of two chairs. Your television-viewing and sleeping areas can also do triple duty as a dining room with a higher coffee table or similar piece. The larger your space gets, the more room you’ll have to imagine and expand. Just make sure there’s, at the very least, a feeling of separation from the rest of the place, away from the living quarters.

Measure Up!

Once you’ve chosen an area, get out the tape measure, because you’ll never know what you can work with until you plot it out. Once you have the measurements, get a sheet of graph paper and decide what goes where. To seat two comfortably, you’ll need at least 31 inches of space, while four will require about 48 inches, and so on. Note this on the paper. Likewise, people need about 20 to 24 inches around them to dine without feeling cramped. Keep these facts and stats in mind as you select your dinette sets (in Houston or elsewhere).

Think Small

Another aspect of picking furniture includes not thinking that elegance demands large furnishings. Look for chairs that are comfortable and that can also be easily tucked under the table when not in use. Stools are ideal for this. A table that can likewise be folded and stowed away between meals is also ideal, and a lovely tablecloth can cover up the fact that it’s portable and stowable. Remember that many dining room tables are adjustable or come with hidden leaves that can turn a table for two into a setting for six. There are dozens of dinette sets out there that will meet your requirements.

Lovely Lighting

Lighting sets a mood better than anything. Whether you’re having a well-lit family meal or an intimate fancy dinner for two, make sure the lighting suits the situation. An overhead light with a dimmer switch can cast a subtle glow or a cheerful brightness onto a meal. If you can’t install overhead lighting in your place, invest in a set of floor lamps that cast long beams of light around the room and can often be adjusted as you desire. Leave space on the table for candles, which can make any meal feel extra special. If there’s no room for a candelabra, tealight holders will do the trick. Set up a few in strategic spots on the table and around the room.

Make Your Workspace Work for You

Do you have a workspace you can easily clear off when a company comes? Invest in a sturdy table and accompanying chairs. Store three of the chairs and retain one for doing your daily duties. During most of the week, this will be the place where you work at home, engage in arts and crafts, or produce other projects. But when it comes time for a dinner party, away goes the laptop, art materials, or what have you, and on goes the tablecloth followed by the other chairs. When pressed for space, a home office makes a perfectly pleasant place to eat, drink, and converse.

Decorate the Walls Appropriately

Fine dining is best accompanied by fine art, so make sure the walls surrounding your dining area are nicely appointed with inspirational art prints and originals. Keep the dining area adult and free from pop culture influences. A wall sconce that holds a lamp or provides a ledge is another opportunity to throw sedate lighting on the proceedings. Even a blank wall can be a charming addition if you paint it in warm and moderate hues. If there’s a window with a great view, throw open the curtains wide! If not, add a large, framed photograph of a cityscape or other breath-taking vista as a substitute.

Go Spare and Spartan

We’ve talked about adding furniture and other elements to your home—but look around and ask yourself how much your living space can “breathe.” By that we mean, is the amount of stuff making the place look smaller? It might be time to cut back, and not just for the sake of having a dining room that looks bigger by comparison. Starting in the area where you want to place the dining room, decide what you need to stay and what can go. It’s easier to do than you think. You’ve undoubtedly heard about holding something in your hands and figuring out if it brings you happiness, but there are other ways to determine what gets the boot. Is it shabby and broken? Does it look more worn than well-loved? Does it serve a purpose, or is it simply sitting around? Declutter now, and you’ll soon have more space for your dining room—as well as for the rest of your life!

Take It Outside

Here’s our last tip on creating an elegant dining room in a small space. If you don’t have enough room indoors, what’s the outdoors situation like? A sunroom, back porch, patio, or another area that’s more outdoors-y than inside can be a terrific place to set up an eating area that’s hip, elegant, or both. Clearly, you’ll need to pick up outdoor furniture that can handle the elements or invest in folding tables and chairs that can be covered and upholstered to give them that high-class restaurant ambiance. And for most of the year, outdoors can be the best place to dine!

We have a new store opening in Rosenberg, TX, soon! Visit us there or at any of our locations for new ideas in making better use of small and large spaces!