Turning over a new leaf in dining room interior design

It's possible to turn a section of your kitchen or lounge into a dining room simply by look at some interior design inspiration! Today we take an informal look at ways to turn over a new leaf in dining rooms/areas which will bring bursts of colour and life into your home – which is especially poignant and many people are returning to family meal times rather than snacks on trays in front of the television.

Colours Inspired by Nature

Sky blues, apple greens and raspberry pinks are great colour combinations to use in a dining area. These peppy colours offer a fresh spring-summer look which can be used in modern and contemporary white dining areas as well as the more traditional creams and beige. Make cheap cushions from plain fabrics to place on benches or re-cover your dining room chairs to bring these pops of colour into your home.

Patterns and Prints

You can add patterns and prints, for example as a centre table runner or for the cushions if you want a more country or shabby chic style. Send off or request free fabric samples so that you can gauge how they'll look before ordering lengths of fabrics.

Faux Bois

As wood is typically a dominant feature in dining rooms, the table, chairs, side-boards etc. you can opt to use Faux Bois as a cost-effective alternative to the real thing – this would work especially well if you intend to make chair cover slips and use trendy table cloths as no-one will know what's hidden underneath the fabrics!

Up-cycle

Again, look for salvaged tables and chairs or improvise by using an inexpensive bench on which to place your cushions. A Formica table can look the part when vases of fresh flowers, table ware and a table runner are used. The shiny and reflective surface of clean Formica also ticks another of this year's interior design trend boxes very nicely.

Energy Efficiency

Make use of as much natural light as you can to help save on electricity. Use home-made Roman blinds for windows – give them a thermal lining to help save heat loss or build-up.

Get the Style

This informal dining style can be built upon or adapted to suit the style of your dining room in terms of interior design style and colour scheme – remember that you're turning over a new leaf so resist the temptation to replace soft furnishings and furniture with like-for-like as you'll be defeating the object of trying something fresh and new in your home!