The dining room is where we enjoy home-cooked meals, toast to good health, and host friends and family. To leave this room and its walls undecorated is a disservice to not just your home but also yourselves.
So take a moment and think about what your dining room looks like right now. Is the space decorated to the nines, with curated decor from floor to ceiling? Or is it little more than a set of bare walls framing a table and chairs?
If you’re unsure where to start, these dining room wall decor ideas show just how big an impact a few small details can make.
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1. Creating a Stunning Gallery Wall
When styling a gallery wall for your dining room (or any space, for that matter), there are two ways you can go. You can take an ultra-symmetrical, clean, modern, and sleek approach, or go eclectic by incorporating decor of various sizes, shapes, and even materials.
If you’d like your gallery wall to appear as one cohesive piece of decor, use a strict color palette. This is easy to do if you’re sourcing photos, artwork, and wall hangings from scratch. A black-and-white filter can create a cohesive look if your existing photos don’t share a common color scheme.
Incorporating multimedia wall decorations can add much-needed character and dimension. Or mix in framed items like paintings, art prints, blueprints, posters, and maps with your gallery wall photos.
Even with a wide range of decor, you can connect everything back to a singular aesthetic using color and framing. For example, mismatched art prints placed in the same frame style will look like they belong hanging together.
2. Reflecting Style
A mirror is an excellent piece of decor that suits any design trend. Mirrors can even make a room feel larger and brighter.
Use mirrors to bounce natural light from your dining room’s windows throughout the rest of the room. With this technique, you can essentially double the windows in your dining space without any of the construction.
Placed strategically, mirrors will help a dining room feel more connected to another space within the home, like your kitchen or living room. Hang your mirror against a dark or textured background to brighten the wall space and keep it from feeling weighted down.
Not all mirrors are created equal, and it’s your job to find a style that fits your existing decor. Frameless mirrors work well in any modern or contemporary space. Look for a circular mirror to place on your dining room’s back wall.
3. Elegant and Serene
Keeping a white room from looking flat is one of the biggest interior design challenges you’ll encounter. Bring texture to your dining room idea with wall paneling, tiles, brickwork, or molding. Install lighting under shelves for a futuristic surprise.
Cream or light gray can be major upgrades to stark white wall paint. Use silver or gold accents throughout for a contemporary look. Breaking from this color scheme can cause your white walls to fade into the background, so pair these metal finishes with grayscale dining room wall decor.
Greenery and natural wood grain can warm up a white color scheme without ruining the clean look. Stay away from bright colors entirely. Or include a single pop of vibrancy in a bouquet of flowers, a candle, or a statement piece like a wall sculpture.
Using white in a space with food and beverage is risky. Invest in stain-resistant wall paint from the start. When that first glass of red wine tumbles over, you’ll be glad you took the extra step to protect your favorite dining room decor.
4. Adding Character
Accent walls have been on-trend for years now and are a great way to liven up a small space. If you want to include an accent wall in your dining room decor, determine the “back” wall of your dining room. Generally, the wall opposite your dining room’s main entrance is the best one for this project.
Accent walls don’t need to be dramatic. Even a slight color difference will create division between your dining room walls. Place large decor on the accent wall to create a unified focal point. You don’t want every wall in your dining room competing for attention.
Wallpaper is a great option. This wall decor idea is cheaper and less labor-intensive than wallpapering the entire dining room. Texture is another excellent way to differentiate a single dining room wall–use wood, brick, or a tile overlay.
You can still incorporate molding or chair railing within an accent wall; it will just lessen the design’s impact. On the other hand, the smaller your accent wall is, the more daring you can get with your paint or wallpaper choice.
5. Elevating Your Dining Room
Your dining room wall paint might be the canvas of your design. But the artwork and decor you place on top of it will really bring the space to life.
Antique paintings and prints can bring an enchanting touch of the past to a dining room wall. The same is true for vintage china, which you can mount on a wall just as easily as display in a cabinet. You can repurpose old signs, as well (rural street signs for a farmhouse look or urban signs for industrial decor).
Don’t hesitate to mix wall art from a variety of sources. Abstract and patterned decor is fine–not everything needs to be ultra-personal or detailed. Include functional elements like clocks, mirrors, and floating shelves throughout your dining room wall design.
You can create a lovely contrast with light-colored artwork hung against a dark wall. Don’t forget about the versatility of wallpaper, peel-and-stick decals, and tiles when planning out your dining room’s wall art.
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6. Enhancing Elegance
Wall molding has a reputation for being old-fashioned and often over-the-top. But you can use this decorative element in an extremely subtle and contemporary way. Chair rails, paneling, and wainscoting can bring to life an otherwise monochromatic dining room wall.
Chair railing and wainscoting can break up a room vertically. Use white (or your preferred neutral) on the lower half to make the space look larger. You can paint a vibrant color up top without making the room feel claustrophobic.
Another great strategy is to use an accent color for the room’s wainscoting. Coordinate with matching decor above against a white wall. Again, this allows you to explore the use of color on your dining room walls without weighing the entire space down.
For a modern twist, layer sleek, geometric molding over your drywall. While you can paint the molding a contrasting color, leaving everything the same shade as the backing wall is often even more effective.
7. Functional and Chic
Your furniture options are not limited to a dining room table and chairs. Placing a cabinet against a blank wall can make the space feel more put together and offer additional storage within arm’s reach of your dining area.
Choose a piece of furniture that fits your existing dining room decor. There’s no limit to the possibilities–you can even expand your search outside of dining room furniture to include things like vanities, dressers, and desks. Corner cabinets can conserve space in a small dining room.
Before selecting your new dining room cabinet, though, you should have a general idea of the style and function you want. Your options range from a vintage china cabinet to a sleek, mid-century modern sideboard. Plus everything in-between.
Take advantage of the surface above to display some decor. Short cabinets can also double as a serving bar when entertaining. If keeping a neat and tidy appearance is important, opt for a cabinet with solid rather than glass doors.
8. Stylish Storage and Display
We tend to think of shelves as functional before decorative. But they actually serve both purposes quite well. Floating shelves are the big trend right now, and they do look great with a wide variety of design styles. Bookshelves of any kind also work well repurposed in a dining room.
Before installing shelves on your dining room walls, know what you’ll be displaying. Even if your motivation is primarily functional storage, mix in some purely decorative items as well. Try to pick aesthetically pleasing pieces to store on your shelves, such as cookbooks, wine bottles, and dry goods.
Natural wood shelves contrast nicely against white walls. Built-in or floating shelves painted the same color as your walls will feel like they’re barely there, allowing the decor displayed on them to really shine.
If you have a wall dividing your dining room from another space, add shelving to make it more visually interesting. This is a great compromise for anyone wanting an open floor plan but with a supporting wall in the way.
9. Embracing Warmth and Charm
Even in a formal dining room, rustic farmhouse decor is one of the most inviting styles to choose from. Contemporary farmhouse decor draws inspiration from the modern design movement, as well. So if you want to emulate that style in your own home, be sure to keep your dining room wall art simple and minimalist.
While typical drywall and paint look great in any design, textured walls are a staple in rustic homes. If your home doesn’t have original brickwork or shiplap paneling, an overlay can mimic these architectural materials.
Start with a light, neutral color scheme full of whites, creams, and grays. You can complement these shades using organic textiles like wicker, canvas, and burlap. Greenery, in the form of cut flowers or hanging wreaths, is another excellent addition.
Reclaimed wood window frames, shutters, and even barn doors all suit the rustic farmhouse aesthetic. Pair these items with vintage picture frames, mirrors, signage, and chandeliers. You can find authentic versions at antique shops or buy replicas from almost any home decor store.
10. Contemporary Flair
Modern home design is one of the biggest trends out there. The term “modern” encompasses all kinds of aesthetics from the 20th century. But they all have a sleek, clean look in common. Rather than cover your dining room walls with decor, make the walls themselves conversation-worthy.
Stick with a monochromatic color scheme for your walls. You can instead add dimension and texture with unique molding or panels.
For the best results, your dining room walls should be almost completely bare of decor. Hang a large, abstract piece of art to serve as the star of your dining room design. Or mount a round, minimalist mirror on one wall.
From industrial to Art Deco-inspired modern dining room decor, statement light fixtures are a must. Use eclectic sconce lighting to frame artwork, doorways, or windows in your modern-style dining room. Be sure to coordinate these fixtures with the room’s chandelier.
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