Dining Room Decorating Ideas When You Can’t Remodel

A few dining room decorating ideas when a remodel isn’t in the budget but you don’t love the room. Budget homemaking tips.

Pretty soon, we’ll be approaching Thanksgiving.

It’s the only time of year we completely clean out the formal dining room and host a large family dinner at our home.  The rest of the year, it’s our catch-all room.  You know … because we have too much stuff and no where to put in.

In a lot of ways, I don’t insist we maintain the appearance of the room because I haven’t always been pleased with how it looks.  The previous owners placed a really dingy, odd-looking wallpaper.  On the bottom of the wall is a dingy beige paint.  And the floor is an unappealing, dirty looking tile.

Eventually, I’d love to re-do the entire first floor, but it’s just not in the budget right now.

Still, when it comes to the formal dining room’s use once a year, I’d actually like it to look more warm and inviting.  I’d love for people to not think about the dingy looking walls and odd wallpaper.

Heck, I’d like to actually like the dining room until I can remodel and remove the wallpaper.

So, I’m sharing some dining room decorating ideas that I’ve used to take the focus off all the stuff we don’t like about our dining room.

This is a sponsored conversation between myself, Bright Settings and Dealspotr.

Dining Room Decorating Ideas When A Remodel Isn’t In the Budget

You guys …. this is my boring dining room wall.  I mean, there’s a light fixture with 4 tiny lights that give off a warm glow, do it makes the room pretty drab, in my opinion.  Eventually, I envision this room being re-painted a slate blue color and having a less casual light fixture  in the room.  And seriously the wallpaper has got to go.

New Table Linens

As much as I’d love to show off our beautiful dining room table, we have kids, so it’s impractical.  A dining room tablecloth is important to help protect our furniture.

Additionally, a dining room table can complement or create a bit of drama on the middle of the room.

For the time being, I chose a simple white tablecloth to help brighten our otherwise dark and boring room.

Now, I’d choose something from Bright Settings if you’re looking for something perfectly fitted for your tablecloth that is also affordable.  Unlike going into a local store and picking up a tablecloth that’s made for a generally sized table, Bright Settings makes one to your specifications.

Hey, I like the convenience of the local stores too, but if we’re being honest, having a tablecloth that drops longer than it should because it’s not made for your table is really annoying, in my opinion.  If it drops longer, it can get in the way and be pulled more easily.  But, if the tablecloth is too short, you may find that your table isn’t protected nearly as well.  Plus, isn’t it more visually appealing when things aren’t hanging too far or bunching in a chair?

Before you select your fabric and color, use the feature on Bright Setting’s site that helps you measure your table and determine what size tablecloth you need.  Then, when you start selecting fabrics, you’ll know which ones will fit your tablecloth without a seam (unless you don’t mind a seam).

From there, you simply choose the type of fabric and then narrow down your color choices.  With so many to choose from, you may be like me … having difficulty narrowing down and deciding if you want your table to be more bold or match better with it’s surroundings.

The other really cool thing about Bright Settings is that not only can you buy table linens of every style and color imaginable, they also rent them.  So, you don’t have to make a big investment or look for room to store additional linens if you don’t want to!

Pick up your new table linens at Bright Settings with 15% off your order of $50 or more with code DLSPR20.

Add Pictures

For a warm and inviting family gathering, there’s nothing nicer than looking at family photos, in my opinion.

Something like our [easyazon_link identifier=”B00XM8QRH2″ locale=”US” nw=”y” nf=”y” tag=”ivsvabasaan0a-20″ cart=”n” cloak=”n” localize=”y” popups=”n”]word wall with family photos[/easyazon_link] really helps direct people’s attention to it, and completely detracts them from our terrible wallpaper.  Our family photo wall relaxes our formal dining room quite a bit, in my opinion, while being a focal point because it’s extremely bold in our bland room.

Even if you don’t have horrible wallpaper and you love your dining room, adding a new visual component can change the look and feel of a room dramatically.

You can create a more modern appearance with modern art.  Give it a more traditional home feel with family photos.  Or, update your art with brighter colors to make your dining room more bright and cheery.

Display your things

Having a hutch, you can display fine china or interesting knick-knacks to bring a bit of character or charm to a room.

In our case, the bottom of our hutch does not have glass doors, so we hide our family games while still being in easy reach for the kids.  The top cabinet does have glass doors, so I store and display some of my lesser used items, like wine glasses and tea service from my china collection.

I also went with a [easyazon_link identifier=”B017NJQK2C” locale=”US” nw=”y” nf=”y” tag=”ivsvabasaan0a-20″ cart=”n” cloak=”n” localize=”y” popups=”n”]corner hutch[/easyazon_link] that had an open center which I use to display more family photos.  When we host a gathering, sometimes I’ll replace the photos with a small selection of desserts, so they’re out of the way for the event until needed.

Choose Table Settings

While you may not be able to run out and buy a whole new table setting, you can certainly head over to the dollar store or thrift store and look for contrasting serving dishes or plate chargers.

Depending on the look you’re going for, you can choose bright or dark colors to make a bold statement.  However, if your color scheme is more bold, perhaps try a more neutral or basic color scheme to complement the room.

What are some other dining room decorating ideas you’d share?