Super-Cool Ways to Perk Up Your Dining Room

The Look: Lots of Pop

The second she laid eyes on this peel-and-stick wallpaper on Instagram, homeowner Kate Eckert in Brick, New Jersey, knew it was “the one.” “I was redoing our dining room on a budget by surrounding the table and chairs and stone fireplace with vibrant color,” says Kate. She added blue facets with teal art and a rug, then hung coral curtains for contrast. Boston terrier Charlotte is a cute black-and-white touch.

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The Look: Farmhouse Fresh

Rustic style got reinvigorated in this Catonsville, Maryland, dining room. While the huge reclaimed-wood trestle table may be pure country, designer Laura Hodges edged it up with grays and black and graphic motifs — the end chairs’ striped fabric, the sideboard’s nailhead design, the rug’s diamond shapes. It still has that old American soul, she says, “but the whole space feels modern.”

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The Look: Super Glammed Up

“The homeowners are all about coming together as a family and wanted loungy vibes,” says designer Veronica Solomon of this dining room in Fulshear, Texas. She put in the posh with hot pink velvet chairs (they have kid-friendly stain-resistant fabric), whimsical wallpaper with lush colors and golden touches. The result is gorgeous and inviting, without a trace of special-occasion-only. “It’s the most regularly used room in the house!” says Veronica.

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The Look: Casual Goes Chic

Nobody has to choose one or the other — think balance, like designer Corine Maggio did in a La Jolla, California, home. She paired a laid-back wood bench and yellow mesh chairs with sleek black ones, and simple white board-and-batten with a dramatic navy border (for a similar color, try Compass Blue by Behr). The oversize pendant has stylish airiness, while the dapper vintage tennis print pulls everything together. Says Corine, “The room feels like a vacation from everyday life.”

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The Look: Modern Classic

Some decorating traditions are made to be broken, and this dining room in a historic house in Philadelphia proves it. Designer Mona Ross Berman mixed styles — from charming flowery walls to a mod sculptural chandelier — “that make it personal and unexpected,” she says. Playful wink-winks: the orange trim on the custom curtains and valances and a bright green bar cart.

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