Oak Dining Room Decorating Ideas

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85+ Best Dining Room Ideas to Make Your Entertaining Space More Inviting

Gorgeous inspiration, right this way.

BRIE WILLIAMS

Whether you use it everyday or you keep it preserved for special occasions like holidays and birthdays, there's one room of your house that can be slightly tricky to style: your dining room. That's why we've rounded up these best dining room ideas so you can finally figure out what to do with the room, no matter its size. You might want to bear in mind some kitchen trends of 2020, because they could inform how you'd like your dining room to look. Whether you're going for a minimalist style, or you'd rather implement some cozy farmhouse decor ideas, this huge list of creative dining room decorating ideas are sure to help execute any look you're hoping to create. There are tips for those who want to have a complete makeover, including fresh dining room paint colors and DIY ideas for your furniture. Or, choose a simpler strategy for a low-maintenance fix by incorporating some antique vases, vintage signs, and elegant table runners. If you've already revamped your kitchen with some new kitchen decor ideas, then why not go a step further and use some of these beautiful dining room ideas to build the entertaining space of your dreams?

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Upcycled Table

For a more casual dining table idea, find some pieces you could upcycle into a rustic table, like this one made out of an old industrial barrel.

SHOP VASES

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Oversized Pendant Lamp

This huge shade makes for a striking focal point in this dining area, which fits perfectly over a circular table.

SHOP PENDANT LIGHTS

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Colorful Chairs

Use a vibrant color to make dining room chairs pop in an otherwise simple room. The bold red chairs around this table look so chic against the dark wood.

SHOP DINING ROOM CHAIRS

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Bench Seating

Swap out dining room chairs for a sleek bench. It's perfect for hosting large gatherings since you can comfortably fit more people on it.

SHOP TABLE RUNNERS

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Plate Wall Art

Why keep your decorative plates behind glass when you can incorporate them into your room's design in an elegant way?

SHOP DECORATIVE PLATES

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Create a Dining Nook

No room for a formal dining room? This sweet, minimalist nook looks like the ideal place for a morning coffee.

SHOP CERAMIC CONTAINERS

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40+ Easy & Inspiring Updates for Every Room of Your Home

It's the small touches that can freshen up a room. Now you can get dozens of easy makeover ideas you can finish in a weekend with Country Living's new digital guide!

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Mix Patterns

You might think the two different patterns of this wallpaper and tablecloth would clash, but they actually work beautifully together to create a welcoming space.

SHOP TABLECLOTHS

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Contrasting Tones

The light features of this table, area rug, and walls make the dark chairs really pop in this quaint room.

SHOP DINING ROOM CHAIRS

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Bright Upholstery

This dining area has a diner-meets-farmhouse vibe that'll look delightful in a cute, cozy home.

SHOP CERAMIC PLANTERS

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Trestle Table

This practical table design dates back to the Middle Ages (it can be spotted on a medieval coat of arms) when it replaced solo dining surfaces with a communal gathering spot for sharing meals.

SHOP GLASS VASES

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Blue and White

This color combination dates back to ancient Persia and has showed up in designs from the Netherlands, England, France, China, Mexico, and India. Infuse your dining room with this universal and timeless palette with pottery, china, linens, and more.

SHOP TABLECLOTHS

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DIY Prints

Liven up your space by featuring pretty prints on rugs, window treatments, pillows nad more. Block print dhurrie rugs can command a pretty penny. To get the look for less, use a pretty wall stencil to apply a pattern to a large piece of artist canvas or drop cloth with a foam stencil brush. For an 8' by 10' rug, you'll need about a quart of standard interior paint in a satin finish. Wash stencil every other use to keep paint from clumping and elaving unwanted marks on the rug.

SHOP AREA RUGS

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Charcoal Hue

Once a closet, the dining nook now features a custom charcoal hue on the walls and a space-maximizing built-in window seat.

SHOP ROMAN SHADES

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Cozy Atmosphere

The open dining area feels homier, thanks to a large rustic dining table and chairs from Cost Plus World Market that will easily seat a family of four as well as visiting loved ones.

SHOP AREA RUGS

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Textured Touches

In this dining room, casual woven chairs from Palecek, a wooden farmhouse table, and touches of greenery add plenty of eye-catching texture.

SHOP HOUSE PLANTS

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Farmhouse Favorites

This long, custom-made pecky cypress trestle dining table can accommodate a crowd of 14 making it perfect for holidays and family gatherings. The pendant lights, crafted from repurposed chickenwire, and functional potbelly stove reinforce the traditional farmhouse feel.

SHOP TABLE RUNNERS

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Antique Finds

Old flower market containers filled with oakleaf hydrangeas make the perfect centerpiece for this antique wooden baker's table found at a garage sale.

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Bringing the Outside In

Inspired by the lush landscape just outside the windows (which were salvaged from an old train depot!), the homeowner of this 105-year-old Victorian farmhouse filled the dining room with rustic wood elements and pops of green. The Beech wishbone chairs, which are lacquered in an apple green, pop against the large antique hutch that stores the homeowner's collection of copper Moscow mule mugs and green and white china. A pale pink Oriental rug with subtle hints of sky blue and chartreuse rounds out the mix.

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Pops of Color

Subtle pops of green and blue, like the indigo print breakfast nook pillows, keep the dining room in this rural Connecticut farmhouse bright. The homeowner displays her collection of blue and green demijohn bottles on either side of the dining room table in built in shelves.

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Vintage Pieces

Mike Wolfe's vintage-inspired home is chock-full of finds from his picks. The weather vane came from an attic in a sixth-generation-owned home in Pennsylvania.

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Layered Look

The centerpiece of the dining room in this Arizona ranch home is a giant pocket door that was salvaged from an old warehouse and trimmed with a map pennant. The scuffed-up door establishes the room's layered-over-time vibe, making the secondhand farm table, mismatched seating, and garage sale rug look cool and collected, not hodgepodge.

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Nature-Inspired Vintage Florals

Cultivate an indoor vertical garden with a rambling vine wallpaper. The small-scale pattern provides a muted enough backdrop for bolder statement pieces, like vintage metal trays featuring bold buds. A quartet of soft gray Windsor chairs and an heirloom-worthy pedestal table balance the pattern play on the walls.

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Equestrian Elegance

For the ultimate farmhouse-style breakfast room, this homeowner mixed a hefty trestle-base table with antique ladder-back and Windsor chairs and a polished nickel chandelier that evokes equestrian tack supply.

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Bold and Bright

Subtle accents, like cereal bowls, a striped rug, and a painted soda crate, add a youthful, energetic kick to this colorful, Texas home.

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Go Backless

A bench in the kitchen of this Florida home offers equal seating to a host of chairs but can be tucked under the table when not in use.

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Refurbished Space

In this California home, fresh paint transformed the dining table, a $100 Craigslist score. The owner bought the wicker chairs and shelving unit, crafted from salvaged elm, at R.J. Imports, a San Juan Capistrano boutique. The table is painted Eucalyptus by Restoration Hardware.

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Thrifty Decor

A few $4 cans of spray-paint woke up sedate thrift-store Windsors, each between $15 and $35, in this Oregon home's dining room. The homeowner bought the Pottery Barn burlap lamp on clearance.

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Salvaged Finds

A barn-wood dining table salvaged from the old property serves as a spot for playing board games in a rustic lakefront Vermont house. The old cabin also yielded the maritime map above the sideboard.

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Pairing Rustic with Sleek

In the dining room of this California home, steel chairs from ABC Home contrast with a massive century-old mahogany dining table, now pickled a paler hue. The homeowner bought the lamps—repurposed chicken feeders—at Cisco Home, and the metal wine rack at the Rose Bowl Flea Market. The walls are painted Plaster of Paris by Sydney Harbour.

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Repurposed Area

To create a dining nook, the homeowner of this California farmhouse pulled up a pine pedestal table and slipcovered armchairs to built-in benches. An ironstone jug holds a mix of hydrangeas and lilacs.

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Open and Airy

Topped with hydrangeas and surrounded by 1960s oak ladderbacks (plus one white 1880s chair), an antique French table awaits guests in this Kentucky farm's glass house, which the homeowners use for entertaining and as guest quarters.

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Victorian Dining Room

In this California home, the homeowner's favorite possession, an 18th-century wooden angel, looks over the dining room. She nabbed the piece in France, where she also bought the antique pine trestle table, oak bistro chairs, and wood-and-iron chandelier.

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A Modern Spin

The homeowner of this Massachusetts cabin splurged on the marble-topped Saarinen table, $2,800 at a local antiques shop. Vico Magistretti designed the molded-plastic chairs in the 1960s. The wood-veneer pendant lamp is from Design Within Reach.

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Wood Surfaces

In the dining area of this Connecticut home, a custom cherry table mixes with 1950s Paul McCobb chairs and a painted-steel pendant lamp by Nautic Lighting. The painting is by Joe Fyfe.

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Bright and Bold

In this chic cottage, framed sections of 1960s wallpaper lend country charm to the dining room, furnished with a salvaged school-library table and a Michaelian & Kohlberg rug. The homeowner discovered the 1930s ceramic-bull doorstop at the Rose Bowl Flea Market. The walls are painted Witching Hour by Benjamin Moore.

Bright idea: The homeowner had an electrician turn midcentury pendant lamps into a chandelier by wiring them to a single ceiling plate.

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Antebellum Dining Area

New oak-and-rush chairs surround an antique Belgian dining table in this Georgia home, all from Stanton Home Furnishings. To fashion the wall display, the owner liberated a few pewter plates from the china cabinet, made of reclaimed wood. The cast-iron pheasant was an eBay purchase.

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A Splash of Color

The owner of this sophisticated Michigan cabin rejuvenated the dining furniture that came with the house, replacing the table's Colonial legs with cut-down utility poles for a more rugged look, and outfitting the Old Hickory chairs with upholstered leather seats.

Bright idea: The family stitched these striking drapes from classic Hudson's Bay blankets.

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Neutral Furniture

In the dining area of this Arizona home, custom armless wing chairs tuck neatly beneath a pedestal table of reclaimed elm. The chalkboard was cut and framed in a weathered wood to match. All the walls wear Exclusive Ivory by Dunn-Edwards, making touch-ups easy.

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Charming Colors

In the dining room of this Connecticut home, a tablecloth sewn from Tricia Guild fabric sparked the color scheme. The bold turquoise is echoed with blue tapers and glass ornaments atop brass candlesticks.

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Reinventing the Hallway

Rather than waste the small Austin home's wide hallway as a repository for coats and keys, the owners reimagined it as a dining room. "Marco [Rini] found a narrow, French tailor's table from the 1840s, on which bolts of silk would have been unfurled," owner Tim Cuppett explains. "We paired it with inexpensive Crate & Barrel chairs and benches."

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Smooth Sailing

The owner of this historic Nantucket cottage found her dining room's late-1800s farm table and reproduction Windsor chairs at Nantucket House Antiques. The verdigris chandelier is by Richard Mulligan.

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Dining in Style

This eclectic Indiana farmhouse's dining room's myriad treasures include an Italian chandelier and a midcentury Parsons table, clad in bird's-eye maple veneer. The owner purchased the 1940s Louis XVI-style mirror and console at an estate sale, and found the zebra rug at an antiques store.

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Natural Charm

Artist Laura Zindel and her husband, Thorsten Lauterbach, commissioned Amish craftsmen to make all the furniture in the dining room of their Vermont home.

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Summer Cabin Dining

This northern Georgia lakefront home hosts three dozen guests every summer so there must be space for everyone. The dining table is a repurposed desk; Beaver Creek Furniture made the chairs.

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Vintage Appeal

The owner of this California home commissioned copies of an antique ladder-back chair owned by a friend, then arranged them around the dining room's ebonized table; the wrought-iron candelabra is from Paul Ferrante.

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A Colorful Dining Room

In this colorful California home, new fiberglass chairs by Modernica contrast with the dining room's 1870s Italian worktable, which measures an astounding 11 feet long!

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Landscape-Inspired

A motley assortment of vintage bentwood chairs surrounds an 18th-century oak table in this Rhode Island home's dining room. The linen runners are from a Vermont antiques shop.

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Rustic White Dining Room

In this northern California home's dining room, a Smith & Hawken chair and two wooden benches provide seating at a table that the homeowner made. The fir floorboards were reclaimed from a pea-shelling barn.

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Breakfast Room

An Italian military bed frame, topped with reclaimed wood, serves as this Washington, D.C. home's breakfast room table. Gustavian chairs from the early 1800s boast custom miniskirts; the antiqued brass fixtures are by Vaughan.

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Rustic and Modern

Shiny steel café chairs from Sundance cozy up to a rustic Peruvian trestle table in this New Hampshire farmhouse. The modern chandelier is from Design Within Reach.

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Beach House Dining Room

Rather than rip up the room's grimy tile floor, the owner of this East Hampton beach house scrubbed for days to reveal a lovely checkerboard pattern. The blue chairs, $199 each, are by Crate & Barrel; ditto the room's $1,000 table and $600 cabinet.

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Ready for the Holidays

A Pottery Barn runner and Target slipcovers lighten up the heavy oak dining-room set in this century-old Oregon farmhouse.

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A Family Retreat

Though the owners of this upstate New York home had to replace the beyond-repair tin ceiling with a plaster version, they added interest to the room by installing beadboard along its lower walls. The antique table, chairs, and rug are family heirlooms, and the wrought-iron chandelier is custom-made.

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A Collection of Collections

In this Maine country cottage's dining room, thank-you notes adorn an Ingo Maurer chandelier. The table—ringed by 1940s birdcage Windsor chairs—is Martha Stewart, and the rug is from Tucker Robbins.

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Black and White Dining Room

The view from this California ranch house's living room encompasses the dining room, kitchen, breakfast nook, and a deck beyond. Vintage seats covered in Belgian linen gather around a Hickory Chair table. The "modern" art? Really just framed goatsbeard plants.

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Guest House Dining

The owner of this Catskill Mountain house scored the dining table and Windsor chairs at a local auction, where she also nabbed the brass and painted-cup chandelier (the shades are from Lowe's).

Erin Cavoto Erin Cavoto is the Editorial Assistant at ThePioneerWoman.com, covering food, holidays, home decor, and more.

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