How to Make a Small Dining Room Seem More Spacious

If you have a smaller than average dining room at home, then the chances are that you won't use it for entertaining and inviting family over for meals. This is a great shame but you don't need to worry about a small dining room as much as you might think. With limited space, there are still a number of things you can do to make it a pleasant room to be in and enjoy the convivial atmosphere of dining together. Read on to discover the tricks many professional interior designers recommend.

Maximise Floor Space

Smaller dining rooms feel even tighter to get around if you have anything other than the essential items of furniture in them. A dining table and chairs set is a given, but what else do you have in your dining room that takes up valuable space? Remove things like drinks cabinets, sideboards and standard lamps which all stand on the floor. Opt for slim storage units and use the services of a professional to make the sort of furniture that will suit your room rather than trying to squeeze in standard items. Cabinet makers produce the sort of storage units for glasses, crockery, cutlery and so on which suit smaller rooms.

Rearrange Your Seating

A round table is often the best thing in a small dining room. Although you might think that a circular or oval table creates 'dead space', the reverse is so. Set your round table so that the dining chairs have their backs to each of the room's corners. This way, the extra space you obtain from a corner-facing configuration means that you can pull chairs back and sit on them more easily, avoiding that embarrassing situation of a guest not be able to pull their chair back far enough because it collides with a wall.

Add a Large Mirror

All smaller rooms benefit from more light. Of course, you can achieve this with a bigger window or by adding a skylight. However, a much more cost-effective option is to hang a big mirror over the largest wall in the room. Place it so that it is level with your eyes when you are seated as well as standing, so you continue to get the benefit of it providing more illusory space when you eat.

Try a Bench Seat

If your dining chairs don't offer enough seating for everyone, then use a bench seat pushed hard up against the longest wall in the room. More people will be able to sit down together, even if they are a bit closer to one another. Additionally, you will be able to store items underneath it – something you cannot do with conventional dining room chairs.

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