Contemporary Dining Room Designs

Even though it's relatively new, contemporary decor has an allure that seems timeless. One of the best places to deploy this fresh decor style is in your dining room, but picking out the right features and accessories to build out the perfect contemporary dining room can be challenging. Follow these basic contemporary dining room tips if you want to learn the best ways to arrange your table, chairs, and lighting in this trend-setting decor style.

What Is Contemporary Style?

Contemporary decor refers to any decor style that has been developed after the mid-20th century. While these terms are used interchangeably, design purists will point out that modern and contemporary decor are different things altogether.

While modern decor is limited exclusively to the design style that emerged out of modern philosophy, contemporary decor covers a much wider range of potential design styles. These days, modern decor is sometimes considered to be a subtype of contemporary decor.

True modern decor is simple to the point of being stark. It features sharp lines, monochrome colours, and lots of open spaces. Contemporary decor shares many similarities to modern decor, but it is much more flowing, expansive, and colourful.

What Are Some Elements of a Contemporary Dining Room?

There are quite a few different elements that you might want to deploy in your contemporary dining room, and as long as you stick to decor ideas from the last 60 years or so, you can pick whichever elements you choose. However, there are a few unifying elements of contemporary decor that you should observe no matter what specific features you end up selecting.

First, contemporary dining rooms should be kept clean to the point of erring toward sterility. While you don't want your dining room to look boring, the exposed beams and rustic pottery that are common in other decor styles have no place in your contemporary dining room. Contemporary decor style reflects the technological advances made in the latter half of the 20th century, and a perfectly contemporary home looks like a mix between an aristocrat's villa and a spaceship.

Contemporary dining rooms should also be meticulously organized, but the same organizational tools you use in your home office won't work in your dining room. Instead, you might want to invest in pieces of furniture that have unexpected storage areas, or you may want to artfully arrange your cookbooks in a way that looks like they just happened to stack themselves.

Dining Tables for Contemporary Dining Rooms

Contemporary dining tables can be somewhat more lively than their modern counterparts, but don't go overboard. Like modern dining tables, contemporary dining tables should be unadorned and devoid of any carvings. In general, these tables are made from light wood without much varnish, and they feature simple, straight lines.

While wood is still the most commonly used material for contemporary dining tables, you might want to branch out and try a different material. Some homeowners prefer metal dining tables, and while they are expensive, stone dining tables are beautiful and durable.

Whichever type of dining table you use, make sure to pick a table that has a slim silhouette. To make your dining table as slim as possible, you may even want to go so far as to use a tempered glass tabletop.

Contemporary Dining Chairs

Contemporary dining chairs don't need to be as simple as modern dining chairs, but they should still be simple. Match your slim dining table with chairs that have plenty of space; chairs without arms are the best fit for contemporary decor style, and chairs with wireframes that connect small seats and backs provide the feeling of space that typifies contemporary design.

Designs and carvings should be left off of the wooden portions of your dining chairs, but it's okay to have patterns on the upholstery of your chairs. These patterns should be simple, and they shouldn't be drenched in colour. In general, it's best to pick monochrome upholstery patterns that feature basic geometrical designs.

Accessories for Contemporary Dining Rooms

Keep the accessories in your contemporary dining room simple, but don't be afraid to accentuate your furniture pieces with some tasteful features. For instance, an ornate tea service in the centre of your table might be the perfect accessory to counterpoise your stark furniture, or you might want to use a small glass vase as a centrepiece instead.

When it comes to lighting, the sky is the limit in your contemporary dining room. All types of hanging light fixtures are welcome; however, an ornate chandelier might be overkill if you already have a few other busy-looking accessories in your dining room. Some contemporary hanging light fixtures look like falling rain, and others look like bubbles. Shop around to find the perfect light fixture since this feature can drastically alter the way that your dining room appears.

Tips for Pulling off the Perfect Dining Room

Now that you have a basic grasp of the elements of a contemporary dining room, it's time to turn your dreams into a reality. Here are some tips for setting up your new dining room in style:

Measure Carefully

It's always important to measure a space before you decorate it, but this step is even more vital when it comes to contemporary decor. The interplay between positive and negative space is a crucial aspect of this decor style, and above all, you want to make sure that your new dining room doesn't appear cramped.

Shop Around

Even though contemporary decor looks ultra-modern, you don't have to buy every piece of furniture in your dining room new. Reclaimed or vintage furniture can sometimes look perfect in contemporary dining rooms as long as it is in good shape. You may also want to pick up some of your dining room pieces online.