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Dining room trends that will never go out of style

It’s an age-old question whenever we face a room redesign – do we go with what’s new and current or aim for classic styles? Here’s how to get the best of both for a fresh yet timeless redesign you’ll love for years to come.
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Is there such a thing as inspiration overload? No sooner have you finished flicking through the latest interior design magazine than a new one pops up with a host of new trends for you to pay attention to. When you’re redesigning your dining room, it can be tempting to cram in the latest fads rather than thinking long-term. But finding a style you love that will also stand the test of time can sometimes leave you feeling like a millennial-pink salmon struggling upstream. As the new fads come at you like a fast-gushing river, it becomes ever more difficult to pick a favourite. Sometimes the best way to create a beautifully designed dining room that won’t be out of vogue by the time the seasons change is by sticking with tried-and-tested classics. Here’s a rundown of some timeless dining room trends that never lose their relevance.

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Sleek, clean and fuss-free

Strip down every design idea ever imagined and you’ve got the beginnings of the minimalism trend. An architectural revolution in the early 20th century, minimalism was all about the bare essentials, open-plan rooms and unapologetically simple design. If you love the unassuming simplicity of minimalism, think monochromatic colour schemes and only as much furniture as you can count on one hand. You only need a stunning glass dining table and chairs and a subtle sideboard for your tableware to fully furnish a minimalist dining room. Keeping furniture and accessories pared back also helps you nail the fourth aspect of minimalism: deliberately-created empty space. But wait – isn’t the 20th century so last century? It’s true that glass dining tables have been around for eons, sending them well and truly into the classic category of furniture design. But, choosing one with sleek lines and a metallic finish can take them swiftly into the realm of contemporary décor

The beauty of neutral

Give your dining room a neutral base to start, and you’ve a trusty backdrop that will never look gaudy or old fashioned. Whether you go for crisp all-white for a light-filled room, add a tint of colour with beiges and creams, or take it darker with greys and greiges, a neutral colour palette won’t date.

Going neutral is an undeniably traditional move, but it’s so temptingly easy to work with that it’s a trend that keeps coming back year after year. Neutral pieces of furniture such as this gorgeous Malibu Taupe Table and 4 Dining Chairs opens up a world of decorating possibilities. Make the table your centrepiece and work around it with a blue-grey colour palette for a classic look, or add pops of colour with mint greens, corals and peaches, or lemon-yellows in accent pieces you can change around whenever you feel the need. You can’t go too wrong with a trusty neutral base, so if you find yourself reaching for that bold-patterned rug or charmingly-garish dinnerware set, the neutral colour palette could be the perfect background.

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A statement of investment

For décor that’s lasting and characterful, deck out your dining room in investment pieces that are much more likely to stay in style than cheaper knick-knacks. With their exceptional quality and craftmanship shining through year after year (and even getting better with age), investment pieces give your space a sense of history that can be both enduring and endearing.

Think antique candle sticks on your dining table, statement mirrors around the room and look-at-me light fixtures up top. Emphasise the focal point in your dining room by placing a statement pendant light or chandelier right above your dining table to take all the attention right where it needs to be. Having invested in your statement piece, you can then experiment with less pricey bits and bobs to accessorise.

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If you’re a future-thinking type, you don’t necessarily need to look to the history books for investment pieces that can hold pride of place in your dining room. A thoroughly modern, but reassuringly well-made glass dining set such as the Habufa Panama Dining Table and 4 Chairs can last for decades while remaining current, and the V-shaped structural detail is sure to become a key talking point at your next dinner party.

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Rustic, industrial chic

Another dining room trend that shows no sign of budging is the rustic, unpolished style of- industrial chic. While industrial design has only been around since the noughties, rustic design comes straight from our ancestors with its unembellished, homely style that was simply real. It’s all about quality natural materials when it comes to rustic, industrial style with earthy colour palettes, reclaimed, weathered woods, matte metals, exposed brick and all-enveloping warmth. If you’re a dab-hand at DIY, you might want to try upcycling some of your existing furniture, whether that’s stripping back a painted wood dining table, or opening up your shelving to display perfectly mismatched dining sets.

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Bring as much of nature into your redesign as possible, including textured centrepieces and fresh plants to accessorise and decorate with. Finish off with warm, unassuming and layered lighting and avoid anything that looks artificial. It’s best to go for decorative pieces that feel organic in texture and shape – a roughly-hewn bowl that looks like it was freshly picked up off a forest floor will feel much more at home than a pristine ceramic sculpture.

We can often get ourselves into a quandary when it comes to tackling a redesign. Do we stick with what’s tried-and-tested, and hope that it leads us to a fool-proof dining room design, or do we take a gamble on the latest fads? The answer is simple, really. As with most things, there’s a happy medium to be found. Creating a timeless dining room doesn’t have to be boring – and there’s plenty of opportunity to experiment with accessories and even things like wall colour. But when it comes to those big expensive pieces that you don’t want to replace every two years as the trends shift, think wise, and always keep it classic where it counts.

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