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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
