Your dining room furniture ensemble is a great way to display your home decorating style. Before you can shop for the perfect dining table, you’ll have to figure out exactly which style best exemplifies your personality. Below we’ll lay out the main elements of a few different style categories so that you can pinpoint the one that is the most you. Once you’ve figured out your favorite style (or blend of styles), picking out the perfect dining room furniture set will be a piece of cake.

The Starting Line

Before you can define your style category, you need to take stock of what you already have in your home. Walk around your home with a notepad and make a list of items you love and items you wish you could replace. Next, make a pile of your absolute favorite items.

Step back and take a hard look at your list and your piles. What continuing threads do you see? Is there a specific color palette present? Do you tend to favor items that are delicate and intricate or ones with strong, clean lines? Are certain materials making multiple appearances? The commonalities you’re seeing will help greatly in making future decorating choices.

Now that you’ve assessed what you already have that you love, think about what you don’t have that you love. Picture your dream home, all the way down to the details of wall color and dining room furniture. 

Home Decorating Styles

Modern. Think fresh, fun, minimalist—kind of like a Modern Art Museum, right in your home. Modern furniture has clean lines. Your ideal dining room set is a no-frills dark, solid wood dining table with chairs with no cushions. The dark dining room furniture set will be a great contrast to the bold hues on your walls—blocks of saturated color are another element in modern interior decorating.

Cottage Chic. Laid-back and cozy is the key to this casual style. Rooms decorated in this style are made for relaxation and ease of use—nothing fussy fits into this décor scheme. Furniture should be solid wood in warm honey tones. The perfect dining room table for this interior style is a rustic farmhouse table (also called a harvest table).

Traditional. Don’t think for a moment that the traditional category is boring or lacks inspiration—sophistication is the theme of this classic home décor style. The color scheme in your home would feature jewel tones, and fabrics throughout (from curtains to sofas) should be luxurious and textured. The dining room in a traditional home is likely to serve as a more formal seating area, so opt for the rich, dark wood of a cherry dining room table.