2 Different Ways to Style Your Dining Room

Give your dining area a boost with some simple style advice.

Unsure of how to style your dining room? We’ve pulled together two polished yet affordable looks from Kmart’s latest August Living range to help.

Dining room 1: a timeless look

This timeless style is bright, airy and pared back. Think sleek lines, no bulky or dominating pieces and warm, honey-toned colour palettes.

Keep your dinnerware textured

Avoid ‘busy’ patterns and ornaments to maintain a sense of space and airiness.

Kmart’s furniture buyer, Nicholas Holmes, finds this look to be quite natural, with embellishments coming from colour and texture as opposed to pattern. He draws attention to the caramel and olive colours of the Kmart range as working well with this style.

The Caramel glaze range is both interesting but still neutral. Picture: James Whiting

“A timeless dining room mixes and matches natural tones and textures with a warm palette of caramel and olive,” he explains.

The Caramel Glazed dinnerware range is a perfect example with its “rich hand glaze and unique finish”, offering an interesting dimension to the timeless look.

Draw inspiration from nature

Timeless colour palettes tend to draw inspiration from nature. This includes the olive and caramel/tan hues.

“The timeless [look] is all about mixing and matching,” confirms Nicholas. “Earthy tones and neutral colours are so easy to style back with your favourite pops of colour.”

Whatever you pick, keep it warm and muted.

Create interest through raw materials

While a timeless look steers us away from complex patterns and colours, you don’t want a lifeless spread. This is once again an opportunity to turn to texture as a way to add interest.

Woven mats and linen fabrics are staples of a casual dining set-up. Picture: James Whiting

Linen tablecloths are a staple of this look and an excellent addition to most dining settings. You can also incorporate other raw and natural materials, such as timber bowls, boards or serving utensils, plus jute or woven placemats, runners or coasters to round out the look.

Dining room 2: an urban approach

A more modern dining setting is defined by dark but warm-toned colours. Here’s a bit of inspirational advice on dressing this theme:

Opt for dark-coloured dinnerware

Think sleek and chic, with black or grey-hued dinnerware.

The eclipse dinnerware is moody and perfectly complemented by gold coloured cutlery. Picture: James Whiting

The Eclipse dinnerware range includes plates and bowls with a dark, textured edge, which fades into a white centre, ultimately resembling – you guessed it – an eclipse.

Gold flourishes

Black and gold is a classic combo, so it makes sense to complement your dark dinnerware with some gold cutlery, serving utensils or platters.

“The urban range has a stylish monotone base, plays on textures and is finished with brass and gold accents,” Nicholas confirms. “Gold accents work well as you can take a cool base and add warmth though the metallic finish.”

Balance the look with timber

“The key to bringing life to this look is the injection of textures and neutral colours through natural materials,” Nicholas confirms.

Warm timber ties this look together. Picture: James Whiting

“The addition of timber serveware and gold cutlery add warmth and light to this range.”

Offset the drama of a dark look with some tiered timber serving boards and textured placemats.

Timeless or urban? 2 different ways to style your dining room