How To Elevate Your Dining Room For A Restaurant-Grade Experience
Theresa Gonzalez is a content creator based in San Francisco and the author of Sunday Sews. She's a lover of all things design and spends most of her days raising her daughter Matilda.
We're so close to everyone getting a chance at a vaccine that the pleasure of dining with friends again, at home, feels real and way overdue. As we prepare for hosting dinner guests again, we tapped three decor experts at LiketoKnow.it (LTK) for ways you can buy or DIY elements in your dining room to create a restaurant-grade experience. LTK lets you shop looks and videos created by thousands of global influencers, stylists and tastemakers. Everything in LTK is 100% shoppable, so you can instantly purchase products across fashion, home, beauty and more. Check it out!
Jen Adams of @Interior Designerella
How can we elevate our dining rooms for a restaurant-grade experience?
Add a fancy and fun centerpiece! It helps create some ambiance.
What are some products you can use to create one?
A large wooden bowl, a glass candle — I prefer scented, it can help elevate the atmosphere — and some fresh blooms or plants of your choice that will dry out nicely.
Anything that we can repurpose or DIY?
Absolutely! Use any statement bowl, serving platter, or tray. You can get creative! Also, the flowers dry out to get a pretty potpourri!
Reem Hassaballa of @Reems_designs
How can we elevate our dining rooms for a restaurant-grade experience?
It's nice to have cloth/linen napkins and nice plates to elevate your experience. Place a simple stem on top of your napkin and stack of plates to greet your guest as they sit down. A charger under your stack of dishes makes your guest feel extra special. Also, nice glasses are a must for drinks. When adding floral and decor to the center of the table, make sure to keep it lower than eye level so that you can see your guests across the table. Nobody wants to be talking to a floral arrangement. Also, a comfy chair will help allow for great conversation without having to get up to stretch.
Anything that we can repurpose or DIY?
I love a built-in bench for casual dining. For all the DIYers out there, this is a simple weekend project. Lots and lots of throw pillows on the bench make your bench cozy. A bench also is great for kids and feels like a booth at a restaurant.
SHOP REEM'S LOOK
Glassware
Stephanie Trantham of @the_broadmoor_house
How can we elevate our dining rooms for a restaurant-grade experience?
For my family, restaurants have always been a place where we celebrated, bonded, and spent many special nights just creating memories. Since having to be home more often in the past year, I have made it a point to continue those special meals and special times with my family at home in our own dining room. To do that, I wanted my dining space to feel comfortable and a place we might feel cozy enough to stay awhile! I also love to change up the table setting and accessories to keep making the space feel fresh and new!
What are some items that help create that cozy atmosphere?
First, grab some comfortable chairs! I love upholstered dining chairs! They really warm up and soften a space! My black dining room chairs are amazing for this and are so comfortable! They are a performance velvet that can weather any storm (and oh they have weathered some storms with my two little boys)! They come in so many different colors too so they would be perfect for any room!
Next, I love accessorizing my table with blankets and pillows. I usually place a pillow on each end chair and a throw blanket on just one! These are elements that I change up all the time to keep the space feeling new!
Last, add accessories to your table that make your experience feel special. I purchased really nice salt and pepper mills to make our meals even that much more yummy! I also love candle holders with my favorite LED remote candle sticks! I believe special dinners are something that my children will value and remember forever and candles help to create that experience.
Anything that we can repurpose or DIY?
I like to keep my tabletop decor simple so that it can be left on the table during our meals and we can actually see each other! I also like to change these pieces, even just slightly, to keep our dining room feeling fresh and new. This doesn't always mean that you have to go out and purchase brand new pieces. Look for things around your house that you already have. Some of those things will be good as is and sometimes they take a little bit of spray paint to make new!
Like what you see? Check out the LTK shopping app, where you can explore thousands of influencers' custom LTK Shops featuring carefully curated collections that you can easily shop!
Share your dining room DIYs with us @BritandCo!
Teaser Photo by Spacejoy on Unsplash; remaining photos courtesy of LiketoKnow.it
Brit + Co may at times use affiliate links to promote products by others, but always offers genuine editorial recommendations.
Theresa Gonzalez is a content creator based in San Francisco and the author of Sunday Sews. She's a lover of all things design and spends most of her days raising her daughter Matilda.