Dining Table Decor Ideas to Bring Home Restaurant-Style Dining Experience

The pandemic that locked us down into our homes has caused multi-layered transformations within all of us and the biggest change that we all can feel is our relationship with food. We are sure that like all of us, your Insta and Facebook feed, too, was flooded with people preparing all sorts of delicacies and gourmet foods at home.

This lockdown phase also gave us important learning about preparing and sharing a meal with your loved ones.

As we have been all along praying for this pandemic to get over and life returning to a normal pace again, we cannot deny the little joys of life that we all rediscovered during the lockdown phase. 

And, if we think closely, most of them happened around food, and on our dining tables. In fact, during this time of widespread gloom, dining tables became a place where we shared not just home-cooked meals but our emotions and feelings.

While we still sometimes miss going out for lunch or dinner with family and friends, the lockdown has taught us the pleasures of home dining. Even after the ‘un-lockdown,’ given the situation of the rising number of COVID 19 cases, regulatory authorities are advising to stay at home as much as possible, thus, dining out is off the cards for most of us for at least a few months.

But what if we tell you that you can create a restaurant-style dining experience at home?

Just little changes in the ambience of your dining table setting like some fancy tableware, adding a few dining table decoration items , and chef-style presentation of your food can help you revamp the vibes of your space.

Here are a few tips for the makeover of your dining spaces to give it a restaurant-like look:

1. Choose Ambient Lighting

Lighting plays a very crucial role in transforming the vibe of any space. Now, if you are planning a restaurant-style romantic candle-light dinner with your loved one, candles can really add to the atmosphere, but if it's just a good family meal that you are looking at, you can just play with some lights.

Dim those white lights and always go for yellow or warm whites around your dinner space as it gives a soothing and classy feel and accentuates the décor elements.

2. Play with your table cover, runners, and other linen

Table linens are a huge part of your dining table aesthetics and you would want them to complement your overall space and style. Runners, table cloths, table placemats, napkins, etc., are few areas to look into while preparing for a picture-perfect dining table. 

Either you can go for matching styles of these or mix and match them to add some quirk. Nowadays, block print dining table covers are in vogue and are one of the quick fixes to refresh your dining space ambience without burning a hole in your pocket.

However, if you have a solid colour table cover, you can spruce it up with a bright-coloured printed runner, too.

 For special occasions or festival dining, you may give your dining table a royal feel, choosing deep-coloured runners with intricate detailing, as shown below.

The table mats can be complementing the runner or be contrasting as per your overall décor sense. You can opt for block prints, abstract patterns, or geometrical designs as per seasons or the time of the meal. 

For example, for a lunch with friends at home, summery block printed table mats would suffice, but for the evening, you could opt for sophisticated checkered pattern design in napkins and table mats.

However, whenever you are selecting any table linen sets, make sure of their fabric and quality. High-quality table linens are a must to elevate your dining spaces with equal parts chic and class. 

So, always invest wisely and create fanciful dining experiences for your family as well as guests.

3. Flowers & more - Feature a few statement décor items

There are multiple dining table decor ideas that could help you brighten up your dining table and make it more welcoming. Some of our favourites are using natural flowers, decorative multipurpose trays, quirky salt & pepper shakers, bold centrepieces, and the like.

First, let’s talk about centrepieces. Either you can go for a natural flower vase centrepiece or you can just go for a statement accent tray or a small statue-like decorative to highlight your dining table.

And, if you want to recreate a cosy restaurant-like experience, a candle-holder centrepiece with small vases preferably with white flowers on either side of the holder would be perfect.

If you have a few staples that are mandatory to keep on your dining table, you can arrange them in a decorative tray. It not only adds to the beauty but also keeps your table tidy and clean.

Either you can go for a wooden tray or if you are into something more vibrant, you can go for printed trays in floral or contemporary prints.