Here’s how we made our new dining room informal. Nowadays, people entertain less formally and it’s nice to be able to use the dining room for more than just dinner parties.
You can give yours a more casual feel by breaking up dining sets, adding comfortable seating, more dramatic wall color and/or art, and simple touches like wicker and plants.
It’s time for our favorite things with Cindy and Annie. Mine include showing you how we made our dining room in the new Florida house less formal and a great fitting pair of jeans on sale.
Break Up The Traditional Dining Room Set
This is a popular post that includes breaking up the traditional dining room set or at least modifying it. “Seven Ways To Make Your Dining Room Less Boring.”
In our case, we added a dining bench that makes it a cozy space to eat or work on a laptop. We are getting a new dining table with a leaf (back-ordered) for holiday dinners and this table will go out on our covered patio.
Comfortable Seating
These caned armchairs are comfortable but I added a small lumbar pillow for those who want it (like me).
Paint The Room One Color And Test With Samplize
The chair rail was high for a room where you primarily sit, so I decided to paint it all one color to make it “sit friendly.” Green seemed like a good choice due to all the foliage outside the windows.
We tested several using Samplize. Here you can see how the same color, Sherwin Williams Acacia Haze, looks during the day and at night… The actual stick-on samples that they send you are much larger but they come with these small ones, too.
You may want to read: Great Reasons For Painting Walls And Trim The Same Color.
House Plants
I’ve had a fiddle leaf fig tree in my dining rooms for years. Here we are using two for a more greenhouse feel. This room gets afternoon sun. My other trees did too, so I hope these do well.
Our vintage rug from our bedroom may go in here but then we need one for our bedroom…”if you give a mouse a cookie…”
Wicker, Caning, or Baskets
The wicker lampshades and caning on the chairs make it feel less formal.
Wall Décor
Mirrors are nice in dining rooms to reflect light. The chair rail makes hanging a mirror difficult but I love how it lets me rotate art!
The Right Fit For Your Height – Magic Blue Jeans
Annie and I are 9 inches apart in height. So, it was surprising that we both loved the fit of these Loft jeans. She bought hers in a Regular 30 waist and I bought mine in Petite 27. They are flattering and on sale! We both recommend them.
The jacket and boots are cute too.
If you are new here, each Sunday I share my top five favorite things along with my friends, Cindy and Annie. It’s like our weekly “catch-up” phone call. If you would like to receive this series every week, please sign up HERE.
Let’s see what Annie and Cindy’s Five Faves are this week:
Hi, Mary Ann! Do you mind sharing the source and size of your large black shade on the glass pottery barn lamp? I have ordered the lamp, but I love your look with the black shade. Thank you so much!
I got it at Restoration Hardware years ago. Sorry, I don’t remember the size.
Mary Ann! I love your dining room,! The color, the art, the plants, the shades on your chandelier, the chair with the bench, it looks fabulous!
I can’t believe we both love those jeans! What will we find next?
xx
annie
Mary Ann,
Can you modify my comment so that my last name is not printed for all to see? I just put it in for you to see. Thank you! LW
Just did that Leona.
Hey Mary Ann,
Very pretty dining room! I love how the color makes my favorite painting (painted by your cousin) pop from a distance in your pictures along with the rest of your artwork. Your ocean painting comes alive. Congratulations on your new home!!! I had a feeling you were going to move back to FL after reading I think about the house in FL you rented with your friends. My husband and I have had a very similar life with many moves as you and Howard and we missed the green of NC and it’s hospitality so much when we lived in Silicon Valley so we are now back in NC and looking for a coastal home in SC. Welcome Back to our coast and Congratulations on becoming a grandmother!!! P.S. You still look like the big sister. L
Thanks for this wonderful comment, Leona! The people in NC are so friendly and it’s a lovely state…I’m happy for you.
I love your new dining room! We’re getting ready to sell the formal mahonany furniture and do something less formal. Where is your table from? I’d like to find one that’s casual and doesn’t need fussy table pads or tablecloths.
Thanks, Maggie…https://rstyle.me/+Rgd15p1ApbgHcpS0xWMXCQ is the table from Pottery Barn. There is a photo in the shop the post too.
Thanks, Mary Ann!
Hi Mary Ann,
Looks like you are all settled in! I like your new dining room, adding the bench was clever. We bring one up when we have more people dining with us, it makes such a difference!
That chair rail looks more like a plate rail to me. It has such a nice depth to put things on. I like how you displayed the art. Especially one of those paintings ! (Ha ha)
Hope everything is going well for you in your new home state.
Xo Heidi
LOVE my tulip painting. You are so talented.
It is a plate rack but I don’t like the height in a place where you are always sitting.
I love the color you chose for your dining room, Mary Ann! With the addition of the cane and wicker and greenery it all looks soooooo good!
Thanks a million, Janet!!
Love you and Annie! Gotta say…her pants are high waters! I am 5’11” (okay, gravity has brought me down to 5’10” ish). The god of gravity is definitely male! Why would I be shorter! Let’s not talk about boobs and butts……
Lucky you for being tall! The jeans are actually supposed to be cropped so mine are a tad long but I like them that way! Very funny about the boobs and butts 🙂
Your dining room is looking fabulous! It is so warm and welcoming. I just love the color and all you have done to make it so personal
I love your dining room and I like the idea of adding a dining bench. I need extra seating for my dining room table and I can no longer find the chairs that came with my table. I am going to use your idea and search for a bench!
That is why I originally got our bench. Sometimes its a hassle for the person sitting in the middle of the bench if they want to get up…but no more so than a banquette…and it’s cozy.
I really like your new dining room! It’s so much more inviting and cozy than your average formal dining space. I find it challenging to decorate rooms that have high windows, but you’ve done an amazing job! Welcome to Florida, by the way. I live about 2 1/2 hours from you:)
Thanks, Paula…those windows were a dilemma but when I tried the sofa table behind the bench it all started to work with the art coming lower. Are you in Orlando? We are helping Tommy move there tomorrow.
I am about 30 minutes north of Orlando…Is you son moving here for school?
Yes, he is going to UF for his MBA and was transferred with Disney. I’m in Orlando now working on his new place.
Your dining room turned out so well, the whole room is relaxed and peaceful the color of paint you selected is pretty, creates such a sense of calm. Congratulations to you both.
Thanks, Katherine. It feels inviting to us!
Your house is certainly coming together and I love everything you’ve done so far. I love the green paint you chose for the dining room and all the more casual elements you added. It looks casual but also very inviting and calming, a place you could sit for hours after a meal, talking with good friends.
Yes!! With a friend like you, Gail!
Hi Mary Ann, The color you chose for the dining room looks beautiful in day and evening light. I’m not big on the color green but the grayed-down tone you found is very serene. I wonder if you could explain something about fiddle leaf fig plants. They are always shown with leaves only at the top, not along the stem. I have a happy plant that has kept putting out new leaves at the base (as well as at the top) and I’ve left them because I think it makes the plant look less top-heavy. Is there a reason from a horticulture perspective or is it just appearance? Curious if you know.
I think they are trained to be trees but I like them both ways!
Love, love, love your dining room! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much, Judie!!
Big fan of your new dining room. I really like the chair rail height for a dining room so it’s not cutting across your back or head when sitting down. And your paint color choice … fabulous! You’re so creative with art and the ledge is wonderful.You and Annie both look great in those cute jeans. I did some shopping at Loft last week and, wow, they have amazing stuff. xo
You are so sweet, Juliet!!!
It loos so beautiful Mary Ann! I love the chairs, the beautiful color and all of your art!
Also love to see you and Annie in the same Jeans! Both beautiful ladies looking fabulous!
Have a wonderful week.
Thanks so much, Elizabeth!!!
Thanks for your tips for a less formal dining room — we have one now too, since it’s part of a “great room.” I just used Samplize, too, & loved it! So easy! Your art above and below the rail is great — this of all the “rotations” that are possible.
Janet, I like Samplize too. Wish we had it years ago.
Mary Ann the jeans looks great on you and Annie. I especially love the jacket too. Love the casual feel of the dining room. The bench and cane chairs really make it cute and Florida feeling! Great ideas!! x Kim
Ooo love the jeans thank you Mary Ann! Beautiful dining room ; l have many green painted rooms and l find they capture the right mood for me and mine always, no matter the weather.
Happy Sunday 🙂