Kitchen & Dining Room Design Ideas for 2020

Learn how to make every occasion special with our new kitchen and dining room design ideas for 2020.

Our dining rooms and kitchens serve many purposes, and as such it’s important to have a design that works whether you’re enjoying a Sunday roast or hosting a lavish dinner party. In this article, we share some of our favourite dining room ideas so you can design a space that is perfect for sharing meals and memorable moments with friends and family.

Chelsea Bar Stool in Burnt Orange

Coloured Bar Counter Stools

Given the dominance of neutral tones in home interiors over recent years, it’s perfectly understandable that many are nervous about adding colour. However, we think that 2020 should be the year you reintroduce colour into your dining room or kitchen design! Bar stools are a very versatile piece of furniture and offer a great way to inject a pop of colour into your kitchen or home bar. Co-ordinate the colours of the stools with your dining chairs and countertops to create the effect of cohesion throughout the room. Our bestselling Chelsea upholstered bar stool comes in four vibrant colours and is sure to complement a wide range of décors.

Academy Mustard Bar Stool with Chrome Base

Academy Sky Blue Barstool with Graphite Base

Academy Nougat Bar Stool with Chrome Base

Dining Benches

Dining benches are a great option if you are working with a smaller space. Benches are a handy alternative to individual chairs which can make small rooms look cramped with clutter. When not in use, these armless and backless benches can be tidily tucked under the table. Benches are a particularly good for entertaining as the lack of chair arms leaves more space for hungry house guests. What’s more using a bench can add a sense of modern eclecticism to a room and break up the matchy-matchy look. For extra comfort, we recommend going for a super soft upholstered dining bench such as the Aura.

Calia Large Bench

Firenze Dining Bench - 2.2M

Aura Bench

Cairo Bench

Academy Dining Chair - Mustard

Multi-Coloured Dining Chairs

Using differently-coloured dining chairs can be a fantastic way to play with colour in your dining room. Getting colour right can be a challenge, however there are a few well-known tricks you can try to make it work. For example, one good tip is to choose chairs that are the same shape but that vary in colour. Alternatively, you could try selecting a group of chairs that are all from the same colour palette. More daring designers may want to consider matching the colour of their dining chairs to another element in the room. For example, you could install a statement lighting feature and match the chairs to that instead of matching them to the table.

Primrose Velvet Chair - Turquoise

Nevada Swivel Dining Chair

Ella Walnut Scoop Back Chair - Plum

Sideboards

Sideboards (also known as “buffets”) are an excellent way of adding style and storage to your dining room. Traditionally, they are used for neatly storing away crockery, cutlery, glassware and linens and they can also provide extra surface space for serving food during parties.

When it comes to selecting a sideboard, your first consideration should be size, Ideally, it should be a bit higher than the dining room table. If you are working with a smaller space, it may be best to go for a design that is narrow but high. The next factor to think about is whether you’ll go for closed or open storage. For many, closed storage is the easier option because you don't have to worry about keeping the contents neatly arranged. Some prefer open shelving for its airier and lighter feel and relish the challenge of styling their items. If you can’t decide between the two, you might want to consider a sideboard with glass doors such as the Camille 2 Door Glazed Unit. These pieces give the best of both worlds as they don’t look too heavy and they nicely conceal the objects inside.

Loire Charcoal Large Sideboard

Cadell Rustic Oak Wide Sideboard

Belgrave Dresser

Tivoli Wide Sideboard

Mix & Match Dining Table and Chairs

Mixing up your dining chairs is a simple and effective way to freshen up and modernise your dining area. So how can you introduce eclecticism into your dining space in a way that looks deliberate and polished? The key here is cohesion - identify some element that visually unites each of the chairs to each other, this could be a colour, a style or even a texture. It is also important to keep the sizing of the chairs consistent, so that all the diners can easily interact with each other. For more tips on how to master the mismatched look, why not read our blog post: “Playing Matchmaker: How to Mix & Match Your Dining Room Chairs”.

Maya Green Velvet Dining Chair

Maya Brick Red Velvet Dining Chair

Maya Sky Blue Velvet Dining Chair

Extendable Table

We are big fans of extendable table sets at EZ Living Interiors. These are a fantastic way to maximize the kitchen and dining room space you have available and can be especially handy for those who lack space but who enjoy entertaining.

When selecting an extending table, there are several extra considerations you will need to make. Be sure to check that you have enough space in your kitchen or dining room to fit the table at its fullest extension. Remember as well that you will need extra space to fit in the additional dining chairs. You will also have to consider what kind of table extension you would prefer – perhaps you would like a table featuring drop leaves at the ends or perhaps a central section would be best?