Whether you’re a consummate entertainer or you need to seat a crowd for nightly family dinners, a functional and stylish dining room is sure to elevate even the most casual gathering. The essentials for a successful space include showstopping lighting, a table that can accommodate all your guests (and then some), and comfortable seating that will encourage people to linger long after dessert. If your dining room could use a fresh look, these amazing makeovers from the AD archives are sure to inspire. See how top designers transformed these spaces, from a subtle yet stylish update in a North Carolina home to a gut renovation in New York City.
BEFORE
The dining room in the Manhattan pied-à-terre of Lisa Cohen, an editor at DuJour magazine, and her husband, James, chairman of Hudson Media.
AFTER
As part of a gut renovation, VLArchitects principal Louis Lisboa created a large space to contain both the living and dining areas. Designer Susanna Maggard decorated the dining space with 1940s Baguès pendant lights, a French Art Deco wall plaque, and a '40s-style Venetian mirror, all from Newel. The circa-1800 French table is from Bernd Goeckler Antiques; the chairs, custom made in the manner of Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, are upholstered in a Lee Jofa mohair, and the midcentury Italian cabinet is faced with Murano glass.
BEFORE
Nora and André Jordan’s Washington, D.C., dining room .
AFTER
The firm Solís Betancourt & Sherrill updated and decorated the apartment. In the dining room, a Gracie wallpaper was used on the ceiling, and mirrored panels conceal storage for tableware.
BEFORE
The dining room of a Manhattan apartment.
AFTER
Architect Peter Pennoyer and designer Victoria Hagan transformed the residence. A Pratt & Lambert blue coats the walls of the once-green dining room; an expanse of mirror reflects the Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann table, French Art Deco chairs, and De Coene Frères buffet, which is from Karl Kemp Antiques.
BEFORE
A dining area in executives Melisse Shaban and Jane Elizabeth Phillips’s North Carolina home.
AFTER
S. Russell Groves, who renovated the home, replaced a dining area’s baroque chandelier with a clean-lined lantern from Circa Lighting. Vintage Wormley dining chairs surround an oak table, and the photograph is by Bill Bamberger.
BEFORE
The breakfast area of an Upper West Side apartment.
AFTER
Jane Siris and Peter Coombs, both of Siris/Coombs Architects, reconfigured one of the apartment’s bedrooms into a light-filled breakfast area with views of the Hudson River.
BEFORE
The dining room of a Toronto home.
AFTER
Formerly a deep claret, the dining room was revamped with a fireplace, light gray walls, and ceiling details that frame the chandelier and echo the custom oval table by Powell & Bonnell, the design firm behind the home’s renovation.
BEFORE
The dining room of designer J. Randall Powers’s Houston home.
AFTER
A mixed-media work by Julian Schnabel, left, and a lithograph by Cy Twombly are mounted in the renovated dining room. Powers enhanced the plain ceiling by raising it several inches and adding coffers.
BEFORE
The dining room of a Fifth Avenue apartment in Manhattan.
AFTER
Shelton, Mindel & Associates painted the revived dining room in gray and white. Three metal pendant lamps by Poul Henningsen hang above Monica Armani glass-top tables and Mario Bellini chairs. On the tables are an assortment of dishes and bowls designed by Muriel Grateau.
BEFORE
A Manhattan penthouse’s dining room.
AFTER
Architect John B. Murray and decorator Elissa Cullman renovated this apartment. Regency-style chairs in a Donghia fabric encircle the dining room table, while Venetian-plaster walls serve as a backdrop for paintings by Robert Motherwell (left) and Lee Krasner; the mantel is by Chesney's.
BEFORE
The Aspen, Colorado, dining room of philanthropists Amy and John Phelan.
AFTER
The couple called on Stonefox Architects to renovate and decorate their entire home. A crystal chandelier by sculptor Donald Lipski presides over the dining room, where Catherine Memmi side chairs surround custom-made glass-top tables; the photograph is by Andreas Gursky, and the carpet was custom made by Stephanie Odegard Collection.
BEFORE
The breakfast area of a Greenwich Village townhouse .
AFTER
Architect Peter Pennoyer and designer Shawn Henderson collaborated on the renovation of the historic residence. One of the kitchen's two circa-1950 French holophane lights from Avantgarden hangs above the breakfast area's Chris Lehrecke table from Ralph Pucci International; the painting is by George Lloyd, and the Moroccan floor tile is by Mosaic House.
Related: See More Home Remodeling & Renovation ideas
BEFORE
The dining room of Sara Story’s Victorian home in Snedens Landing, New York.
The dining room boasts a site-specific artwork by Otto Zitko and, at right, a sculpture by Sarah Lucas. The vintage chairs are by Poul Kjærholm and Ole Wanscher, the custom-made oak table is by St-Paul Home, and the chandelier is by Stilnovo.