If you’re lucky enough to have a dining room, versus a dining nook in the kitchen, make the most of that space and deck it out in style. While you will definitely host special occasions with friends and family in this room, if you make the decor stylish and inviting, you’ll want to use your dining room everyday. And, why not? A home is for living, after all.

Start with Color

Take a dining room from drab to dramatic with beautiful color. Deep hues like burgundy red or sumptuous royal blue have an energizing effect conducive to lively dinner conversation and they lend an air of opulence and abundance. When searching for color inspiration, think about other furnishings that you have in the room as well as colors and patterns that are visible from adjoining rooms. While your dining room can be more dramatic in color, you want the overall effect to be harmonious. If a piece of pottery, your dinner plates, a pink Depression glass water pitcher or a wall painting inspire you, then use that as your starting point when thinking about color.

Create a Focal Point

Blank wall space doesn’t do much to enhance the décor of any room, and in a dining room it can make the room seem cold and unwelcoming. To create a focal point, you can use one large item and accent it with smaller items or you can create a wall grouping with several smaller items. For example, you could start with a large painting, a wrought iron or an architectural wall hanging, a tapestry or mirror and accent it with smaller coordinating items, such as candle wall sconces, vintage plates or cast iron accents. Or creating a stunning arrangement with a visually interesting collage of smaller pieces: tie them together by color, theme, or material.

Wrought iron wall décor is an excellent choice for a focal point wall or for use as supporting accent pieces. Because it comes in a vast array of styles and finishes you will find pieces that work with your chosen style of decorating. Matte black, brown or gray wrought iron is a perfect accent in a traditional or contemporary dining room. Painted distressed finishes in white or cream work equally well in country, cottage or casual settings.

Combine Style and Function

Choose dining room furnishings that will serve a dual function: Choose pieces that add style while providing storage space for dinnerware, silverware and glassware, or stylish pieces that also present surface space for serving and entertaining.

o A free-standing hutch or cabinet with solid doors below and glass doors above let you store bulky and less attractive items below while displaying your glassware, plates, collectibles and pretty serving pieces in glass fronted style.

o A marble topped server with drawers and lower shelves and doors gives you a convenient place to store silverware and linen while giving you a flat surface that you can use for decorative purposes or for serving during a party.

o A wall wine rack brings Old World Tuscan style to a dining room while providing a place to store wine. Swirled grapevines hold and display your favorite vintage so that it is available at a moment’s notice. Wine racks that include space for stemware offer even more storage space.