Dining room wall ideas have a licence to entertain – from the wallpaper to the artwork, there is absolutely no need to hold back in your pursuit of the dream diner. 

As the envelope for all your dining room ideas, wall decor is integral to creating the atmosphere you desire, whether that’s a relaxed space to share breakfast, or a luxurious banqueting room fit for an evening feast. 

‘Dining rooms should be the jewelry in the house,’ says Cindy Rinfret, interior designer and founder of Rinfret Ltd. ‘It’s the special place where people gather, and they want to be romanced. It's important not to overlook it as a special ‘event’ in your home. We always go with bolder colors and special finishes for dining rooms.’ 

By Ailis Brennan

‘Before selecting the paint for your space, consider how the colour will influence your mood, it’s so important to love the colours that surround you,’ says Helen Shaw, Director of Marketing Europe for Benjamin Moore. If you’re planning paint for your small dining room ideas, consider darker tones for drama. 

‘Cozy snugs, intimate dining rooms and pint-sized rooms can lend themselves to a strong colour palette, especially when they don’t benefit from a huge amount of natural light,’ says Shaw. ‘Dousing the rooms from floor to ceiling in rich colours can look particularly striking and a real benefit of a north facing room is that you can play with light sources to create a certain mood and ambience.’ In this room, a rich brown is paired with dark furniture for a cozy sensation. 

Taking up a large proportion of the space from top to bottom as well as side to side, curtains are always one of the most important wall decor elements to consider. 

‘If there are lots of windows, we focus on the window treatments,’ says Rinfret. Among the dining room wall decor ideas in this room, the curtains allow the room’s bountiful natural light sources to provide during the day, but allow for a cozy, intimate room at night. 

‘Artwork is important in a dining room as people are sitting for lengths of time,’ says Rinfret.  ‘It’s a great way to enjoy a special and favorite piece. We build rooms around art, pulling motifs or colors from the work.’ 

In this home, the owners were keen that their new dining room would showcase part of their expansive art collection. While the abstract style of the pieces works perfectly here with modern dining room ideas, historic artworks are a great addition to traditional and contemporary spaces.  

‘We often encourage our clients to retain existing artwork when redesigning their homes, which works well with their chosen aesthetic,’ says Sims-Hilditch. ‘This might include old family portraits, or antique pieces which have been in their family for years. These are a wonderful addition to a dining room wall, adding character and gravitas to the space.’ 

If you want your dining room to bridge the gap between indoors and out, using florals or botanicals to decorate your walls is a fabulous idea. If your dining room is north-facing, you will find it helpful to add an accent shade with warm undertones. This could be a deep pink or red as in the room above by Little Greene. Or, it could be a warm blue – turquoise – or green, such as an apple shade.

Once used to insulate and decorate in historic houses, tapestries make great dining room wall ideas in modern homes.

'A large tapestry can create a brilliant focal point behind a dining area, while also breaking up the monotony of a wide-reaching blank wall,' says Henriette von Stockhausen of  VSP Interiors, who created this dining room above. 'Tapestries also help with noise reduction.'

Looking for dining room wall ideas that can tie in with the rest of your scheme? Here, a striking wallpaper panel with botanical repeat transports us to a formal garden terrace. 

'Chairs beautifully upholstered with smart skirts in classic stripes and an amazing high-gloss lacquer table create an elegant dining space,' says H&G's decorating editor Emma Thomas. 'The rug design underfoot almost feels like a chic tiled terrace and birds hover above as part of the delicate pendant light.'

A calming blue wall as backdrop allows vibrant, colorful furniture, lighting and graphic artwork to pop. Who wouldn't feel a little sunnier having breakfast at this joyful yellow table? 

Bench cushions are an ideal way to introduce pattern which softens the look and adds a touch of playfulness with a mix and match approach to different colors and designs. An oversize pendant shade in a deep green frames the space and a large indoor plant introduces an organic touch as well as tying in with the tone of the shade and green painted chairs. 

This dining room wall idea is a gentle interpretation of the design classic characterized by exuberant decoration. With plenty of white space around the design, this Edo Springs Chinoserie pattern from Studio by Fromental feels particularly modern, especially in these charming teal and coral tones. 

Dark charcoal paintwork and dark wooden, metal and leather furniture add heft to the scheme, a pleasing contrast to the gentle decorative lines of the wallcovering. A pale rug underfoot keeps the room feeling light and airy, as do the slim lines and sleek proportions of the dining chairs and table legs.