We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs.

Creating a comfortable dining room in a small apartment can be challenging. Try these tricks of the trade and you’ll find your tiny dining room has never looked bigger.

lighter look

Instead of a massive hutch that towers over the room, consider keeping dishware on a slender side table. This one, with mirrored shelves, makes things airy and bright, and the table lamp is cozier than a scene-stealing chandelier.

clear solution

The reality is that when you’re in a small space, furniture needs to step into double-duty roles. A table can be used for dining and working from home.   A “Louis Ghost” chair avoids cluttering an already compact space centered on a heavy table. See more best tables for small spaces. 

repurposing an awkward space

It’s a dining room, it’s a library, it’s your own personal reading room. An unused area that feels like a glorified corridor can be converted to a cozy multi-use space by adding shelves for books and art and a table for entertaining.

expanding horizons

Tables that expand are compact in close quarters but extendable when you need to spread out your work or add bodies around the dinner table.

movable feast

Chairs gathered around a light pedestal table make for a living-room seating area that can quickly be transformed into a fireside dining space.