12 Stunning Before-and-After Dining Room Makeovers
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.
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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.
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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.
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Nora and André Jordan’s Washington, D.C., dining room.
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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.
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The dining room of a Manhattan apartment.
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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.
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A dining area in executives Melisse Shaban and Jane Elizabeth Phillips’s North Carolina home.
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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.
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The breakfast area of an Upper West Side apartment.
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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.
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The dining room of a Toronto home.
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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.
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The dining room of designer J. Randall Powers’s Houston home.
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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.
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The dining room of a Fifth Avenue apartment in Manhattan.
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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.
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A Manhattan penthouse’s dining room.
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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.
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The Aspen, Colorado, dining room of philanthropists Amy and John Phelan.
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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.
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The breakfast area of a Greenwich Village townhouse.
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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.
Photo: François Dischinger24/24The 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.
