Over the last few years you may have found yourself reaching for more natural, cosier elements that keep you closer to nature, and that’s definitely been driven by the rising earthy design trend.
Dining rooms are a great place to get in on the action for a calm, soothing place that you can relax and unwind in at the end of the day.
If you’re looking for inspiration to get started, these earthy dining room ideas are packed full of tips, key pieces to use and visual inspiration you can use in your own home.
23 Feel Good Earthy Dining Room Ideas To Inspire You
1.Add A Natural Tapestry
Whilst earthy design is neither minimalist or maximalist, the idea is to not go too overboard with your wall hangings or wall art. Instead, opt for something larger on its own such as a tapestry as shown below.
Tapestry wall hangings are inherently tactile in nature, a beautiful way to add some texture to a wall and break up a colour on the walls. Choose a natural or botanical style for a truly earthy feel.
2. Lean Into Those Natural Elements
Earthy design is one of the easiest design trends to achieve, just make sure the use of natural elements are included throughout.
Any natural materials work well in your furnishings and textiles, focus on incorporating wood, wicker, seagrass, linen, stone and marble. A few well placed accents will ground the scheme, such as a wooden dining table, a rattan pendant light and linen curtains.
3. Tactile Textiles
It’s all in the textiles! Natural linen blends are welcomed here for creating a soft, floaty and light feeling in a dining room.
Curtains are the easiest way to introduce this element, stick to a warm neutral shade in a slightly darker colour than your walls so you get that depth of colour.
4. Exposed Wood Brings Natural Warmth
Not everything needs to be painted! If you have an opportunity to keep some areas exposed to their natural detail, there’s no better natural warmth that you can include in a dining room.
Take inspiration from the below with the wooden window surround and exposed floorboards.
5. Ground With An Area Rug
An area rug will ground your dining room and stop your furniture from floating. Vintage style, jute and natural wool rugs will tap into that earthy design trend.
When choosing your rug, it’s important to base the size around the furniture rather than the room size. With a dining table and chair they should comfortably sit on the rug with a generous margin left around the outside of the rug.
6. Black Accents For Definition
Black accents are one of the best styling tricks to pull any scheme together, you only need to use it in a few areas to get the desired look.
Curtain poles, door hardware and leg accents on furniture are easy ways to achieve this without it overpowering the room.
7. Macrame
Another natural material you can consider using is macrame, a tactile feel that crosses over into bohemian style. This type of material can be used on anything from tapestry hangings to covers on the back of dining chairs.
Take note from the below dining room that uses it perfectly.
8. Include The Ceiling In Your Design Plans
The ‘fifth wall’ is no longer an afterthought in design and is something that should definitely be included in your design plans.
Colour drenching in a warm neutral is a popular look, or why not add some wooden cladding? It will ground the scheme completely with natural definition, and the natural look plays on earthy design to perfection.
9. Lean Into The Darkness
If you have a particularly sunny south facing dining room, you may choose to lean into the darkness for a wonderful balance that will make the room feel less intense during the height of the sun.
Deep olive greens, charcoal greys or chocolately browns make for great colour alternatives. Not convinced? Take a look at the below dining room.
10. Light & Bright
On the opposite end of the spectrum, you may choose to keep things light and bright for a more welcoming, calming space.
Choosing one warm off-white or neutral and running with it up and across the ceiling makes the space flow well. Cate has nailed the relaxed look in her dining space below, incorporating colour through natural stems and wooden furniture.
11. Consider Botanical Wallpaper
Elevate your walls by leaning into a botanical wallpaper print, it brings a cottagecore style feel whilst reaching into the natural world around us.
Create an accent wall out of it, positioning a sideboard or console table in front of it for some tasteful, earthy styling.
12. Greens & Reds Make A Wonderful Combo
Earthy greens and rusty reds are a colour combo that just shouts earthy design, the two colours balance beautifully with one another. Plus, it plays on the ‘unexpected red theory‘!
These colours work well as accent colours against a neutral backdrop, such as on pieces of furniture or textiles.
13. Earthy, Chocolate Brown
Decadent browns have grown in popularity throughout interiors over the last year, providing a warmer alternative to beiges.
Or why not colour drench the space like the below image for a high impact space that feels cosy and cocooning.
14. Add Character With Panelling
Just because it’s an earthy design trend, it doesn’t mean panelling isn’t welcome.
If you have lots of large blank walls, panelling is a beautiful and natural way to add instant character and warmth. Paint it in the same colour for subtle character.
15. Rustic Brick Slips
Brick slips will bring natural, rustic value to a dining room in an accent. An accent wall on a dining nook sets the tone in the space, providing gorgeous balance against neutral walls, and in this case wooden cladding on the ceiling too.
I’m obsessed with the relaxed colour palette below featuring muted tones of green and orange for a stylish, earthy look.
16. Add A Coastal Pull With Blue
Coastal elements work hand in handy with earthy design, and soothing blues are a great addition to a dining space like the below.
Just a few elements on the table cloth and tableware pops against the neutral colour scheme and wooden elements. Relaxed, stylish and super calming.
17. Use The Dining Table As Your Anchor
It can feel daunting pulling a dining room together from scratch and I always recommend starting with the largest item as your anchor which will be the dining table, and working out from that.
Position the dining table and you’ll then get an idea of what space you have left to play around with, ensuring at least a 100cm gap between chairs and other furniture so you have ample space for traffic flow.
18. Elevate With Tongue & Groove Panelling
Tongue and groove panelling is always a good idea, no matter the design trend. It instantly elevates the room, drawing the eye up, and painted in the shame neutral shade, it just brings some extra character to the forefront of the room.
19. Rustic, Vintage Accessories
Check out that ceiling! Lean into those rustic, vintage touches for a transitional feel, whether it be thrifted items or heirlooms from the family, seamlessly blending new with old creates a characterful earthy inspired scheme.
20. Warm Brass Accents
Instead of black, lean into brass accents for a warmer overall feel, and it’s a natural finish that will complement any earthy dining room.
Light fittings, curtain rails and interior hardware such as door handles will help to pull this together perfectly.
21. Rattan Shades Are Always A Good Idea!
I’m a huge advocate for using rattan/seagrass light shades in a scheme, whilst they instantly scream earthy and natural, they’re also great for rooms with limited light as the material allows for light to pass through it uninhibited throughout the course of a day.
22. Keep A Calm, Neutral Colour Scheme
Choosing a warm off-white or warm neutral for your scheme will keep a space feeling light, airy and allows you to easily incorporate colour in through furniture and decor accessories.
Just be sure to avoid a bog standard bright white which feels clinical and uncomfortable to be in. Look at warm whites such as Wimborne White and Pointing from Farrow and Ball to recreate the look below.
23. Olive Green Feels Good To Be In
Take it to the other extreme and choose a beautiful olive green for your dining room. Greens are the easiest colour on the eye as they sit in the middle of the spectrum and they go some way in keeping us connected to the natural world.
Recreate the look with a colour such as Dibber by Farrow and Ball. Note how they pull together the other natural elements and textiles for a truly earthy and inspired room to sit in. Dinner anyone?
