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Functional dining room ideas for busy families

Interested in functional dining room ideas for your home? Here’s a small dining area whose clever storage and extendable table help it handle the family’s many activities. It blends light-colored wood, natural tones spiced with energizing accent colors, and coordinated dining furniture into a harmonious whole.

VIHALS chairs stand at a green VIHALS extendable table on a rug underneath a white ZEBRASÄV pendant lamp in a dining room.

Flexible and coordinated

If you need a bigger table sometimes but your space is small, an extendable one like this VIHALS table could be perfect. You can have more guests at dinner or let your hobby stuff spread out. Here, the VIHALS chairs match the table perfectly. Plus, they’re stackable, so they take up less space when not in use.

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A VAPPEBY Bluetooth speaker lamp stands on a green VIHALS extendable table along with a SKUGGSTUBB mug and a sewing machine.
Three VIHALS chairs are stacked together beside an IVAR storage box on wheels and an IVAR cabinet on the wall.
See the VIHALS series

Get the right light for different activities

With a pendant, you can light up the table so everyone can see everything. It can also create a cozy room within a room feeling. Here we used a dimmable bulb from a TRÅDFRI starter kit in the lamp. You can adjust the light – and set the mood – with the remote control from the kit without getting up from your seat.

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The wireless dimmer/power switch of a TRÅDFRI starter kit lies on a green table underneath a white ZEBRASÄV pendant lamp.
A white ZEBRASÄV pendant lamp hangs over a table with food on it. The light brightens and the food is replaced with a laptop.
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Storage for all the things you do

With all the different things happening in the dining room, there’s a lot of stuff to store. Open shelves give you easy access to storage. While the pinewood IVAR cabinets with their calming closed doors can store a lot right up to the ceiling and even leave space for a storage box on wheels underneath.

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Three EKENABBEN open shelving units with some VATTENDRÅG boxes with lid and other things on them stand under some windows.
A white ZEBRASÄV pendant lamp hangs over a SKUGGSTUBB mug on a VIHALS extendable table near some IVAR cabinets on a wall.
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Softness under your feet

Making things comfier for your feet and cozier is this RIDSTIG rug. Its flatwoven surface makes it easy to pull chairs out and in and to vacuum. The simple geometric pattern and the color scheme – energizing red on an off-white base – strengthen the modern Scandi vibe.

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A green VIHALS extendable table stands on a RIDSTIG rug near a shelving unit with some VATTENDRÅG boxes with lid on it.
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Small but adaptable and ready for anything

With an extendable table, enough storage, and some extra folding chairs and stools that are easy to put away when guests have left, here’s a dining area that can cope with the needs of a family and all the things they do.

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Folding chairs, an IBBARBO stool and two VIHALS chairs stand at an extendable table underneath a white ZEBRASÄV pendant lamp.
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