So you’re planning a full-scale renovation (or at least a furniture swap-out to bring the look of your kitchen into the 21st Century) and you’re looking for a few ideas to get you going. Here, we’ve outlined some of the most popular styles that modern kitchens tend to exhibits, what their appeal is, and what their most defining traits are. If you’re looking for inspiration, look no further than some of these popular dining room furniture:

1. Italian Style

The Italian style tends to be very popular for its sense of regality and elegance. In an Italian style dining room, the walls and ceiling tend to be an offset white colour or have creamlike overtones with ornate tables and pin-cushion chairs. The table is usually bordered with grand armoires, mirrors, or another kind of Victorian arched storage furniture with dark, warmer colours that match the table and seating. There are some designers that prefers a monochromatic dining room sets where all of the furniture is the same colour with slight variations. It’s a clever look with a classical charm.

2. Modern Style

With sharp angles on the furniture, rounded-off décor and lighting fixtures, the modern style dining room is a look that many people with larger spaces take to. The way to pull off this look is to choose a focal point for the room (like a painting with a burst of colour, a zany lighting fixture, or a contemporary sculpture or decorative furniture) and design around that.

Generally, people use a low-key colour scheme like a monochromatic white or a white and black duality with the focal point having a strong pop of colour. From there, designs can use a mix of symmetry or repetition in their decorations and most use chairs without arms and simplistic tables.

3. Retro Style

If the crisp look of modern day design seems too boring and European designs seem a little over-the-top , then the classic 60’s American kitchen might be up your alley. The retro style is unique with its use of primary colours, small tables (making it a better choice for apartments or other limited-space locations.

These designs tend to use furniture that is designed to look like it comes from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s with a wall that has many stacked pictures in frames or a single wall-mounted decoration from the retro era. It’s charming and has a broad appeal for many nostalgic people.

4. French Style

The French dining room design tends to be amongst the most space-demanding and ornate dining room style, drawing from old Parisian styles with tall chairs at either end of the table and grand armoires in the room. Like the Italian style, the French style tends to go with a bone white.

Unlike the Italian style, this style does not rely on any form of warm colours in its designs and there is very little (if any) colour variation. The French style also relies on a grand centerpiece, whether it is a large chandelier or a table centerpiece, like a flower set or candle arrangement. With a bigger room, the French style is certainly plausible.

5. Cottage/Country Style

Finally there possibly isn’t any other style that is more warm and cozy than the cottage/country style dining room. Like the small-town look you would expect, this style is not afraid to show the tread in its wooden furniture and has a more open-concept storage furniture and plainer decorations. What designs tend to like about the cottage/country style is that they can mix and match different colour motifs and the decorative use is very loose – making this style very personalized and customizable.