Style Recipe: Mix IKEA & Vintage for the Perfect Dining Room

There’s no one-size fits all recipe for a room, of course. But if you’re stuck trying to get that luxe-y, lived-in look in your dining room on an affordable budget, can we suggest one of our favorite combinations?

The dining room is the perfect place to play with furniture because there are no time constraints on getting it “finished.” Start with what you have (a table and 4-ish chairs, maybe?), get rid of anything you don’t love, then fill in the missing pieces along the way with IKEA stock or other vintage finds.

If you already have a vintage dining set that doesn’t work for you, try subbing out the table or chairs for something affordable from IKEA. And if your existing dining room is all from IKEA, your objective should be to do the same thing, but sort of in reverse. Slowly add vintage items into the mix, a table or chair at a time. It will give your space more character and history, lending visual interest and intrigue to your showroom-floor setup.

When you’re sick of something, replace it! As long as you truly love each chair or table you’re switching into the mix, you can be confident that it will all work together.

Check out these rooms that mix vintage pieces with some popular IKEA favorites (even some from the patio section).

Above: An IKEA DOCKSTA table with Paul McCobb chairs in Erica & Dave’s Balanced Home.

The IKEA MELLTORP table in the home of Jennifer Hagler, blogger at A Merry Mishap, featured on Design Sponge.

The IKEA DOCKSTA tulip table paired with vintage chairs in this Austin home from Houzz.

A simple IKEA table (it looks like the BJURSTA) paired with ornate Louis XV-style chairs in a Harlem brownstone home from Elle Decor.

Jane Cumberbatch painted her IKEA NORDEN table white for her London home, featured on Design Sponge.

Judy and Don (from Judy and Don’s Treehouse in the City) paired a custom wood table with IKEA patio chairs in their Houston home. Pictured is the discontinued BLANKÖ, but IKEA’s VÄDDÖ chair is similar.

Four clear IKEA TOBIAS chairs surround a modern round table in this East Village apartment from Houzz.

Unexpected IKEA FRODE folding chairs put to use in Bridget & Jake’s “Make It Your Own” Denver Homestead. (FRODE is currently only available in the UK.)

A DIY dining table paired with IKEA TOBIAS chairs in Julia & Bruno’s Colorful and Airy Home.

The oak table is a family heirloom in this London warehouse flat from Trunk Creative, but they’ve mixed in a few brightly painted IKEA STEFAN chairs.