During this season of holiday dinner parties and festive tables groaning with food, you might be thinking about what sort of dining experience you want to create in your own home. Going traditional doesn't have to mean going stuffy or boring. Here is an inspiration gallery of some contemporary dining rooms in a traditional idiom.

The checklist for a traditional dining room typically includes dramatic window treatments and a chandelier. Often you'll see upholstered or slip-covered dining chairs. These rooms also tend to be pretty symmetrical, with matching mirrors, lamps or sconces. Traditionally, dining rooms were decorated in rich, saturated tones, but today we can see plenty in airy colors, or papered with whimsical Chinoiseries.

Here is a range of examples of traditional dining rooms. Some of them fill all the criteria, while others serve their tradition with a twist, whether it's mismatched chairs, hot pink glasses, or a table for two. All of these ideas can be adapted to fit any space.

Which is your favorite?

• Design by Rafael de Cárdenas, photographed by William Waldron for the October, 2010, Elle Decor.
• Suzanne Kasler dining room, via House and Home.
• Design by Kate Simpson, via the October/November 2009 Lonny.
• Muriel Brandolini Interior Design.
• Photograph by Hotze Eisma via The Diversion Project.
• Design by Carol Curtis and Sarah Norwood, photographed by J. Savage Gibson for the February, 2008, House Beautiful.
• Ruthie Chapman Sommers Interior Design.
• Nina Campbell's dining room, photographed by David Parmiter for Veranda.
• Photograph by Gordon Beall for Traditional Home.
• A French dining nook in khaki and orange-red, photographed by Guillaume de Laubier for a 1990 issue of Elle Decor