Decorating Ideas for a Mission Style Dining Room

Mission style decorating, still so popular today, originated with the Bungalow homes of the Arts and Crafts Movement of the early 1900's. Simple and natural in its approach, mission style decorating focuses on earth tones, wooden furniture and straight lines that crisscross into creating the shapes of long rectangles. Follow these decorating ideas to create a mission style dining room in your home.

Windows

You can recreate the mullioned panes of the arts and crafts movement using decorative window film (found online or at home improvement stores). Depending on your preference, choose a black-and-white film that creates the effect of metal patterns running through your glass window. Or choose a mission style film that imitates stained-glass, like a Frank Lloyd Wright window.

Furniture

The dining room table and matching chairs lie at the heart of a mission style dining room. Because of their popularity, arts and crafts dining room sets are easy to find, often for far less than ornate Victorian or French Country furniture. Make sure the chairs have the characteristic mission style back, composed of long, thin sections of wood set at equal distances. The wood should not be profiled but cut in simple lines and set at symmetrical angles.

Rug

Mission style decorating typically calls for hardwood floors. However, if you have wall-to-wall carpet or tile, you can still create the ambiance of an arts and crafts dining room with the help of a characteristic rug. Look for a mission style rug, which is reminiscent of oriental rugs. Select faded rather than bright colors, to create a more natural palette.

Wall

Paint your wall in a striking natural color rather than a bland sand or taupe. This will give your mission style dining room a dominant character. Dull yellow or rusty orange are reminiscent of earth tones you'll find in the desert, shades that go well with mission style decorating.

Shelves

Mount a long thin wooden shelf 6 feet off the floor. Make the shelf long enough to go from wall to wall, then add a second shelf on the next wall to continue the shape. In the end you should end up with a square that runs all around your dining room, creating a sort of mission style crown molding. Above the shelf paint the wall in a lighter shade.

Shelf decor

Display black-and-white landscape photography, such as photographs of Yosemite Park by Ansel Adams. Frame the photographs in identical wood frames and rest them on the shelf rather than hang them on the wall.

Centerpiece

Display two or three flowering tree branches in simple glass vases along your mission style table. You can find beautiful silk branches at craft stores, for winter months when nothing blooms outside. Dogwood branches are especially beautiful because of the shape of the flower petals.

Ceiling

Create a rectangle on the ceiling at a distance of a foot from the wall. Simply nail window casing to the ceiling. At the corners of the rectangle, its best to cut the casing at 45 degree angles to create mitered corners. You can use the cutting services at the lumber or home improvement store. Paint the ceiling inside the wood frame to match the dull yellow or rusty orange of your dining room wall.

Wood

Finally, make sure that all the wood in the room is stained the same color. After you buy your table and chairs, repeat the color in the shelf, picture frames and the ceiling molding.

More form this Contributor

Create Shabby Chic Decor

10 French Country Decor Ideas for Your Home

Tuscan Decorating Made Easy