Most of us resist change. The familiar becomes so comfortable that we do not even notice that our surroundings may have started to look just a bit jaded and seedy. Take a good strong look at your home. May be a make-over may just be the change, to bring about a feeling of freshness and renewal. The place to start will be the dining room, as this is where the maximum action takes place in your home, be it with family or guests.

How often do you notice that returning home from work is not as exciting as it once was? The same old furniture, the same old décor, the same old appearance, can be very depressing. Perhaps the time has come to give it a completely new look.

Many of us regularly redecorate our homes. Some of us however are so resistant to change from the familiar and the comfortable that we live with outdated and perhaps worn out furniture. Some of are just put off by the task thinking that it would be quite formidable. Rest assured, it is far from formidable and you will enjoy the task as well as the resulting freshness and new look that you will get out of it.

Having decided to give the home a make-over, where do you start? I suggest that you do so from the dining room. This is where you spend your maximum time with your family, at meals and on special occasions like birthdays. This is where you entertain your guests. All the loving work that goes on in the kichen gets appreciated here. Giving it a new look will enhance the quality of the time that you spend there with your near and dear ones.

Commence by making a detailed plan. Put it on paper to scale by placing various items of furniture at different places to see how it would look, how much efficient use of space is made etc. Discuss with your spouse and finalize a sketch that will be the basis on which you can rearrange the dining table, the dining chairs and any other piece of dining furniture already there.

Since your dining table has already been is use, it should be able to accommodate the entire family, or at least all the adults at one sitting. The dining set would normally have four or six or eight dining chairs depending on the size of the family. All that you need to do is to ensure that there is sufficient room around it to freely move around and for the food to be brought and placed on it. Plan to leave at least two feet and if the room can accommodate it, more.

Be a little innovative with the positioning of the dining chairs. The typical dining room set will have two chairs positioned at the head and the tail and the other dining chairs on either side. You can change it to position couple of dining chairs near the wall to make the effect less crowded. These could be on either side of a window or a sideboard. You could also place a drop-leaf table between them to accommodate a couple of children with their own space or for additional guests.

A touch of class can be achieved by the use of cloth covers over the dining table and the table chairs. They may get soiled by use, but you can get them washed as often as needed and even replaced with new ones if required. Inexpensive, they are readily available at all stores selling upholstery material.

Change the lighting. Go for new lampshades that will give diffused effect. You can use low wattage bulbs within paper or cloth lamp shades, to get that effect. This will give a soft glow, very romantic!

A few potted plants will round up the make-over. Place the tall ones in the corners and the shorter ones elsewhere.

Get going. Give your dining room a new look. You will enjoy the experience and the effect.