I’m an interior designer – what makes your dining room look cheap and dated and what you can do instead

BETWEEN family dinners and entertainment, people spend a lot of time in the dining room — but it might be time for a decor update.

An interior design and TikToker expert says there could be one big thing making your dining room look cheap and dated, and she helpfully shared how to fix it.

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Julie Sousa uploaded a TikTok video explaining how your choice of kitchen or dining room furniture can date the space.

She asks her viewers: “[Do you] Want to make your dining room look expensive?”

If your answer is yes, she advises against buying matching dining sets.

In Julie’s opinion, matching dining sets make your space look dated.

Instead, she says that you should mix and match textures and materials during the interior design and home decorating process.

It shows an example of a table that appears to be made of white wood.

Instead of adding chairs that are also made of white wood, she suggests adding tan chairs with cushions or green chairs with black metal legs.

Julie says, “It’s called juxtaposition. It’s critical to creating visually interesting spaces.”

Several people in Julie’s comments section on TikTok love the way she described her decorating tip.

One person wrote: “Love the olive green chairs!”

“Oh, that’s a great tip! I’ve seen it, but I just never saw the difference. Thanks!” added another person.

“What if my bench matches the table but the chairs are different? Still dated?” someone asked.

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She responded by saying, “This is perfect! Mine is the same.”

Another woman wrote, “I have a toddler so fabric is not an option on the dining set, any suggestions for non-fabric chairs?”

Julie replied: “You could always choose fabric, just choose performance fabric! You could also use leather.”