Decorating Ideas for Creating a Serene Breakfast Nook

When it comes to starting your morning, few things are more pleasurable than a leisurely meal in your home’s breakfast nook. The morning repast is even better if the nook is by a bay window that gets lots of morning sun, which is delightfully warm in the summer months. Here are some decorating tips to make your breakfast nook even more special.

Be mindful of the walls

The walls of your breakfast nook don’t need to be uninspiring. Add beautiful wallpaper or paint the breakfast nook’s walls a relaxing and tranquil hue. These colors can be neutrals such as pearly gray, taupe, or pastels that glow when sunlight touches them. If you really love your white walls, don’t be shy about adding areas of bright color, maybe in the crown moldings, window dressings, or even the ceiling. Don’t forget to add art to the walls. Framed prints that feature plants, birds, or other peaceful natural objects and photos of loved people or places are just the thing.

You can also add open shelves to display wares such as beautiful dinnerware, more framed photos and artwork, decorative bowls, candlesticks, pretty woven baskets, and antiques.

Add plants and flowers

Live plants and fresh flowers always enhance a breakfast nook. Arrange a selection of flowers in a beautiful bowl or vase and set it in the center of the breakfast table. The flowers can come from your garden, the nearby woods, or the store. A well-tended plant makes a nice centerpiece as well. Choose a plant that flourishes in the amount of sunlight your breakfast nook receives.

Add floral prints

Besides adding real flowers to your breakfast nook table, consider covering it with a floral-print tablecloth. You can also tuck pillows with floral-print shams into chairs and benches or upholster the cushions with floral-print fabric. One idea is to use slipcovers of all those florals if you get bored or want to change them with the seasons.

Use vintage furniture

If you still have an ancestor’s Victorian Eastlake-style dining table in your attic and don’t know what to do with it, you can use it as the perfect table for your breakfast nook. You can also use vintage-look sideboards, dry sinks, and settees in your breakfast nook. They'll make a statement accompanied by more modern elements such as contemporary pendant lights and contemporary artwork.

Decorate the windows

Your breakfast nook should be cheerful and peaceful; the windows should reflect this. Avoid heavy draperies and dark shutters that block natural light. Graceful shutters whose louvers can be opened and closed are good, as are light-colored shades and curtains that can be easily arranged to let in lots of light and air. Also, make sure the windows are regularly cleaned.

For more ways to make your breakfast nook special this summer, go to Instagram and Facebook for fresh ideas.