12 Outdated Indiana Dining Room Trends Turning Off 2025 Buyers

The dining room remains a focal point for Hoosier homebuyers, but styles have dramatically shifted in recent years. What once impressed visitors now sends potential buyers running for the hills. If you’re planning to sell your Indiana home in 2025, these outdated dining room trends could seriously hurt your chances of getting top dollar.

1. Farmhouse Everything

Remember when shiplap and barn doors dominated every Indiana dining room? That rustic farmhouse look has finally reached its expiration date.

Modern buyers prefer cleaner lines and more authentic design elements rather than mass-produced “country” decor that screams 2018.

2. Matching Furniture Sets

Walking into a dining room where every piece perfectly matches feels like stepping into a furniture showroom, and not in a good way.

Today’s buyers appreciate thoughtfully curated spaces with mixed materials and complementary pieces that tell a story rather than cookie-cutter sets.

3. Heavy Window Treatments

Those floor-length velvet drapes with valances and tiebacks? Major turnoffs for 2025 buyers.

Natural light has become precious in Indiana homes. Heavy, ornate window coverings that block sunshine make rooms feel smaller and dated, whereas simple treatments or bare windows create an airy atmosphere.

4. Formal Dining Rooms

Gone are the days when Hoosiers wanted separate, rarely-used formal dining spaces. Modern families seek functionality above all else.

Buyers now prefer flexible dining areas that flow into kitchens or living spaces, allowing for both everyday meals and special occasions without wasting valuable square footage.

5. Tuscan-Inspired Decor

Those terracotta walls, grape motifs, and ornate Mediterranean-style furnishings that once dominated Indiana dining rooms? Completely passé.

The heavy, dark Tuscan aesthetic feels claustrophobic to today’s buyers, who prefer lighter colors and cleaner designs that better suit Indiana’s seasonal lighting changes.

6. Chandeliers Over Tables

Crystal chandeliers or ornate bronze fixtures centered perfectly above dining tables scream “early 2000s” to savvy Indiana buyers.

Contemporary lighting trends favor statement pendants, linear fixtures, or asymmetrical arrangements that provide better illumination while adding visual interest without the dated formality.

7. Wallpaper Borders

Nothing dates a dining room faster than those 4-inch wallpaper borders running along the ceiling or chair rail height.

Whether featuring country geese, Victorian florals, or geometric patterns, these narrow strips immediately transport buyers back to the 90s. Modern wall treatments use full accent walls or clean paint throughout.

8. China Cabinets Packed With Collections

Large china cabinets stuffed with collectibles, commemorative plates, or inherited crystal goblets make Indiana dining rooms feel cluttered and old-fashioned.

Younger buyers prefer minimalist storage solutions that showcase fewer, more meaningful items rather than overwhelming displays of rarely-used formal dinnerware.

9. Carpet Under Dining Tables

Wall-to-wall carpet or large area rugs under dining tables create practical nightmares that 2025 buyers immediately notice.

Food spills, chair scrapes, and cleaning challenges make carpeted dining areas a hard sell. Modern buyers strongly prefer hardwood, luxury vinyl, or tile floors that offer easier maintenance.

10. Theme-Based Dining Rooms

Racing-themed dining rooms might seem appropriate in the home of the Indianapolis 500, but themed spaces generally turn off sophisticated buyers.

Whether it’s sports memorabilia, country apple motifs, or nautical elements, heavily themed dining areas feel personal rather than neutral – making it harder for buyers to envision their own style.

11. Chair Rails With Two-Tone Walls

That classic Indiana dining room setup with chair rails dividing different colored walls (usually darker below, lighter above) immediately screams “dated” to 2025 buyers.

Contemporary design favors clean, single-color walls or subtle texture techniques rather than these visually chopping horizontal divisions that were popular in the early 2000s.

12. Formal Place Settings

Dining rooms staged with elaborate place settings, complete with chargers, multiple glasses, and formal napkin arrangements, feel stuffy to today’s Indiana buyers.

This overly formal presentation suggests a lifestyle most families don’t live anymore. Simple, clean table setups allow buyers to better visualize their own casual entertaining style.