Eva Longoria's minimalist dining room perfects simplicity with purpose — ace the look with three key items

Eva Longoria's latest Instagram snap showcased a stunning minimalist dining room, with an invitation to her Instagram followers to guess what project she was shooting.

With any luck, it was something Desperate Housewives related. In the meantime, we can definitively say the paired-back style of Eva's dining room is gorgeous. Our designers call it "simplicity with purpose," and share how to recreate it with ease.

If you love hosting, channel this sophisticated dining room idea with three key items and wow your guests.

What designers love about Eva Longoria's dining room

"Minimalism is about functionality through simplicity and when you do that, you’re refocusing where the viewer looks by taking away all the unnecessary elements," says designer Nicole Cullum. 

Eva's decor delivers, even though the room isn't overflowing with furniture. She's crunched down inclusions to a dining table, a simple light fixture, and gorgeous artwork on the wall, all of which come together to make a sleek statement. 

Even better? The artwork features the Pantone 2024 Color of the Year, peach fuzz. 

"Think about where you want your guests' eyes to land: text on dining chairs, pieces of artwork on the wall. Pick your focal point and pull away what distracts from that," Nicole recommends. 

Nicole Cullum

Nicole Cullum is an interior designer in Taos, New Mexico, and the founder of Color Caravan, a charming hand-painted line of wallpaper, textiles, bedding, and home decor. Even when paring back color with her minimalist designs, Nicole knows how to make this look pop.

Though many assume the popular 2024 interior trend of minimalism is all about bland looks, it's anything but. Instead, you'll hone in on materials, design, and function that really work for the room, according to Nicole.

"It's about not distracting the eye with excess settings," she says. "Your plates need to be beautiful — simple but refined — and paired well with essentials and glasses. Think about what you include and how it flows with the other items you've added."

Nicole recommends focusing on three particular standout pieces, such as the dining room set, affordable wall art, and stylish dinnerware sets (if you're looking for a chic plate set, we're fond of the vancasso VENUS 12-Piece Matte Dinnerware Set from Bed Bath & Beyond). Scale back and remove things that aren't necessary.  

"You don’t want to have tablecloths and extraneous settings, you want to let the structure be the thing in focus," she says. 

With that in mind, once you slowly begin to add supporting elements back into the space, Nicola insists you'll be able to see what works and what needs to go.

And just so you know, minimalism doesn't mean there can't be any bold shades. Small space color trends delve into enjoying minimalist neutrals, with accents and pops of deeper, vibrant hues to bring the space to life.

Shop the look

For a similar modern dining room idea, Vanessa Hudgens' Scandi dining table caught everyone's eye on Instagram, but luckily for shoppers, we found a similar piece for a whopping $4,000 less.