Once a year, at Thanksgiving, the dining room is the most important room in the house.

Just when we want it to look its best, we have to fit in twice as many people as there's space for and find room for more dishes than the table can hold. Of course, that's what's wonderful about the holiday. Set up a card table for the overflow guests; bring in the kitchen chairs. No one will mind. But this year why not give the whole dining room the attention it deserves -- not just the table that holds the holiday feast.

Conventional wisdom has it that the dining room is an anachronism. Maybe so, but not in this area. Baltimoreans love their dining rooms.

Even those who aren't traditionalists are using their dining rooms more these days as a result of the past year's unsettling events, says Ed Albers, an Annapolis interior designer.

"People are more concerned with a family-and-friends type of holiday," he says. "There are more reasons than ever to have family functions. It's a comfort."

His advice for getting the dining room ready for Thanksgiving?

"I tell people to keep it simple because the holidays get so crazy."

Of course, simple means different things to different people. Maybe just polishing the silver till it gleams will do it for you. But there are plenty of other ways to spruce up the room in time for Thanksgiving, from minor ones like having the rug cleaned to major ones like repainting.

For most of us, though, getting the dining room ready means creating more room for guests to have a sit-down dinner. Last year Kay McConnell, who lives in the Lake Roland area, decided she didn't want a table for grown-ups and a separate children's table. She ignored the fact that her dining room ended at four walls. Instead she created one long table that seated 11 by placing another table against her dining room table and covering the whole thing with her best linens. It extended into the foyer, but no one minded. The foyer has a fireplace, which added to the arrangement's charm.

"My kids are at the point now where it's fun to have them at the table," she says. "It was great to have us all sitting together."

Use your imagination in creating Thanksgiving space. Designer Jay Jenkins of Alexander Baer Associates has a bay window in his dining room. He brings in a small sofa and a breakfast-size round table with chairs for overflow guests.

"It's very cozy," he says. "Try to do something different."

Round tables are generally best for conversation. If your dining room is large enough, Baltimore designer Linda Robinson even suggests moving your rectangular table out temporarily and renting several round tables to replace it for the holiday. Whatever you do, though, make sure everyone has a place at some table. This is one time of year when people don't want to eat balancing a plate on their knees.

Readying the room

Solving the table problem should be just the beginning of getting the room ready for the holidays.

"Dining rooms are neglected in the summertime," says Robinson. "This is the time of year to make your dining room an inviting place to be, even if all you do is warm up the room."

Something as simple as a bowl of apples on the sideboard can do that, she says. Decorate with the colors of the season, perhaps adding autumnal topiaries, and bring out warmer accessories like brass candlesticks.

"Clutter the place up a little," she adds. Even an elegant dining room should look cozy and festive this time of year, not stylishly minimalist.

If you like the idea of changing the look of the room according to the seasons, one of the easiest fixes is to add little paper or silk shades to the dining room chandelier, or replace dingy ones. You can find them at lighting stores. This time of year, dark red might be a good choice. Shades are a minimal investment that can brighten a room.

If shades aren't your thing, changing the candle bulbs -- to prisms, perhaps -- can give the room an up-to-date look. You might also put a decorative sleeve around the chain of the light fixture.

Interested in more substantial changes? Many dining room chairs have "slip seats" that can be recovered. If you're any good at all with your hands, it's not a big deal. Unscrew the seat from the bottom, take off the old fabric and replace it with new. Choose fabric that picks up an autumnal color in your rug.

You can also reinvent your dining room chairs with floor-length slipcovers. The extra fabric adds warmth to a room as well as color, and dining room slipcovers are a fashion-forward look these days.

For those feeling particularly ambitious, Robinson suggests putting up a decorative ceiling medallion. "It really dresses a room up," she says. They can be found at lumber yards, home centers and hardware stores. (You'll need to get an electrician to take your light fixture down.)

Long-term purchases

Now that you're focused on your dining room because of the holidays, consider long-term purchases that will make the room a nicer place to be for years to come. When Baltimore interior designer Kim Coale decorates a client's dining room, she starts with the rug. It becomes the inspiration for the other colors and fabrics in the room.

"If you don't have a rug, get one," she says -- a major investment, but not an unreasonable suggestion when you're trying to create a cozy winter room. You also have time before the holidays to add curtains if your room doesn't already have them. The more fabric in the room, the warmer it will seem.

"Some catalogs have ready-made sheers that are very pretty, perhaps in a leaf pattern," says Coale. "You could hang them over decorative wrought-iron poles."

Lighting is key to an appealing dining room, she adds. "If you haven't invested in recessed lighting, do so."

At the very least, you can bring in lamps from elsewhere in the house and put them on the sideboard to add warm light to the room.

Candles, of course, are the cheapest and easiest way to light a holiday dining room. Choose them in the colors of the season, and avoid scented ones that might take away from the aromas of the food.

"I'm big on low candles on the table," says Ed Albers. "High ones can block the view. There are lots of unusual votives out there. I like large candles, too. They're very festive." If he's using patterned china, he likes to pick out three colors for the candles from the tableware.

Autumnal theme

Albers uses low vases for table arrangements. He brings the outdoors in with pompon mums, gourds, pine cones and magnolia leaves.

"Keep it simple and look for the unusual," he says.

Anything that says harvest, like fruit and small pumpkins, is appropriate decoration for the Thanksgiving table. You won't have time to force paperwhite narcissus or amaryllis for Thanksgiving, but you can get them at a florist. They add a festive touch and are a change from the traditional mums. Pretty dried leaves can be used for place cards; write on them with a metallic marker.

Last year, Wendy Frank, who lives in Ruxton, had 17 for Thanksgiving, which meant she had to set several tables. She used centerpieces of small pumpkins, berries and flowers to coordinate the various tables, with a smaller version on the children's tables. If you can't have everyone sitting together, in other words, use your decorations and settings to suggest that every table is as good as the next one.

That was important because, she says, "My children don't want to think they're children's-table material."

For most of us, Thanksgiving is all about family. Designer Jay Jenkins isn't afraid to do something unabashedly sentimental this time of year. He might take tiny frames and fill them with pictures of family members who won't be there for the holiday. He scatters these among the other table decorations. Or he searches for something unusual like golden tulips for decoration.

It may be obvious, but it bears repeating. "Really make an effort to show your family that you love them," he says.

Room redo

Give your dining room a makeover this year before the holidays. Here are some suggestions from the pros:

* Bring the colors of the season in.

* Lighting is key, whether it's adding candles or jazzing up the room with new recessed lighting.

* Do whatever you can to make the room warm, such as putting out brass accessories and adding a seasonal plant or two.

* Make the room cozy with new slip seat covers, slipcovers or coordinated linens.

* Refurbish a chandelier with new shades, new light bulbs or a new chain sleeve. Or string something pretty through the arms.

* Think natural when you plan your table decorations. Pumpkins, gourds, seasonal fruit, berries and dried leaves hark back to the past and the roots of our celebration.

* Use your once-a-year focus on the dining room as an inspiration for more lasting changes once the holidays are over -- adding a curio cabinet to hold favorite collections, for instance.

* If you don't have the time or money for major improvements, at least have the dining room sparkling for Thanksgiving: wax the furniture, shampoo the rugs, wash the windows, polish the silver.

Festive touches

Here are some Thanks-giving decorating tips from this month's Country Living magazine:

* A pedestaled glass bowl filled with fruit makes a festive accent for the table or sideboard.

* Let the dining room reflect the colors of fall. Aged wood, antique creamware and simple beeswax candles can help set the mood.

* A rectangle of stationery propped against a pretty pear works well as a holiday place card.

* Don't be afraid to mix the old and new. Vintage water goblets hold their own next to modern crystal wine glasses.