Lovely room.I would use a rectangular rug on the floor instead of the round one. Maybe at least leave 1 to 2 feet of space between the rug and floor border. The wood paneling is so nice by itself that I would leave the upper walls along (not add anything). Nice window. The drapery would depend on what colors you like. Roman shades would look nice on the windows also to show off their beauty. Can you post a picture of your furniture that you have?

What a gorgeous room! It's perfectly okay to mix wood tones, generally, so without a picture of your dining table, probably ok. : ) Always a caveat! I wouldn't hang anything above the wood but you can hang pictures from the "rail" right on the wood. I prefer a round dining table because it's just more intimate, so I'd go round rug, round table. If you prefer a rectangle table, I would get a rectangle rug. You sort of have a "rug" with the wood design so I wouldn't get one with a border, per se. I'll leave other HOUZZERs with FAB curtain ideas. Congrats on your beautiful new home.

A lovely diining room with the feel of Tudor to me. Your rug should be 4 feet larger each way than your table. With the built-in visual border, you might want to stick with rectangular shape for rug and table. Google "Tudor dining room" or search the box above for ideas. Jacobean fabrics would make a nice touch here for drapes and chair seats if you want to google those. Sumptuous fabric and antiqued metals would be the way I'd go here. You'll get a feel for it when looking at Tudor and Jacobean. and you're right, light furniture would not be the best. If you love your table you can have it stained darker - I'd match the dark tones of the walls. Looks like there'a a recess for a buffet, so take measurements before shopping for one. Nice challenge I'd enjoy taking on. Have fun decorating your home!

I would agree with the above poster's idea for drapery...long FULL panels either side of the window on a decorative rod similar finish to your panelling. You would be wanting at least 2 widths of fabric in each panel for a window/room that size. A lot depends on the look you are going for, simple pared down or full on traditional. If you wanted a more glamorous look add "bustle swags" over the top of the panels and add trim to the bottom edge of these.

I like the panels and matchstick look for a less formal and less traditional look. Only problem with matchsticks is that they do not make them with shaped tops to fit into the top curve of your windows, they would have to be mounted on the horizontal transom part of the window. Otherwise you could dispense with them altogether and play up the panels.

It is a beautiful room and a beautiful window to dress.

Any wall decor hung above the beautiful wainscoting would be awkwardly high, so I would be inclined to select embellished drapery panels in a print as a substitute for art. Is this a vintage home or a fairly new build? Lovely wood details!

Thanks for all the comments! I had already decided on panels for curtains, but I wasn't sure if I should hang with a rod or those decorative knobs at the top. Does that make sense?

I have attached photos of our existing furniture. I'm undecided whether to stain it or sale and purchase new furniture that fits the room better. Does anyone know ballpark prices for staining furniture? The room is a tudor feel like referenced above, but the home is fairly new built in 2007.

I love your room! The paneling and flooring are beautiful. If you wish to look at area rugs online Capel has a nice website for doing so. I do not know your location but we have some amazing specialty rug stores, one is Rug and Home with three locations but they do not have all their rugs online unfortunately.

I think your paneling could stand alone without art actually. And you might want to purchase a decorative easel for Art if you have room after purchasing your dining room set if you go that route. I really think once you get an area rug the color of your dining room set would look fine; but, of course, you might find a better style. Some of the best furniture manufacturers for fine furniture are Drexel, Thomasville, Lane and Henredon (Henredon is very expensive) Most of these manufacturers still make furniture in the US. They all have websites with store locators. I have known many people who actually travelled to NC to buy furniture and have it shipped. Houssan has great pics of dining room suits and it reminds me that I really like parsons chairs to break up the monotony of wood dining room sets; and you may want to since there is so much wood in your room. Carrington Direct make great parsons chairs - I have them in black leather. They are online and ship.

Have fun! and share your after pics.

drenah, I know what you mean about the decorative knobs/posts...for my way of thinking it would take away a little from the nice moldings that you already have going on. I would go for a plain or fluted wooden rod probably 2" diameter there, or you could go with skinny metal for a more up to date look.
But it's your call entirely.

Beautiful room! I envy your dilemma. :)

If you do stain the furniture yourself, be careful of the upholstery on those chairs--it would be easy for the fabric to get unintentionally stained as well.

Staining is not difficult or expensive. Either do it outdoors or in a well-ventilated area. It would be the least expensive option if you want to keep your current furniture. Or, you could keep the hutch, but sell the chairs and replace them with ones that fit the more formal style of the paneling.

Hope this helps. I'm interested to see what solution you decide upon.

Just a quick comment regarding furniture. The hutch is the piece that I would look at closeley because if it is taller than the panels it will look out of place...maybe do a buffet/credenza

I like your hutch, but it is too tall. You need a buffet, because a short squatty hutch will just look underscale in this room. Sell your furniture, or use it in the breakfast area, and do justice to this wonderful room!

Beautiful, grand room! I think you need a larger table and a shorter buffet. Do you need curtains for privacy or light control? If not, dont bother.

Awesome room!
Rectangular rug a few inches from the dark border. I think your furniture works...just need to make sure the table and chairs fit nicely on the rug. Perhaps stain the furniture darker and put a dressier fabric on the chairs. Can you remove the hutch? It looks too country for the space. Also, I'd like to see the console on the wall opposite your entrance in that niche...Art above with buffet lamps.

I wouldn't put a rug in that room and cover that beautiful floor. I'd also be concerned about the amount of sunlight coming into the room and the rug leaving you a floor that has not faded evenly. Love the panels there beautiful. Maybe replace the chandelier for a larger but less heavy looking one. I'd suggest a buffet and side board instead of the hutch/china cabinet.

Thanks for all the input. Very helpful. I think I will move the furniture to my breakfast area and buy new.

For rugs, would you recommend staying away from those that are brown based? Do you recommend finding the rug first or finding the fabric I like for draperies/chairs?

I think the right rug, particularly Orientals are more difficult to find so I would start with a rug for color inspiration. I love the rich look of this rug from Home Decorators. It has a touch of burgundy to complement the decorative wood border of your floor.

What a room you have! Beautiful! I would buy a rectangular table and put armless chairs along the sides and use velvet wingback style chairs/or tufted leather chairs at the heads of the table in a color from your drapery panel choice. If you do a print on th drapes, do a solid on the chairs and vice versa.
Love the rug suggestion from michigammemom above!

Maybe you could place a mirror above the buffet, when, or if you get one to break up the paneling. 2 beautiful ARTISTIC lamps on each end of that.....and if you can find a fairly large piece of floor sculpture to put in the corner to the left or right of the window, that's another way to add some art without taking away from the walls.

Wow, I'm impressed that this is a new house. Looks very 1920's mixed revival to me, with strong Craftsman overtones. I would love to have something like this!

I love the Craftman influenced rugs--sort of stylized orientals and such, and Pottery Barn has a nice selection at reasonable prices. I find that One King's Lane flash sales has a lot of nice rugs too. Depending on the size of your table, I think you can go to within about 6' of the border if you wanted, but something smaller would do because the room is large. I would even consider going with a floorcloth (so much easier to clean) or doing without a rug and focusing on the tabletop, especially if you use this room a lot.

I think your table and chairs could be fine with different, richer and more colorful, upholstery and taking the top off of the hutch off . Be careful with the scale and style of anything new. The woods don't have to match, but it is probably best not to get too elaborate or heavy to detract from the setting, and I would stay away from Queen Anne styles. Something kind of chunky and rustic could look great. I would avoid going too Tudor or you will end up with something very heavy, but a trestle table and some Jacobean chairs could work.

Historically, tall paneling like this was topped with a plate rail, and you could do that if you have some nice pieces. Also, this space was reserved for stenciling or a border treatment, such as you would see in the Bradbury and Bradbury wallpaper catalogues, and pictures were hung from hooks attached to a picture rail. You can also find some great stuff searching for Prairie, Arts and Crafts, and Revival stencils.

This Old House and Arts and Crafts homes websites are also good sources to educate yourself on the aethetic of the period that inspired your house. You don't have to go totally traditional, but the use of color and pattern is rich and interesting, and can be quite modern looking if you don't go overboard. The top two example below are very traditional from Bradbury and Bradbury, which is based on historical examples. Remove a few layers and it will look more modern..

BTW the ceiling could go a color too, and would look wonderful at night.

As for window treatments, I would keep it simple. Honestly it is so pretty I don't think you need any--maybe a simple cafe curtain like in the right picture, that doesn't cover the beautiful casing. These are stenciled, which might be a nice touch if you go for a stencil geometric above the plate rail. I would use simple cast-iron type rods, or maybe a wood rod with curtain rings.

You can find lots of ideas on Houzz (search for Arts and Crafts dining rooms) and Pininterest http://pinterest.com/craftsmanjunky/craftsman-dining-rooms/

It could also go kind of 30's glam with some simple upholstered seats, white tablecloth, nice silver and glass on top--sort of like a very upscale old fashioned restaurant.

It is such a lovely room, buying new, if it fits the budget, is probably a good idea. One thought? Do you entertain a lot? Do you need a formal dining room? Could this become a combo room?

i love the idea of a round table. there are so many squares and rectangles in the paneling and the shape of the room so i think a round table will soften it. SImilarly, i would bring in upholstered chairs again to soften and brighten. maybe also consider a sparkly chandelier for a touch of glam. add some color somewhere, either in upholstery, carpet, curtain panels or accessories. i would not hang anything high on walls. good luck. the room is beautiful.

If you are interested: http://www.bradbury.com/ac.html

Your table looks like it might be a little small for the room...but I am not sure because I can not see the whole room in the photo you show of the table. If you feel the table is big enough (maybe you need to add the leaves) you could have the table painted or even a high gloss lacquer like navy or red or black...depending on your color scheme. And then buy upholstered dining chairs to go with i some rich damask or velvet as someone has previously suggested. Otherwise, I would buy new. The room is beautiful so you don't want to dilute that. I feel the lighter wood does not really go well with all the dark wood and yet I am not sure if dark wood would be the answer either since then you will have so much of it.

What a lovely room.

If it were in my home I would purchase a rectagular rug that is slightly smaller than the border or that fit just inside it, but it would have to be a perfect fit. (see picture)

As for art work above the panels, absolutely! I would find or have frames made that are the exact dimensions of the square panels and hang a picture directly above each one forming a beautiful gallery. (see picture for general idea)

I would paint the room in this saturated, rich green: http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/darkcelery

Purchasing new furniture would be a wise decision. I agree with others that your existing china cabinet is much to tall and a buffett would be a better choice. As you said, darker wood would better suit the space.

It might save you from making costly mistakes if you were to consult with an interior designer.