I know this is the previous owner's stuff, but this doesn't seem the right house for that treatment. If the dining room were separate, perhaps.

Not the greatest picture, but here you go.

Actually I think it might work, because I was thinking GOLD.

Seeing your furnishing would help, though.

My first thought was no, it wouldn't work. But then, maybe, if the gold were not over the entire ceiling. I'm thinking maybe take some molding and outline a space on the ceiling, rather large, with the molding only a foot or two away from the edge of the ceiling, and fill in the space with the gold. That way you wouldn't have to do the entire ceiling, and it would help to create a separate space for the dining room. You'd get the reflections from the chandelier that you want. It would all depend on how the room was furnished though; not every style could carry off a gold paneled ceiling.

I've had a gold ceiling in my library for many years. In fact the ceiling and walls need repainting, and I was flirting with the idea of a complete change of colors; but I always return to the gold and green. This gold is probably darker than what you have in mind (first photo is more accurate), not sure how it would look with white walls; but in the photo of your old house, it really seems to work.

{{gwi:1543065}}

Congrats on your new home! Yes, I think you can pull if off if you add low profile molding to define the DR area. I'd do a hexagonal shape, with curved corners if you can find but straight works nicely, and paint the inside gold. While you could paint the both LR/DR areas without defining the space, I'd prefer keeping most of the ceilings white or cream since the ceilings are low. Go for it!

I don't think it will work. Perspective is hard to see in pix sometimes, but it appears that the prev owner's DR set comes into the LR space, at least past the open doorway on the left. If your furniture is similarly sized, then the moulding would have to go on the LR side of the doorway to split the space - and I think it would not only shrink down the LR feeling, but also look contrived.

I would also not decide on a paint color or treatment until you get the floors in place. You will get color reflection from the floors, and they will change the feeling of the space.

Congrats on your new home!

Les' point may be correct if you chose to outline the entire the entire DR area or if you position your table elongated toward the LR as did the previous owner, but that's not what I would do. I think defining the area larger than your table but smaller than the overall space would be better. Providing you have a rectangular table, I'd likely run it parallel with the rear wall, not perpendicular. If your table is round, you could always define the area with a circle larger or smaller than the table. I'd make a template or use blue tape in either case to see what size works best with your furniture if you like the idea of molding.

Think of beautiful plaster molding, an art form unfortunately long lost but used for centuries to define and enhance spaces. Contemporary homes often use less expensive flat or decorative trim to do the same. There used to be some nice examples here, but I didn't locate them doing a quick search just now, but you can google ceiling moldings for lots of inspiration pix.

No, I don't think it's appropriate for your space. The proportions of gold paint would overwhelming to the space. You can always bring in gold in other ways through lighting and accessories etc. Maybe you could put in in a different room in your house.

I think it could be pretty as long as you keep the color subtle as you did in your previous home. Here's a mock-up. I used the PO's wall color but just a hair darker:

I wouldn't chop up the space with molding. Instead, treat the LR & DR as one space like a chic Manhattan condo.

Deep colors tend to bring things down or in (visually), do you really want the ceiling to look lower still? since the space is long and narrow, I would opt for the far wall in the DR, if it does appear to come in, it's ok there.

Hmmmm. lots of food for thought here.

Thanks for the pictures, schoolhouse. Love, love, LOVE that chandelier!

Awm, did you change the ceiling color?-on my monitor it still reads white.

Yes, chic is what I'm going for (aren't we all, lol).

It still looks white to me too.

I kept the color change subtle because I didn't think a strong contrast would look good. But perhaps that ceiling color was a little too subtle :)

Here's a comparison. I darkened the ceiling a bit more in #3:

Awn, thank you for those pictures!!! If it isn't too much work, would you mind golding the ceilings up more?

The walls will be either a soft grey or creamy beige (depending on what we wind up with in hardwood floors - but I'm leaning something dark at this point) and I'd like the ceiling to be mid-tone.

Will that work?

Does this help Pauline? Maybe someone with better software could do a more helpful rendering. I "neutralized" the draperies.

i really like colored ceilings and think the shade of gold in your previous home was very pretty.... think i would prefer it with a creamy color rather than greyish, unless it was a soft beigey-grey!

Awesome, thank you so much. I think I really like it!
Your efforts are much appreciated Awm.

Thank you Busybee!