Use the red for the valances .. and that gorgeous Toile print for the pillows. I don't care for the large check in your room at all.
Your blue chairs just look better and better lol

Are you trying to match the dining room chair slipcovers also? If so, how about something like this fabric? It's also available in a valance.

Here is a link that might be useful: Country Curtains fabric

Or maybe this?

Here is a link that might be useful: Calico Corners Fabric

What is the look that you are trying for? Right now, the chairs have a very formal feel, but the dining chair slipcovers are much more casual. The buffalo check for the valance would be a very casual feel.

I like the Bosporus, a more traditional look.

Don't care for the red or the beige. Let your pillows have some pattern and impact, since the chairs are so plain.

Right now my computer is misbehaving and I can't link to my usual fabric site, housefabric.com., so I don't have any samples to show. I'll try to get back here in the next couple of days and see about the look you are trying to achieve, and maybe my computer will let me post some ideas from that site.

Many thanks for all the comments!

Les, I'm really bad at all this, but we definitely want a very casual feel for our house and this room. I don't mind the chairs being a more formal as long as I can find a way to make them feel casual or fun. I look at magazine pictures and see all sorts of styles mixed together, but somehow, I can't manage to pull it off.

The dining chair slip covers were supposed to be temporary. I got them on clearance for dirt cheap and figured to use them only while I looked for something else to cover them with. And then the more formal chairs came along, so now I'm all turned around. Right now, we love having chairs in that corner, but it doesn't have to be THOSE blue chairs. So I guess what I'm saying is that we're a blank slate and can go in any direction, as long as its casual. I don't LOVE any of the fabrics in this post, although I do like the Bosporus. The others don't do much for me.

I'm not opposed to repainting the room - people on this board in the past have suggested it - as we intend to get a new kitchen next year anyway, and will probably need to repaint. (The kitchen and this dining area are all one room.) So.....I really can do anything at this point. I just want to do SOMETHING! ;)

Thanks again,
Kim

I think you need a large scale print to join the slipcover and new CL chairs together. However, I agree that I think the bosporous is a bit formal for the space. I can't remember what other accent colors you have, but since you showed one red chair, I went with that. Do any of these appeal to you? They are a little more casual, but still large scale.

http://www.fabricguru.com/cart/index.php?target=products&product_id=53662

http://www.fabricguru.com/cart/index.php?target=products&product_id=57588

http://www.housefabric.com/ProductDetail.asp?ProductID=24466

http://www.housefabric.com/ProductDetail.asp?ProductID=28942

http://www.housefabric.com/ProductDetail.asp?ProductID=24442

Kimberly,

Have you thought about fabric that is modern and geometric with texture? Something unexpected. Maybe with colors that may not exactly match but work. Something modern, contemporary, and fun. It can be something with red. For some reason, I see something with a lime type green.

Mom2Five - thanks for digging up those fabrics! I really appreciate the time you took, however, none of them really speak to me. Sigh. I wish one of them really was screaming my name! ;)

Jerseygirl - I'll have to consider that and maybe look for some examples of what you've described. I like choosing another color besides blue, and I like green, so we'll see if I can find something that works.

Thanks all!

What about this for the valance - a contemporary twist on traditional. I think the colors would work well with the chair covers in the stripe, and also there is a lot of green in the fabric which you mentioned you like:

sea breeze patriot

Then a tighter patterned paisley companion for the pillows:

breeze patriot

along with a solid green or coral lumbar pillow, perhaps with a welting or button in one of the two prints.

Kim, your chairs look great by the window. Of your fabrics, I'd consider using the one you like best, the bosporus, for pillows and the gold/beige for a Roman shade. The large-scaled blue check doesn't work at all for me.

If les917's sea breeze patriot appeals to you as much as it does to me, it would look terrific as full panels on wooden rings hung to each side of the window or as a Roman shade. If you only want one pillow per chair, determined by how comfortable the chairs are with pillows, then you can use the tighter paisley as an accent panel on a coral or green field. At some point, you could use the coordinating stripe as DR chair slipcovers.

I think pillows that are vibrant and cheerful like the blue chairs themselves would be pretty. Here are some examples, just the coloring, not shapes, sizes, or the real life tremendously expensive pillows from Pierre Deux!

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Your dining room chairs are so close.
Isn't there a companion or, at least, coordinating fabric to go with the slipcovers?
That, to me, would be the best solution and would bring everything together.