Tracy your post caught my eye as I too have windows in my eating area I don't know what to do with. I agree with the ideas for roman woven shades or bamboo ones, maybe with a tailored valance at the top. As far as the rug, how about an indoor/outdoor rug? The Home Decorator catalog has some great choices which can be vacuumed or taken outside and hosed off! You mentioned utensils on the wall, as you can see I have that too, mine have chalkboards in them. That might be fun for you and the kids to write the days dinner menus or you could make your own menu wall with chalk paint and trim! I don't know if wainscoting appeals to your but we added it to our breakfast area last weekend (okay we're not quite done but we're getting there). It's completely washable and pre-finished, seems to be made of a pvc type material, not wood, we got it at Home Depot. That would be great for those sticky fingers! Good luck with whatever you decide, please post after pictures so we can see!

the windows are not the problem
the paint color...is not modern
Paint walls a dark grey ie: Benjamin Moore Stone
and whie curtains, maybe sheers from ceiling to floor 92 inches.
less is more....

what about a picture wall of actual family pictures? all sizes and shapes, not necessarly framed but mounted without frame. I have seen this a few times and not only is it a nice conversation piece but keeps memories alive.

If you are staying with the paint color - enhance it with one or two more bold colors in some valances over some wood blinds. Bring some red, greens, or purples in with the mustard color. For artwork I took a picture of all the family sitting at the table saying their prayer for their food. It turned out great! I had it enlarged and framed. Then my daughter in law gave me artwork of the grandkids handprints. I framed them along with pictures of the grandkids in stock pots. If you are not happy with the color - try painting again - paint is one of the cheapest ways to change a look. Once you are happy with your color, the other seems to fall in place! Good luck. Will be interested to see your end results.

Here's my two cents:

1. paint the room another color. Go bolder! Red, bright orange, or lime green. Just go bold. Trust me. The mustard color is conservative and dated.
2. Get rid of that rug! It's pulling the whole room down! Another crazy idea would work well here. Go bright. The new rug you picked out is too traditional. You are taking baby steps. Try something more amazing! Break out of your mold.
3. Another idea for the wall with the clock: chalk board paint. How fun. The house is very stayed...everything in it's place. Make this area break out of the mold. When you walk into this area, you will begin to love it if it becomes a place to contain "things you'd never normally do."
4. Get rid of the light fixture! :) Please, go with something big and fun, yet not too crazy. A giant lamp shade (IKEA has some great over-sized shades that hang from the ceiling) This will keep help tie the room into the more contemporary and conservative parts of your tastes.
5. Is that your only seated dining area? If not, why have three places to eat that are traditional? If you have a more traditional dining room, then this might be a place, like you see in one of the photos above, where you could put two conversation chairs and a table with magazines. How fun it might be to eat a snack or light lunch in a cozy comfy chair! Or have a friend hang out and read a magazine while you make lunch? This area doesn't have to be what the architect intended it to be! Break out of the mold. Have fun. You'll be glad you did!
6. What about a book shelf or a small computer desk in that area?
7. The windows ... I think you have already been given a lot of great advice.

Good luck!

I've put together some favorites and would love to get some more feedback. I'm not sure of spacing or grouping on the wall as it's hard to photoshop around the light. But we're getting somewhere. I thought I'd paint the clock antique white, and I have stuff to create a mason jar organizer, which I'd also paint antique white. I think I'll paint the spoons various bright colors. What a fun idea. Big big thanks to Susanna for most of this. But to everyone else as well for getting my creative juices flowing. I'm attaching pictures of two different thought for the window covering.

PS Oh, and ignore the drapes in the adjoining room. They're not sewn yet. But that does give you an idea of color/style I'm coordinating with. Thoughts on that are welcome as well.

I love the windows with the matchstick blinds, but I do not think that the rug looks good with the fabric cornice. A solid fabric would work fine and also would not compete with the draperies around the corner

I am crazy about the suzani fabric, but I also am not sure if it won't compete with the fabric around the corner (the sunroom - I'll ask questions about that one shortly...). I may have to just get it for another room. But I'll take the green fabric with me to the fabric store to make sure. Thoughts?

The drum fixture is just something I threw up there to see how it looked. I liked bringing in the green from the sunroom curtains. I think I have a lamp shard that I might be able to DIY it with, but I am not sure.

Check around--I think Home Depot may have a 'WOOD LOOK" Venetian blind that actually does look like wood--the bonus is that the slats are wide for a very contemporary look and they are also individually removable for very easy cleaning. I would be careful of the intensity of any poster you put on the wall as it could dominate the small space. The idea is good though (large rectanguler dimension) --because we are very affected by colour, I'd look for a nature theme with perspective to draw your eye in (ex. a winding road through a tunnel of trees with filtered light). Home Depot and floor covering stores should carry woven grass rugs. They are a tight weave-natural colours, with simple black Patterns--almost indestructible (I know we have one in our den where my 2 huge dogs like to sleep--very reasonable$ -3 years old and it looks new. Bonus#2 --in the summer, I take it outside on the lawn and just hose it off-Dries quickly - ready to use again

Tracy that is the same colour of my walls and cabinets in my kitchen I will post some of my wall accessories . Lower white shutters would look nice. My picture did not turn out very well but they are the same wall colours. Just a thought . My clock is very big bought it at pier one

Liked the picture of your kitchen above that was photoshopped but do not like the rug at all. Too busy. Fixture was ok except for color. Looked cute!

Oh no! :) I am really digging the look we've come up with. I just bought that green fabric, so I'm in love with it too, but it was on clearance... So of we don't come up with something else that makes me swoon, I may be convinced to let the green go. This is why I need help! :) Too many great options to navigate through.

So here's a better look at my sunroom. We're not ready to completely tackle it, but it will be painted in the near future. (Wouldn't mind thoughts on that...) But this should give you something to work with on the kitchen colors. I guess I should also include the family room that it also opens up to. Mind you, I'm definitely not loving my curtains there, so that's all negotiable. :) This might also be a game changer for wall color. I'm not sure how I feel about the coolness of the tan against the warmth of the mustard. It's grown on me, but I recognize that it might not be the best match. Anyway, that's a lot of questions in one short paragraph. Thanks!!!!!!!

I don't mean to sound mean but everything is so dark. Dark wood and dark sofas. A soft green in the family room would go nice to complement the mustard. The sunroom is awesome. Even keeping it white and adding bright colors of yellow and greens to pick up the other rooms. It looks like you have very nice furniture in The family room but it needs color. Whatever color you add there you blend I think in the sunroom. A nice rug in the sunroom and if you want nice little valances on the windows or roman shades.

Back to your breakfast nook.

1) Buy a seisal rug edged in a durable fabric color such as the green.
2) Use that green drum lamp. Love it!
3) Get narrow fabric covered chairs to go on either side of your square table. Maybe a green and cream large print fabric kinda like the yellow and cream shown previously.
4) Large art piece on wall with some green in it.
5) Like the cornice...use a fabric that coordinates with the side chairs.
6) Linen roman shades in a singe color to coordinate with the cornice. (Feel the room needs softening.)
7) Add whimsical table decor.

Dark wood Plantation shutters and a new light fixture if you can

http://www.google.com/search?q=plantation+shutters&rlz=1C1CHMD_enCA371CA371&aq=0&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=ADIkUYnpFeTWyQHv6IDgAg&biw=991&bih=702&sei=AjIkUbuqMaW8yAGw5oHICQ#um=1&hl=en&rlz=1C1CHMD_enCA371CA371&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=kitchen+with+dark+brown+plantation+shutters&oq=kitchen+with+dark+brown+plantation+shutters&gs_l=img.12...25255.29753.2.32202.13.13.0.0.0.0.249.1752.0j12j1.13.0...0.0...1c.1.4.img.5AxFguEHp_s&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.42661473,d.aWc&fp=4bc4535b5d6efd97&biw=991&bih=702&imgrc=h2L9xnhC1PbXEM%3A%3B_UdR_qbbxJ3P_M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.eod4u.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2010%252F12%252Fkitchen_shutters_II1-e1358478605857.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.eod4u.com%252Fresidential%252Fshowcase%252F%3B450%3B338

Ciao, Tracy!
Killing time at the airport waiting for my flight, I found these and a few other things added to the pin board Tracy Two. This one is green and gold, called montaigne on Home Decorators for 279.00.

Also, I looked again at the rug you added in your picture and it does have some green and teal in it. :-) Don't give up....it is coming together!

Close up of other rug in your photo. All of your colors in this. 89.00

89.00 is definitely more my style for now. :) And I do like the camouflaging qualities this one seems to have. We just got rid of a sisal rug that had many bits of food ground into its fibers... Not a good look.

So I found a picture my middle daughter painted, and replaced an older picture with muted colors. This new one is dark blue and orange on a vibrant teal background. It totally goes with the POW color on the walls, and makes me love that rug even more. And also has got me thinking about that kids' art wall mentioned earlier. I've had a change of heart. I think it will add the funky whimsical note I've been missing, without being way out there, and still being very personal. So I'm on the hunt, and maybe I'll just move the gallery wall from the play room down here. That means the clock probably has to find a new home for sure. I might fit a clock in among the pictures, but might not.

I'm digging the drum pendant idea. Not digging the price I was just quoted for shutters, so I may go home depot bamboo for the time being, or a nice roman shade. I guess I'm going to need to go fairly plain with the cornice valance since there's going to be a lot of other drama from the wall and the rug.

Getting there (?). :)

Closer..Lamps Plus on the left that you liked for 686.91. The one on the right is from Wayfair, 148.00. Maybe you could spray paint it to get even closer? Maybe a smaller shade inside?

Loving it! I will put that on my list. :) Glad to see you made it to italy safely. Italy is on my bucket list...

Found this on craigslist. What do you all think about this painted black?

Can't see well but I believe a very dated fixture.

Baby steps... Going to find frames for the art (you all were SO right on this). And going to probably paint the shade - this is duct tape... :) My husband thought I had gone crazy this morning. I felt so handy though - I had to use heavy duty wire cutters to make the opening big enough to fit over the fixture. Figured out how to remove the old shade. All WELL past bedtime. Bad mommy...

Hi Tracy,
I'm traveling on to an area with lousy, if any, internet service so suggesting you repin whatever you like off the boards I built. Planning to do a little reshuffling and don' t want you to have to search for something. Pin as many as you like. Looking forward to "after" pictures!

Can you suggest a type of valance? I found the material (well, a remnant piece - once I decide what type of valance to do, I'll go buy more). It's the "table runner" in this picture here. I definitely find myself drawn to more tailored looking valance as opposed to rod pocket gathered ones. And I do like scalloped bottoms and pleats. I want to have a definite look to shoot for before I decide whether to make it myself or have someone do it for me. I'm pretty handy, but not able to do super complex. Here's a picture of one I just made for my master bath, and I'm pretty pleased with it, but it doesn't look professional either.

Oh, here's the master bath one.

Getting somewhere with this room, but still need some more guidance/opinions. I have officially decided to change the wall color. I am going to do it a little lighter, more buttery. Not so orange-juice-y/mustard-y. I just decided I've been trying to talk myself into loving it. (The way the pictures of the whole kitchen came out is more of the color I'm shooting for. For some reason, it photographed lighter. So I like it in the picture. But it looks more like picture of just the breakfast nook in real life.)

Next dilemma: I bought a rug that I LOVED at first blush. Then I put it under the table and moved the old one into the kitchen. I think I'm liking that move, but it's a very different look. It makes the kitchen look a little more formal, which is not bad, but it does make me worry about doing more whimsical in the breakfast nook (kids art on wall, funky clock, spray painted spoons in a frame...). Is that too much of a departure in essentially the same space?

The other thing is that the rug is darker, and has a little too much blue - no other blues in the any of the adjoining rooms. AND it shows every crumb dropped. Don't judge... but I don't vacuum every day. So that rug will be taken back to the store I think, and I'm not sure where to go from here. I want lighter. And something fun that won't be too dissimilar from the rug in the kitchen. Tall order I guess. Or do you think I can get away with the mix and do a more transitional rug with the traditional look of the oriental rug?

This might look nice as a valance.

Loved Keitha's suggestion above. So nice.

Me too. I've gone all around that idea, but keep coming back. Problem is, I don't know how to make one... I guess I've got more searching to do. :)

I also really like this. Something sleek and tailored, but with personality.

Both treatments above are just darling!

Ooh, I think we're finally getting somewhere! I hope to get this rug soon and see if it's a match. Too bad I can't find it in stock anywhere local. I hate waiting! :) And then I have to find someone who can sew this valance for me. It's above my skill level. But I like the picture a lot.

What about Roman Shades with these fabrics? Mouse over the image for a better view.

Please feel free to contact me if any questions.:)

Nophie
Cheery Curtains
Website: www.cheerycurtains.com
Email: nophie@cheerycurtains.com

Roman shades in a cool geometric print would look great. Maybe with a pop of red or orange and a new rug in that color with cool artwork or larger metal artwork. Have fun. I love the wall color.

Could anyone help me find a pattern for a valance like this? I showed the picture to a seamstress today, and she can do it for $60 as long as she has a pattern (pinch me!).

Here is the point I've come to. Lots of changes, but still no valance, which was the original reason for my post. :) I did lighten the paint, and I'm SOOOOOO much happier with it. The art wall is finished to my great liking (with the option of regular change-outs as the kids bring home more masterpieces). The rug makes me smile. I have white blinds on the windows, but took them down for painting, and haven't replaced them yet. SO, can you all help me think through this valance thing? I'm not convinced that the pattern I found above is the look for me. Maybe a simple upholstered cornice? Maybe a faux roman shade valance? Something simple with a bold fabric? Stripes? Lots to weigh. Here's a picture of what it looks like now, along with a reminder picture of the adjacent sunroom with its curtains. Thanks!!!

That piece of wall needs to be attended to, remove the trim and treat it is a pillar ,it looks like someone poked a hole in the wall and left a little piece of baseboard . Next if you have small children a rug isn't what you need since there will be the occasional spills on it . I like what blindsdirec canada has suggested for the window

You have someone who would make THAT valance for $60? The pattern alone will cost you $30. I would use caution on that.

Hmmm, too fru-fru? I just need some other eyes on this I think. I'm leaning toward this picture of what was in the model of our home.

Drape in the picture on the right looks nice. Left pic too fru fru.

A simple white roller with a pattern will help to keep the light in the romm whilst still giving you the flexibility to blend into both the wall colour and the rug. It also will keep the room light and enhance conversations as you sit at the table.

I think wooden roman shades or other simple fabric shades would look good. Where you have the clock, how about some bright poster with appropriate theme on that wall. Something not too expensive that you could change once your room is out of danger from little fingers.

mjolmjol, see new pics with artwork, clock is gone.

Tracy, haven't seen this thread in a while. Love the arrangement of kid's artwork, so sweet, and you did a really nice arrangement there. I don't know what room the round table is in, but couldn't you put another of that window treatment in the other room? You could hide a roll up blind or roller shade behind it if you need privacy in the evening.

If you go with the valance and blind options I have some practical advice. Choose blinds that are cord-free because little hands love to play with cords. Install the binds first. To get the length of the valance measure from a couple of inches below the ceiling to about an inch below the blinds when they at the top of the window.

Doing this will make your windows look much taller and give you full sunlight when the blinds are up.

When you can afford to do so I'd add molding around the windows to make them more of a feature and crown molding as well. Adding the crown as a weekend DIY project isn't hard with the right tools but adding the window moldings is a professional job.

Like children's art but not in your dining room.

Nice changes in walls/rug/children's artwork. I like the idea of a tailored valance and would restrain from additional pattern in the fabric (you have a lot of pattern/texture with the rug, artwork and adjoining sunroom drapes) and I would add a place for the eye to rest. I would use a solid linen, look for a waxed linen for sheen; add contrasting wide flat tape trim that coordinates w/your rug.

Thank you all for wonderful advice. I'll post what I come up with.

Hmm i would use pull down blinds,also paint out your table ,same as the stools