nouterbud.......................I like the ideas of neutral color or ivory curtains with a color banding of some sort. From the samples you posted I like the burlap with the greek key trim on the curtain. There is a modern element in your rug, which is the diamonds around the rug. Perhaps you could play up that pattern in your dinining room such as in curtain trims or table cloths or upholtery trims. Another idea could be something similar to the top right picture below showing two simple lines or bands of color. You could place the lines or bands at the same level as your headers in the room. When curtains are draw you have a cohesive banding around the room.

Sorry I don't really need the measurements now, after looking at the pics and finding info. But the close up pics of the rug colors would really help.

i agree with Kevin on the dark colours and a darker base for curtains.. gathered, you can hardly tell the colour.. and opting for dark colours is how your room will look less bleached & more cozier... plus please don't paint your trims whiteee. they are gorgeous the way they are!! imo the dark trims do more for the room than anything else!
imo yellowish walls would be smashing.. with blue and red carpet and curtains etc..

Here's a idea for the painted look for your buffet. I looks great in the silver finish.

Someone mentioned the Pottery barn drapes, and she lined them. They do have a Peyton linen/cotton blend that is lined, and I believe it does come in longer lengths. For a little more money, they have a lined silk drape.
They also have a new linen drape that is unlined, and some come in blue.

nouterbud, I didn't see your living room makeover until now when I saw the post about you refinishing all the floors... nice job, .. then here we seemed to be robbing the living room for the dining room space ( or at least trying to at times LOL)... My gosh, all that floor space refinished for such a low price, what a deal that is!

Im not sure which way you are going with the window treatments, but remembered you liked teal found these , extremely inexpensive and color might work for you.
http://www.kmart.com/summit-window-panel-48-in-x-84-in/p-024VA46686201P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1

Sorry, I just realized that you said you needed longer panels, there are some stock available at the 108 you mentioned in some places.

Great inputs on the curtains, and I do think they would really finish the look. Here are pics of the rug-maybe you can help me with a complementary color for curtains--or a contrasting color...just something that works!! Thank you! I have been looking at fabrics.com and the prices are very reasonable so I may end up making my own custom drapes!

The earlier mention of working with the diamond pattern in the rug also makes sense to me--it would bring out a more modern feel.

The red border on this rug is (in my opinion) basically a "rust" red, where the red borders in the adjoining rooms are much more "pink" reds...so they clash a bit...I also am not really into red, although I wonder if it's the obvious choice for the curtains. Maybe something with red color banding?

chevron in rust/ivory? Or does do you lose the pattern when drapes are open? I think I understand that concept but I'm not sure if it means to avoid patterns, or go big? Or Just use a border?

That's a great color in the rug. If you go to loom decor you can see a large assortment of draperies in varying patterns to get a better sense of what they look like in a drapery. They have several trellis (aka diamond) patterns so you should be able to get a good sense of how the draperies would look. They may have chevron, not sure. I am a fan of either a two tone pattern or an ivory drape with some sort of coordinating trim or color band. Since you haven't decided on a wall color, I would hate to see you limited by your choice of drapery. I would have it in a color that you like and can always see as an accent color. I think an aqua / teal / blue color would work. (It does not need to be an exact match, just in the family.) Red would work as well but if you don't like red I would not pick it just because it goes with your rugs. Of course a grey or a griege or beige or black would work and would leave you limitless in your ultimate choice of wall color.

I would think a Aqua should work for curtains. It might be a bit darker then whats in the rug but I think it will work. Or go a dark gray to silver or black for curtains.

Black and white pics are good, like the brighter carpets from @nouterbud placed under the table and in the living room. Keep all wood the color it is and paint the walls a creamy white to brighten a bit.

I thought the dining room was freshly painted the creamy yellow? I think the aqua would look great, spark of color and a color you like ( if I remember correctly) and can go modern or vintage with it too.

Yes, it's just been painted a creamy buttery very light yellow/white...it changes a lot with the time of day. Mornings it looks whiter and afternoons it looks yellower.

noterbud, which color are you leaning towards? for panels?

I really can't decide...white, ivory, green, blue. not red...

Wow .. lots of great ideas here! Wonderful room .. lots of possibilities! Adding some cloth would help a great deal. Cloth curtains .. a table runner ... really like the idea of a lighter rug under the table.

I've done this trick to help decide on color of things like cushions etc. could work for you... get towels in colors you like and lay them on surfaces or by window and look at them in different lighting throughout the day, so you can try to imagine how it would look , or buy placemats in colors you like... you can always return the ones you decide against. I think since the reds are different in the rooms, I stay away from the red too.

I've even taken my t shirts in various colors out of the closet and used those... maybe not the exact color but at least you'd get the general feeling

Here are some examples in the blue family. Also threw in two pictures with farm tables that show how different the character changes with different chairs. The first picture is from one of several in a home called "elegant eclectic". Lots of inspiration there!

Hello Nouterbud, the patterns and colors in your rug are beautiful. I would not focus too much on the fact that the red looks rust or that the rust is diffent from the adjacent rooms. If it is more on the rust family this would be a complement to the verdigris color you are planning on using on your buffet so in a way its better that is not the pinky tone that is present on your other adjacent rooms. As you said the color of the wall changes throughout the day and so will the colors. As long as you have a cohesive color scheme in the room everything will fall into place.
Some how I can't see dark window treatments in this room but It could work. With all the woods and in trim and furniture I would much rather see lighter window treatments to keep the room light and soft.
Here are some trim ideas and window curtains ideas:

-

thought of your fire place when i saw this one:

Curtain and buffet update! So--I took your advice Julie Williams and got rid of falling apart furniture...the old buffet is no more. But I really DO need a buffet in the DR so I picked up a "new" one at auction for $75...and it's HUGE which is great for serving lots of food (the old one was really not big enough for serving much, or for the space it was in). The piece itself was a bit ornate and Victorian for me, and was also brown, so I took off a piece of trim and painted it a shade close to the green in the rug to lighten it up.

The drapes are repurposed from my sister--the color is a tone on tone vertical green stripe (very hard to tell in the pictures) that is a close match to the buffet and they are really high quality silk, custom made, lined, everything...but am I stretching it too much to use them in this space? I know the rod is supposed to be higher (I have not installed the new rod yet, but it's silver--wanted to wait on your advise about it first) and the drapes should be touching the floor...but this is what I have to work with-so I wanted to see if you thought it could work.

Questions now are, is the new buffet too big for that wall?
Are the curtains too short? Are they too neutral?
Are the lamps too tall? I have a mirror collection to hang but there isn't much wall space left behind those lamps!

And just for kicks I posted a "before" of the buffet.
Thanks!!

Oh WOW!!!! Absolutely love the buffet and what you've done with it. It is fabulous! In the photos it looks great against that wall, but it is a little bit like a giant compared to the dining table. However, it depends on how much that bothers you and besides, it may look very different in real life.
I like the lamps. The style is different, but that's what makes it work from my point of view. I don't think it matters if the mirrors are behind the lamps.
I'm a bit anal about things like this, but could you put the lamps at the same distance from the ends of the buffet? I would put the right one more towards the outside, so it is not in one line with a foot of the buffet. Could also be just something that looks different in the photo than in real life though.

Incredible, love the buffet.

I was hoping for some anal feedback! thanks!! i never would have noticed the lamp alignment!!!

I love the hutch too. Could you put another leaf in the table to make it look bigger and more in line with the hutch? (If you do, I think you need to change direction of rug as it appears to be going in a different direction than the table.) Also, I agree it's fine to have a mirror behind the lamps. The curtains sound lovely - they are very hard to see. The idea is right but they are too short. Adding fabric to the bottom (or top) might be too tricky given that they are striped but you could think about it. Loom decor can give you an idea of how it would look. Overall, well done!

The room looks so much better, It feels fully furnished with the new painted buffet and curtains and of course the new refinished floors. You great at saving money and still getting the job done. I feel a home is always a work in progress unless your rich. lol Enjoy the path along the way ! Your home is brighter now and that was your goal.

I think with the size of the buffet filling that corner, it will look okay with the table turned 90degrees, and add a leaf. Perhaps a large bouquet of fresh flowers in the center of the table would help finish it and balance the beautiful buffet! Great job. Keep working on the window treatments. Perhaps a little bit of red on or above the buffet to pull it in with the rug.

loving the buffet.. great price too. buffet size looks perfect for that corner.. lamps look great too. where did you buy them? i love the lamp shade pattern... i think mirror behind it should look nice.
photos don't show the colour of the curtains but they sound nice.. please do try turning the rug around & how it looks now as soemone suggested above.. also place some interesting decor items on the hutch.. or none at all..
most of all, now do treat the empty space in fire place with candles, hurricanes, flowers & a mirror..

Anything new to share with us? we'd love to see what you've done ...

And how áre you? Hope everything is okay?

Thanks friends!! out of town for a while...everything is great. I haven't done anything new but plan to hang some mirrors soon. It's hard with plaster so I have to get my courage up. Also, stalled out with the curtains. I decided they are too short (figured out they are Restoration Hardware thai silk silver sage) and so I have been searching for something else. But stuck on the length issue. can't find anything reasonably priced at 120 inches. I would really like to just get some white/ivory curtains and paint them (like photo) but I can't find long ones anywhere!!

check out IKEA.com... they have some panels at 118inches... I bought some panels from them $10/ pair, not top quality, but they will do the trick for what I want at a ultra low price!

i looked at those...couldn't find any plain white ones in that length but i will check again.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80063833/
34.99 for a pair, were the only ones I see, the rest are 98 inches long

tried amazon.com?
random hit: http://www.amazon.com/Stylemaster-Tribeca-120-Inch-Grommet-Mandarin/dp/B0065AMNVS/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1369282868&sr=8-14&keywords=curtain+panel+120+inch

Good to hear that you're okay :-) Normally I wouldn't be worried, but... you know... moving around all that heavy furniture and all that...

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Cotenza-Vanilla-Faux-Cotton-Grommeted-Curtain-Panel/6748950/product.html

wow! both of those would work! thank you so much!! no worries....but baby should be here by next month so furniture moving is now at a minimum....

I think I would have the rug going the same direction as the table. Do you sew or know anyone who sews? Panels are easy to make and that way you have the length you want. And you can pull colors out of your rug.

It's been a while but I'm back at this project again! Finally took the plunge and painted the room white. I have lots more questions for you lovely people but I'm not sure of I should just start a new thread or continue this one?? Thanks!

i didnt read the comments, but i LOVE the contrast of the white walls nd wood trim, so rich looking. and love that you didnt paint the woodwork. although i think i would have just painted the wood strip around the ceiling. not sure why...just says paint me white to me :)

Hi :-) Most people will not read all the previous comments anyway, so it's probably best to start a new dilemma. Post the link to it here if you want me to get involved. If you don't... no worries, that's fine too :-) It looks really fresh and light, painted white..Love the skull.

Mirrors, light artwork, a lighter table and greenery always helps. See our website at www.coastalhomedesignstudio.com for some great ideas. We are always here to help as well.

Carolina, I would for you to get involved!!

(Love) for you to get involved.

updates discussion is here! https://www.houzz.com/discussions/wood-wood-everywhere-am-i-getting-closer-dsvw-vd~1224340

I WOULD TRY PUT THE RUG UNDER THE TABLE

Gail Taylor-Gannon - this post is from 2013-2014