Center the rug and table under the chandelier first. Then place the other pieces, including the chairs, where they will fit without blocking the traffic pattern. If you have too many pieces for the dining area, repurpose one item for use in another room.

I would paint the wall the cream color from the rug. Reupholster chairs (or get slipcovers) in a light blue. Roman shades would be nice on the windows due to rad & ac.

Dwell Studio fabrics for roman shades

(unless your mom is paying your mortgage, you dont need to have anything in your dining room thats not to your taste. life is too short! "what has to stay" completely swamps any possibility of a different look.)

Remove curtains and knicknacks. Prime the walls in white. Use a lighter shade of the blue paint in the adjacent room for the walls with a classic white ceiling and trim. A good shade of lighter blue is probably two shades up on the same paint chip card as the current blue.

If your china cabinet has lights, put them on a timer so they come on at times when you are using the room, like breakfast time or dinner time.

jck910 I love both of the fabrics, especially the second sample. ninigret, you are absolutely right. I am getting rid of the light and sconces and having the new light fixture centered over the table.

We recommend centering the table under the chandelier. That's the first thing. Then paint the room a lighter color. Perhaps the lightest color in the rug?

Agree with the other designers. Center table under light. Have you considered doing wainscoting? The room is awfully dark and doing a white wainscoting on the bottom half of the wall would really brighten the place up. Next, pull a color from the rug and paint the upper part of the walls. A butter cream would look nice. Also consider removing the door that swings into the room. Next add some roman shades and show off your trim on the windows. Reupholster the chairs, or put slipcovers on them. You have a lot of big chunky furniture in the room. I'd keep the buffet as its really pretty.

Swap the buffet and sideboard places. It seems that the buffet is not as deep as side board,you will have more room around the table or get one out of the room. Remove all artwork wall sconces etc and decorations. Replace curtains with light filtering Roman or roller blinds. Definitely repaint walls in light colour then add you own final touches. I don't mind the chandelier but you have to centre the table. You could get different chairs something like Elbow chair in the same colour timber as the dining table .

I am an antique dealer and often have clients who KEEP rather than sell inherited furniture. Please post your changes so that I can show them how to make inherited furniture work. If something really isn't to your taste, please be honest and post how you were able to let it go. Thank you for your time and consideration.

go with narrow and tall windows http://www.mmtimberwindows.com/projects