Here is a picture of what the dining room looked like when I bought the house. This may also give a better perspective on room scale.

Very pretty. The dining set and rug are perfect for this room and the cream, chunky lamps with wider shades look better. I added the plates to the wall if you felt you thought it looked to spare. Lovely room.

This is SUCH a pretty room, I am envious! I agree with much of what has already been suggested. I really love the idea of hanging some pretty plates, whether patterned or 'plain' I think it would look lovely. I would stick with table lamps since you have the space, but would look for some that are more substantial then what you currently have; taller and wider, and I would space them further apart. And then, since I feel you should keep the symmetry going, find something you love to place in the centre, under your window. I don't know what you like, but maybe a silver tea service (seems appropriate for a dining room), or a tray holding a collection of bottles/vases (in varying heights), a large footed bowl filled with fruit/flowers/shells/decorative spheres, or a wooden trencher filled with something similar? Or maybe a sculptural piece of art? ... I don't know, whatever speaks to you. Again, I think your room is already beautiful and has great 'bones', so with just a few small changes I know it will be stunning! Good luck.

Great vintage home. What bothers me most is the white on the built-in. Is that original to the home? I suspect the trim around the window is also painted original wood. Any thoughts about changing that? The white is too “builder” looking to me for a vintage home. Lots of potential here. What direction are you thinking?

Flo, the built ins are from Ikea. I'm sure the previous owners painted the window's original wood. I like the storage that's available in the built in and the rest of the windows on the main floor have also been painted white. So, I don't think I want to get into stripping them all.

OK, I understand that! Here's another idea to tie the window wall into the built-ins. Either paint that wall the same color as the trim, or wall paper it! Get a great subtle wallpaper (tone on tone) so it doesn't distract from the window, but would help make the "white" of the built-in Ikea unit less stand out. In homes of this vintage, most had very large sideboards rather than built-ins. What other colors do you have in the room or near by. You seem to be drawn to turquoise?

I like the wallpaper idea! The lamps in the original pic are spruce (according to the mfr). This is the rug. The tones in the pic are more gold, but in reality it's more ivory. The walls are celery.

what do you think about grass cloth?

In my opinion for built-ins that wide I would’ve chosen bigger Taller lamps and add painting on each side of the wall or mirrors

Stained glass sconces would take the attention away from your beautiful window. And sconces won't work anyway unless you have an electrician add wired outlets to the wall.

I would resist trying to gold this lily too much! Grass cloth could look fine but not really needed. Two larger lamps , yes. I would consider upgrading the countertop of your built in to real would sometime in the future. It will elevate the look of the cabinets.

W 15" / H 28.75" - $60.

Is this like the leaded part? W 19" / H 32"

ebehlen would you consider adding wallpaper to your wall or maybe change the color color of the paint to make it an accent wall

What if instead of plates [which is home-y and nice] you added simple art / sketch, basically same height as window - and 1 on each side?

I meant gild the lily ;)!

What do people think of these lamps? I like the idea of changing out the top of the built in with a wood top. I also like the idea of wallpaper. I will first be changing out the lamps to a larger option. I had a difficult time finding something I liked though.

Does anyone think that adding two shelves on each side would be a good idea? Thin and long. The left side would hold coffee mugs, pottery, and some plants and a picture. The right would hold some eightball glasses, some scotch/bourbon bottles and some planted herbs.

Similar to these, but only two high? Also, I would not run them to the ceiling.

I like those lamps what are the size of it...what is the height and length of your wall? Adding shelves might be good considering.... I like those shelves but it might be too much.

If you want to add those there’s no need to add taller lamps

Yikes! No. Less is more! No shelves:(

No to shelves. Keep the look simple if you want your window the high light. I think you need to get a bead on style you want. Vintage or modern? It will affect your outcome. Any thoughts?

vintage is more my style

A different wall color and crown molding would dress up the space.

Ok. Let me look for some different options for you. Thanks.

Crown molding for sure. And the last picture/comment from lynartist is beautiful with more substantial lights and large centerpiece. BTW. Beautiful stained glass.

Here you have it with the shelves you like

Here it is with a lamp

Decorative plates

Use white embossed wallpaper, a pair of uplights, large soup tureen, white embossed plates and change dining table placemats to white.

Couldn’t get plates posted on other side but you get the idea.

The uplights mimic chandelier so that ties together. Then everything else go layers of whites.

Here’s the crown

I don’t think you need it.

@Flo, I like how your design really makes the window pop. I like the uprights and the paper. I might like something a bit more farmhouse, though. @Lyn, thanks for putting up crown moulding. I think you're right, not needed!

Be careful you don’t go too far with Farmhouse. Your home seems more refined to me. If you want a more timeless look, stay tuned to the house. The lighting and window are your guides. The reason I selected uprights is because your main lighting is down lighting. When the up lights are on the up glow will frame the window. They are available in different styles, but I would keep in style of window and chandelier.

I keep going back to the photo of the room with the original furniture. This lovely room just doesn’t need very much! If anything, I would try to find a vintage dining set similar in style to that one as it suites the room so well. Redo the top of the cabinets in real wood as I suggested before. Using fewer but larger pieces in here will look less cluttered; but honestly this room looks better with less! I added a couple large plants in ceramic pots to fill in the wall space a bit for you but kept the area around the window clear. I changed the lamps. I hope you embrace the calm serene beauty of this room!

Scour 2nd hand and online for sconces that match the vintage light fixture. Otherwise, leave the window wall alone. While shopping, look for a silver tea service, a lidded tureen with platter, a standing collection of beautiful large plates that have that rosy tone in them. Any or all of these would sit on the buffet, not the wall or too near the window. Keep it the focal point. If you like the look, you might plan to set your table with some pretty pink/rose/red transferware.

Couple great bigger lamps

Wow, celerygirl -- seems glass has soft green and rose -- so lamps seem to go, elegant.

Lantern lamps might also look right for a vintage feel.

Flo had some candle stick lamps that will work too.

More photos to see rest of room - but with neutral wall, I like color. :)

The wide, white buffet built-in really is the reason for the use of whites. Otherwise, it is "odd man" out in this vintage room. Normally, I would want some color, but the stained glass window has primarily white and clear glue glass probably, plus the milk glass of the chandelier, so repeating that brings cohesiveness. You can add some color with fresh flowers or a table arrangement with colors of the seasons for example, but the whites would really help this room shine, IMO. I will admit to bias because I did "restore" a 1900 Victorian and I had amazing (unpainted) woodwork, but the house was dark, so I used layers of whites and all white wallpaper on the walls in a large white on white plum feather design. It was quite amazing, (she said modestly)! haha. So I know this combination really works well. But, of course, it is up to you dear "poster". What direction are you leaning!?

I think the wall needs a change of colour to bring out that window, it is also lacking balance, not sure if it is a good idea, but I would probably add a couple of glass door cabinets to display some fine China ware as shown above.

https://www.houzz.com/photos/chestnut-street-kitchen-traditional-kitchen-boston-phvw-vp~96017 (Iknow this is a kitchen but just shows an example of what i mean.. make use of the empty space)

My plan is to paint the wall white. There are a lot more colors in the stained glass window than the original pic shows. Here's a better picture from spring with some tulips from the garden. I used the original pic to show the wall space. I think I'm also going to change out the hardware knobs on the built in (glass, maybe?). My mom has offered me my grandma's China plates to display on a perpendicular wall. I've also been playing around with different lamp/shade sizes. Eventually, I would like to change the countertop on the built-in.

The window really is beautiful. I wouldn’t paint this room white; it wouldn’t enhance that window and add anything to this space. Changing hardware is fine and the countertop is doable. If you decide to add sconces it’s not that big a deal for an electrician to fish the wiring up the wall. I would invest my $$ in a larger vintage dining set. Look at antique stores and on line for period oak sets that will fill this space better. Displaying grandmas China sound wonderful. I do like the idea mentioned above about making some of your cabinets doors glass for the purpose of displaying that China! As your counters are rather deep you have the luxury of using larger items so try to stay away from small things. It looks too cluttered.

That window is really special and I love it! Such a nice feature to highlight. That photo does demonstrate how small items, while pretty, don't provide the "scale" needed for the width of the buffet and the depth. So you definitely need larger scale lamps and I would try some with the Jade greens in the stained glass window for that bit of color!

Following

You really are going to have to look for very large scale things as this is a much bigger space than most. Try looking in a garden shop for pottery for floral display. Your lamps aren’t really that small but seem dwarfed by this space. You will need to find very substantial ones to look right.

Here's an update... tell me what you think. I'm still thinking of painting the wall white, changing the hardware, and finding a centerpiece. What do you think of a dough bowl or Red Wing crocks?

The lamps are a good scale but not sure they connect with the styling of the window or colors. I am starting to think a dark wall color might highlight your window and chandelier better. With your long buffet top I think matching lamps and arrangements toward each side with centerpiece, long low flower arrangement and or a tray with coffee and tea set in the center would be lovely.