Do you have enough space for a host and hostess chair? Your picture shows only one head chair. Do you plan on eliminating the serving table against the wall?

That is one beautiful dining room! I have to ask the same question as rather, do you have enough space?

I can see a seagrass rug in your space. I love it now, but can see it working well.

Normally I am all for updating, but that is a pretty room as is. Is the rest of your home more modern?

The bookcase has already been moved to another room. The drop leaf table under the window is a bit close. I could move it to the wall where the bookcase was. I thought if I kept them small in scale it might work. The missing chair at the end was borrowed and forgot to put it back.

The rest of the house is sort of freshened up traditional if that’s a style. Except for the master bedroom which is stuck in colonial mode but that’s another post.

I will take that rug off your hands for you. :)

The Gramercy chair would compliment your side chairs. The legs are similar, and the upholstery will soften the space. I like your idea.

The rug is beautiful, BTW.

Someone with a seagrass rug under a dining table with chairs will hopefully chime in. I don't know how well one holds up for dining chairs being moved across it, nor how easy it is to vacuum any foods that find their way to the floor...of course, I'm thinking of my messy grandkids! LOL

Here’s the chair. Or I could go with one of the Jacobean print fabrics. and the lighter finish legs in any case

My experience with Ballard is that the quality is poor. Look at the example chair you posted. The print is not properly centered and their best work should be what they print online or in a catalog.

Your diningroom is beautiful on its own. You don’t need new chairs.

Your dining room is beautiful. I like the idea of 2 small wing backs for host/hostess chairs, but I'd go with a solid linen. (Check Hayden chair at World Market, Pier 1 or Carrington Court online). I'd keep the red rug..it's gorgeous. I had a sisal rug in my living room for awhile and I hated it. Even water made a stain that I could not get out.

I think the Gramercy chair would work very well with your current rug. A little pattern mixing can be a glorious thing, especially in a room that's already so beautiful. And I'd much rather clean a wool oriental after a meal than seagrass...

Maybe just reupholstering the existing chairs would satisfy my craving for a change. The green seats are almost twenty years old and starting to look it. I moved the drop leaf table and now need something to put above it. I have several mirrors in the basement that I could try.

I think the legs look cheap compared to you real furniture in the room and the chair style adds nothing to the beautiful room. I think a nicer option would be to refinish your seats in a beautiful chinoiserie print.

To to me the chairs look like ones I see in Christmas tree shop, target or pier one but with a nicer fabric. I really think the chairs would bring down the elegance in the room. But the fabric brought in on window treatments or chair seats would be stunning.

We were typing at the same time... Yes just redo chairs ;)

Here's the fabric at Fabric.com

Richloom Teahouse Kelly

You could also make a runner from the same fabric, for the main table or one of the smaller ones. Or Roman shades, similar to roarah's suggestion.

Here’s the existing rug.

Gorgeous. Do you ship to Canada lol ?

I've said before in other threads that, to me, Oriental/Persian rugs function as a neutral. saypoint, your rug and any toile/Chinoiserie fabric would go together very well.

I love the look of different hostess chairs, but I don't think those in particular work. Trying to remember who did it well recently for an example. Always love your rooms. That rug is gorgeous!

If you do different hostess chairs maybe go with a less leggy one, or skirted to the floor covering the legs.

I have ten yards of blue and white toile somewhere. I’m going to dig it out and see if it might work. I saw somewhere on a blog or post or magazine about using different parts of a large pattern on chair seats instead of centering a single part of the design in all of the chairs. Interesting idea.

Higher up I think it would work well vertically or even horizontally.

Toile also works as a neutral in my world : ) .

I like it vertically.

I agree, you have such a lovely room and it has a pleasant, effortless look.

The mirror is perfect, vertically.

I would redo the chairs in a print (maybe one with a background that is not as bright a white). I would still add a host and hostess chair to make it feel "updated", but I would not mix woods to do so. Choose a linen to the floor.

I you repeat the fabric window treatments, hang them entirely outside the window frame so as not occlude any light. I am not a big fan of WT personally and I like the window trim in your room, ymmv.

BTW I have Ballard parsons chairs that i have had for 23 years, from my first apartment! I am amazed at how well they have held up and how many different ways I have used them.

Here is a Ballard choice (under dining chairs) using their fabrics (slips, which i think is best for a dining room). It seemed you wanted blue or green and something more modern or more on trend? I know ikat is waning but there weren't a ton of choices.

I wonder if you really need the dropleaf table in that room. It looks a bit crowded there. I would never change that gorgeous rug. I do think drapes on those windows would add so much to your beautiful room.

I may try finding another spot for the table before I make holes in the wall for the mirror. We downsized recently and I have more stuff than space. The sideboard is in the living room.

Interesting comments on Ballard's. The only items I have are in my laundry -- stackable cabinet/drawer and the beadboard drying rack -- all sturdy.

Growing up in North Carolina, known for furniture, I've found that some of the stores like Pottery Barn, Arhaus and Crate and Barrel have upholstered pieces built here. Whereas now, some of the famous NC furniture makers outsource some furniture to other countries. Arhaus and C&B have far more fabric selections than PB. I tend to spend more on pieces that will receive a lot of use, and not as much on seldom used pieces. Of course, I'm the one with temporary outdoor chairs in my dining room until my grandkids can manage to eat without slinging and smearing food everywhere! Then, those C&B chairs will go on my deck and I'll buy indoor dining chairs.

You're smart to hold off on hanging the mirror until you settle on the arrangement. I do love your rug and hope you can make it work with your newer choices.

Dining room without drop leaf table. I think it’s better this way. A bit more breathing room for the table

Definitely more breathing room : ) .

Though -- would the table might be helpful as a type of buffet for some meals?

I thought about that. It’s quite small with the leaves down and there isn’t enough room to put one up. The leaves are huge, each is a single piece of walnut. I stuck it in the corner of the living room for now. There is a table nearby in the kitchen that i would probably use for serving as the surface would be larger.

I used to have a banquet sized dining room and was able to use both tables at the same time. : (

Meant to add, very fresh and airy looking for the new year -- it was a lovely room before and now it's lovely and updated : ) .

Your dining room reminds me a bit of the dining room in the blog "for the love of a house"

I really love your current rug. However, she used a natural woven rug as you mentioned. Again, I still prefer your beautiful rug!

That’s a beautiful room.

I love Joan's house and her blog, but I prefer her rooms with a bit more color and pattern, like her kitchen and reading room,

Do consider a skirted style for your host and hostess chairs. Wasn't there a designer who said something to the effect, "too many legs make a room look nervous"?

Decorator Billy Baldwin (1903-1983).

He preferred furniture upholstered straight to the floor, "believing that too many naked chair legs left a room looking 'restless'."

http://www.billybaldwinstudio.com/billy-baldwin 

beckysharp where did your first photo come fromm? I'd love to see the rest of that kitchen! Love it. Who is Joan?

Joan is the blogger from "for the love of a house"; she and her husband moved to NH from Texas and she started the blog.

for the love of a house blog

for the love of a house instagram

Joan has detailed posts on the blogs for most of the rooms in her house. The first photo is of her kitchen,

http://fortheloveofahouse.blogspot.ca/2011/01/kitchen.html

More of her kitchen posts here.

edited to add: Joan doesn't post much at the blog any more, mostly on Instagram. But well worth reading (and re-reading!) her blog -- the photos are lovely and Joan has been one of the few bloggers to share all of her information (paint colors, sources, etc.), though much of what makes her house so lovely are all the antique furnishings.

I really like your room. I wish I had your room. Someone above mentioned it looks effortless and it really does. I'd recover the chairs if anything. I do prefer the room without the drop leaf table.

What color blue is on your walls? I'm sorry if I missed this but did you mention where you bought your rug? Would you mind sharing? Thanks!

Now that the bookcase is gone, I'd try the dropleaf under the window again. I like it bridging the gap between the two extra chairs.

Just an aside. I’ve had Seagrass in my dining room and kitchen eating area off and on since 1988 when I bought my first house. It does very well in that setting. The secret is not washing any spills right away. You let it dry and then brush with a stiff brush and vacuum. Then you use a spray cleaner and a towel. Works every time and never stains.

Thanks for all of your kind comments. I also liked the table under the window but it did crowd the chair a bit. Jury still out on whether the mirror is too big for that table. The wall color is from the PO but it looks just like Benjamin Moore In Your Eyes. The rug was purchased about 15 years ago at Ethan Allen. Chandelier was purchased last year on Build.com.