** Just saw your comment regarding the wine bottle. If it has wine in it and it's a screw-top don't lay it on its side. Screw tops should be stored upright to preserve the seal. If it's a cork, yes it should be on its side. Lay it down now before the rack arrives, you want to keep the wine touching the cork at all times.

Sort of a symmetry, on each side of your collectible bottle? Something for a collection-look, to complement your treasure.

[https://www.houzz.com/products/cyan-designs-large-brisk-vase-prvw-vr~29107525[(https://www.houzz.com/products/cyan-designs-large-brisk-vase-prvw-vr~29107525)

HI Lindsey - yes, it has a cork. I'm laying it down pronto! Thanks! :)

heyy, your dining room looks really good to me, but I think you could check some examples of wall murals online and to do something like that instead of the painting :)

Depending where lamps work, the bottle: on other console - it's smaller so maybe 3 items on top of it.

Thank you for your great suggestions, Clarence!

What kind of artwork would you recommend?

For the window coverings - you're thinking off white or cream (even though everything else is stark white?) Solid panels or a subtle pattern like a window pane or something?

You just need a light rug; curtains; and possibly white linen chair covers for the head and foot of the table.

curtains:

rug:

art

chair covers for two chairs:

Ii was going to suggest the same as bar area on right in dining room with eclectic arrangement of art work that intriugues you yet compliments the space. White interesting lamps on buffet/sideboard for height and contrast. Lighter rug in your style and lowering your chandy as looks a bit high but could be angle of photo, Fantastic color to work with and make your dining room to your liking, Adjacent spaces to harmonize your space would be helpful. Inspirations of ideas above.

I think your mirror is large enough. As for art, it's so subjective and dependent on how much you wish to spend.

I don't think your dining room is blah at all; in fact, it is kind of refreshing to see some bold color. Suggestions for art (all by Joss and Main).

Any chance of altering stain of smaller console to a color? chalk paint?

https://www.anniesloan.com/annie-sloan-products/paints/chalk-paint/mini-project-pack

Is there a Calico Corners in your area? If so, take a look there for fabric and find one you like that works with your adjoining rooms, and have custom made curtains made. Be sure to have them INTERLINED WITH BUMP as well as lined. They will hang better and last far longer. You will not regret this small extra expense.

After you have your curtains, think about a rug for the room. You may just want to go with seagrass. Yes, it works just fine in a DR - my DD has had one in her DR now for almost 19 years, and they use their DR often, including over the years with two boys, now 15 and almost 18. It's inexpensive, looks great, and keeps a DR from trying to look too "important", yet is gracious and lovely.

Then buy art or a mirror (or both!) as you find them. They should really find you - you'll know them when you see them.

Are you, is your home "art-ed out" ? Some say you can never have too much art, but you might like a rug with some look, some pattern / color instead of wall pieces. Mirror seems ok, esp. with bottle and other glass... ?

Beautiful chandelier, but I would go for something much, much larger

Also, If possible, I would enlarge the window--maybe even down to the flr or french doors

I think the wainscoting underneath the window is too high and throws off the balance.

I agree with chijim, the wainscoting should be about 1/3 of the wall height.

What about drapery panels like these (they come in dark blue lines or tan). What kind of rod would you get?

I'm sorry Chijim and powermuffin - there's nothing I can do or will do about the wainscoting issue. I can only do things that improve the room the way it is. When I get a big influx of cash (or win the lottery) I have a lot of big renovations I'd like to do - one of which includes turning these dining room windows into french doors.

Everdebz- my house is not arted out. I have a ton of empty walls I'd like to fill and I always hesitate pulling the trigger. I feel like I could use some advice on what works in the room.

Anglophilia - it's so interesting that you recommended seagrass! I've been thinking about that as a solution but I was hoping to find one that looked a bit more refined and not more suited to a screened porch. If you've seen any that would work well I'm very open to that recommendation!

Thanks so much everyone! Keep the great ideas coming!!

I see what chijim is saying, the proportion of the wainscoting is off. Things look more horizontal than they should, if that makes sense. The contrast between the navy and white is dramatic so it is emphasized. I would do as one post suggested, and paint the room one color, or at least, have minimal contrast between the wainscoting and the wall color. Then add drapery panels mounted as high as possible on either side of the window. I also agree that your chandelier is lovely but something bigger would really make a difference.

Your wainscoting is off, but I didn’t notice it until someone mentioned it. I’m not very observant. I had a seagrass rug for years with multiple pets and had no problems. The one I had was a herringbone pattern, and had a finer appearance than some of the lumpy weaves I’ve seen. Your room is very pretty.

On art still - do you really need/want a rug? Don't have to and then art, needed. In a way, with set and 2 pieces and wain. and chandelier you have a lot.

How wide is mirror, and consoles? Would mirror be too much over smaller one? For art impact over other - is that one viewed from foyer?

Your room has strong vertical and horizontal lines which makes for structured feel to the room.....I would add a white background print style floor to ceiling curtains and a coordinating pattern on the dining room chairs. A blue and white rug as suggested above would be nice too.....finish out with clear glass and or plants/flowers on dining table.

In terms of art you could go light/bright/white or with more of a rich, elegant, maybe gold look as a couple options. Examples...each would need to be framed appropriate for the room of course, and these aren't necessarily the options we'd suggest, just concepts...

Love your sideboard. The blue and white make a very strong, pleasant statement. I think your trim out is to be celebrated and painting it all one color and wiping that impact out would be shameful. Other than some softness I think your room is very nice. How you dress your side pieces could be debated for a thousand posts, as tastes vary. I do not see the point of a lamp in a dining room. I would not have anything other than items that pertain to a dining experience on the sideboard or stored in your other piece. But that is me. I do think some softness is needed. I am not usually a fan of shutters but the window and door match so I would be looking at a rug if it were my room. The chandy I would lower and maybe consider a larger one. Let us see when you have it finished.

Your dining room is beautiful! I love the wall color. Drapes and art with two gorgeous lamps flanking would add so much life.

No one had any comments on the pic of the drapes I posted (they come with dark blue stripes or tan/gold).

Trying to post again:

Something like this or a bolder pattern?

I'm leaning toward a natural fiber rug - has anyone seen any that would be more appropriate for a dining room? Maybe something a little less rough than the typical ones I've seen for porches?

Too many horizontal lines with your blinds/shutters IMO and doors

Quite a few responses. Regarding the drapery doing something in the white tones is fine and will show up well. You might have custom drapes made with a banding to match/complement the wall color on the lead edges.

Most of all have the drapes mounted as far out from the edge of your window as possible. At least 10" on each side. Also lining up the drapery rod with your molding at the ceiling is your best bet.

Given you only have 5" or so between the molding and the window using a 1" rod will give you the best proportions.

I agree with Jodie...the pattern will add more horizontal lines, and you already have a lot of them. I found this to be true when I had some buffalo check curtains; when the fabric is hung as drapes the horizontal lines seemed to stand out more. I think white or off white linen drapes are beautiful and would look gorgeous in your room.

Ok, so just plain, solid white or off white panels? Something with a texture? Or a non-horizontal pattern?

Pacific Coast - Thank you for the instruction on hanging them. That's SO very helpful and I really appreciate it! :) I also like the idea of banding in the wall color.

Like this, with a border that matches your walls exactly:

(Could be only the edge that has ribbon, not too and bottom, if you prefer)

While I love to do the banding at the head and hem, it is a fair amount of labor. Given your photo the lead edges will work great. Of course a plain panel or a tape trim etc works fine too.

I think just texture and something to soften the hard edges you have going on with the shutters, trim, and wainscot. I'd go with a nice linen in a white or flax color without the banding, then add a rug with texture, some art, and a nice bowl or something with color for the center of your table. It's a very nice room!

Not sure if you want to make any updates to the wall painting, but we think a lighter shade would brighten up the space...and also help you bring in some brighter accent colors! Just a thought...here's a quick idea. :)

Great looking dining room. Here are two of our dining rooms that might interest you. Note the rugs, window treatments, artwork, wallpaper, dining room chairs, decor accessories, and chandeliers.

^This insp pic shows all upholstered chairs but 2 will do IMO.
Agree with Clarence Vernon Designs about needing two upholstered chairs at the heads of the dining table to soften the look. The window treatments as described above will amp up your rooms style. Large Rug and large art will pull everything together.

What about adding an ikat pattern drape (like this), and a seagrass rug?

These are also kind of cool and unexpected (come in blue):

What do you all think of these patterns for drapery panels in this room?

What color are your walls above the wainscoating? I thought they were green. I like the pattern drapes with the plain rug or vice versa.

the paint in the room is dark blue.

Your title on this thread made me feel you wanted to glam up the room and keep it more on the formal side, but the seagrass and cotton print drapery are taking it more casual. I was thinking of linen, silk or velvet for the drapes -- more texture than color, thought they could be white, ivory, natural or a possibly a color. And hang them high to give a nice vertical line. My vision was simple, understated and elegant accessorizing, not a total redo.

Whether you change the chandelier or not, I would look to see if you can lower it. It looks even smaller when hung so close to the ceiling -- more like a hallway light than a dining fixture. And I would edit your accessories to have fewer, larger and that have more impact. Instead of a lot of little things across the buffet under the mirror, fewer, larger -- maybe a small group of three on one side and a single item on the other and call it done. It looks like you may have a Waterford decanter in the center there and it is getting lost. Show it off.

If the room were mine, I would look to crystal, silver and gold for accessories, taking a cue from the crystal chandelier (if you will keep it or stay with a similar look) and the mirror. An art piece with color on the other side of the room would be nice. If you want to go more casual, then the seagrass, cotton and perhaps wood or metal for a light fixture.

I love the Ikat curtains, I almost got those for my dining room but the background color was off. HalfPricedDrapes.com has them and ships samples for free.

They also have plain linens drapes; I also like the look of plain drapes with ribbon edging. If you’re crafty, it wouldn’t be hard to add to pre-made drapes.

I would bring some color and pattern in with the drapes. A tropical floral with a yellow or soft red background. No rug but some accent pieces (lamps, ceramics,...) that pull colors out of the drapes. Change out the mirror to a large round one with either an antique silver gilt frame. Bar items moved to the side table and set up on a tray with a lovely piece of art above. Two accent lamps on the buffet on either side of the mirror in your accent color or crystal. Good advice on how to hang the drapes and I would invest in a larger chandelier of simpler, more transitional style. Would be happy to provide photo suggestions if you are interested!

I would suggest a light blue and white flower pattern in the curtains to soften the darker blue of the walls and the brown furniture. An Oriental-type rug would go very well with the wainscoting, which I actually find very attractive and classy. The curtains will break up the horizontal line nicely and a colorful rug will also help to do that by letting the eye flow around the room. Wall art will definitely be a positive. I'm afraid the mirror seems too modern and sleek, which also gives a more linear, horizontal appearance.

We have similar colors here’s what I have on my buffet. The rest of the room is a work in progress but I’m happy with how this turned out.

Rug is from pottery barn. I love it so much I also bought one for the kitchen .

Why not be bold in your design choices? Go full on Hollywood glam! Get a bigger, more statement making chandalier. Light colored rug. Replace the four side chairs with ones that are decidedly not part of the set- maybe lucite. Get art that is on scale, and frames it up in ornate gold frames. Get some really glitzy candle holders for your side board that are to scale.

Hi everyone,

What about a piece like this for the wall to the right of the windows to bring in a new color from an adjacent room?

Our living room has gold walls (Benjamin Moore America's Heartland: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/color-overview/find-your-color/color/197/americas-heartland?color=197) and some gold in the oriental rug.

I like it, but more to the point is if you like it!

I do like it. It's very fun. I like color.

My only hesitation is would it be too much to the right of blue/white ikat curtains (keep in mind the dark matte blue paint walls)?

I've never been very good at judging prints next to other prints.

Now that I know you have Navy walls, I like the ikat curtains. I like how it makes your room one of the pleasure spaces and not uptight like some dining rooms can lean.

I totally missed the post about ikat. Yes and yes! The art isn't a pattern; it's art!