Looking toward the kitchen

If you think the room feels small and crowded, then of COURSE you should remove the little antique table. It looks to me like there's no reason for it to be in there at all.

And square it up, like Donald said.

A large print on the bare wall? Drapery hardware to come down since feels larger without drapes. Thank you both.

I liked it the way it was, but it looks very nice this way, too. I think the bare wall should stay bare, but I might look at replacing the mirror with art. It's not really reflecting anything and art would add something to the room.

Great idea. I will see what I can find.

It looks nice, and I agree with olychick. This may be just personal preference, but I like longer table runners. Do you have one that picks up the blu-ish color from the rug?

Looks great! I’m going to suggest something that might be controversial...but hear me out. Rugs under furniture groupings anchor a space so that grouping doesn’t look lost in a larger space, rugs help define areas within a room. Since your room is already a squish on the smaller size, the rug just emphasizes that. But here’s the conundrum...I love your rug and I love that blue, and in a much bigger space the rug is sized perfectly to the table but in this room, it could be much bigger or not be there at all. If you removed the rug, can you put that blue on the walls instead? From the photos it looks like the two other rooms this one opens into are pretty light in color, what if your dining room were a darker (not dark) pop in the middle of the two bright rooms?

1. new table runner

Changed the top of the cupboard

Do you use the closet?

The cupboard would look better without anything on the top, because it is not really good to draw the eye so high up to the ceiling of the room. Not a good look. I'd also remove the wreath, but that's just personal preference as I don't like to see furniture with things attached to it like a wreath.

I agree that the rug should be removed, it moves the eye "in" and emphasizes the small size.

I would replace the mirror with a piece of wall art the same size, hung lower so that the midpoint is 60" from the ground. That will move the eye "out" and make the room seem larger.

I would keep some type of drapery. The blinds alone are a bit too bare. It could just be something semi-sheer and floaty, e.g. sheer linen. It will add some softness to the room. It could be a color that looks good with your chair seats, which you could recover to give some color to the room.

I love the wood of your table, and I think it looked better without the runner.

@pennydesign, that china cabinet in the closet looks lovely.

Oh dear. It will seem bare. But it will probably look better. I will give it a try.

TheThecloset is used to store extra dishes and some other non-decdecorative items. The cupboard contains a doll collection. The house has a very odd floor plan. I am ready to move!

Donald. I like your idea, but if I can sell this house it would be better left a neutral color. We bought it because it had a basement apartment that served us well. We no longer need it.

Did I miss a comment on why you need the corner cabinet when you have the great,original to the house china, cabinet?

If storage is the issue, frost the glass panes so everything inside need not be perfect.

JudyG, there is no original to the house china cabinet. The white built-in is Penny Design’s suggestion for the closet with louvered doors.

Well, think about that suggestion...the bottom half can hold the stuff you don't want shown and the top can hold your dishes...then you won't have a closet in the dining room. I would be very cute and the rest of your house won't get disrupted too much while you put in doors (or drawers) and shelves. Plus how cute would it be with an unusual color paint(or wallpaper) inside?

These people replaced their closet door with a French door, added shelves to the inside of the closet, painted it a lovely color, and voila - a reasonably priced custom china cabinet. http://myoldhouserestoration.blogspot.com/2014/09/Flashback-Dining-Room-Coat-Closet-Converted-to-Built-In-China-Cabinet.html

Or you could remove the doors of the closet and put a china cabinet or kitchen hutch inside. Re-think your small dining room as an irregularly shaped room with a "nook" area. It would visually enlarge your room and be quite attractive.

Where I live, china cabinets are readily available on Craigslist etc. If it's not the right color, paint it the same white color as your wood trim.

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