First picture is a similar to mural, 2nd picture is before removing wallpaper several months ago. Other pictures are the rooms next to the dining room. Would only take 4 pictures will add more.

More pictures of area. The dining room has no window.

The first picture is the floor area where the front hall tile, back hall, kitchen and dining room carpet meet. The 2nd picture is the dining room carpet. Plan on keeping carpet in the dining room.

The only idea I have is adding wallpaper on the back wall in some kind of print that has teal and beige with painted side walls. Also, upholstering the backs of the chairs and of course the seats. Have looked for wallpaper but have not ben able to find the right one yet. Need help with wallpaper and fabric for chairs. Or some creative ideas for the space.

If I had that mural on my walls, I would have kept it forever. I'd have probably had to put police tape around it so my kids couldn't have damaged it, but it would've been worth it.

You want to freshen the dining room, and want to keep the carpeting, the furniture, and replace a mirror on the wall. What do you want it to look like?

Do you have an inspiration?

take everything out.. remove the wallpaper and prime the room white.. what is your favorite color? what theme do you want? will you replace the light fixture? curtains? instead of wallpaper paint and use art on the walls and your mom's mirror as a focal point.. starting with a freshly primed room would help you decide what you do and do not want to do..

I found this: a Susan Harter wallpaper mural. I'd put it on the bigger wall.

I'm not exactly sure what you're looking for, but you might want to soften up the look. The particular teal you have there is really, let's say, period to the time it was installed. Not that that's bad, if that's what you like, but I'd go for something like this.

After removing wallpaper and priming

Please add a dozen photos of dining rooms you love to your ideabooks. New wallpaper in updated traditional motifs would be perfect. Page through these photos:

https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional/dining/query/wallpaper/nqrwt

Apple pie, thank you for the link. Some of those I have in my ideabook. I have looked at all of the wallpaper books at our local SW store and only found a few saved to ideabook. Where else can I look? Where to find upholstery fabric to coordinate with wallpaper?

So far, this wallpaper is the best one I have found looking through all of the books at our local SW store. However, it may have too much gold for my taste but I need to think out of my comfort zone which sometimes is hard at my age. We removed the gold stool, sink and shower in the back hall about 6 or 8 years ago because I could not handle gold any more.

That's pretty wallpaper. I have not purchased wallpaper in years, so maybe others have suggestions of where to find it. I believe Home Depot (online) and the big box hardware stores carry a huge selection. I would also visit other paint stores in your area.

Do you have fabric stores near you? Are you near a big sort of city?

Mrs S-we live on 4 acres outside of a 25,000 populated town. The next town is 50,000 population, so not much selection. SW is the only "paint store" close. Do have a Menards, nothing there. Only fabric is Walmart. I have purchased fabric from Joann's 30 miles away in the next town.

that is a very pretty wallpaper - will you do the entire room? just one wall? are you changing the light fixture? do you have any more mirrors for the room? what type of art?

Do you want the room to be drop dead gorgeous and the central showplace? Or would you prefer a lovely room that coordinates with the rest of your house? There's no right answer, it's personal choice.

Blue and green are both very popular now. Although the blue and gold damask is striking, its tea-stained and tarnished appearance requires a different sort of decor to pull off. Your house is more comfortable and less edgy. Try looking at some blue and white damasks or green and white damasks. They are traditional and will coordinate with the rest of your wallpaper and other decor.

If you want a bit more modern, look at Sarah Richardson's designs (you have one picked out already), and see if they look jarring next to your other wallpapered walls. Schumacher and Waverly also have a lot of updated traditional designs. If you want something a bit whimsical, look at some bird wallpaper such as this one:

The dining room feels so cramped -- I can't imagine what can be done to open it up since the table isn't too large. Have you considered a medium sized picture or bay window? And if the view is not so nice - a set of sheers to 'mask' the view, but let in the light. I think that may have been the original intent of the mural. But even a mural will further make this small space feel smaller. Doesn't look like any walls can come down -- but that's what it needs - maybe just a half wall remaining if you have counters on the other side. It feels like a kitchenette, not a dining room. Definitely would not put up any patterned wall paper, even as trim -- I'd keep it light and neutral - maybe a stained wood chair rail -- but not much more.

fifamom-Would you suggest wallpapering one wall or all of the walls? Do not plan on replacing the light fixture at this time. There is an eyeball recessed light which shines on the back wall. That is the only wall mirror in my house besides the bathroom mirrors. What art would you suggest?

Apple pie - Thank you for your interest. I "prefer a lovely room" that coordinates with the rest of the house. I plan on removing the wallpaper in the back hall and painting it beige like the hall that goes to the bedrooms and the front entry. Or would you suggest doing something else for that hall? That hall has 3 doors-1 goes to the garage, 1 goes to the utility room, 1 goes to a bathroom which use to have the gold stool, sink and shower. By the way that bird wallpaper would look good in the back hall. The wallpaper there now has birds.

Back to the formal dining room. I have a couple of questions. Because of the dark oak woodwork, would white in the wallpaper look OK? That is one of my old fashioned ideas which I am trying to change my perspective about. Second question, wallpaper all of the walls or the back wall of the formal dining room only. If the back only, can color be added with upholstering the backs and seats of the chairs? This formal dining room is seen as you come in the back/garage door and from the kitchen most people come in this door instead of the front door.

dvd9r-This room is 12'8"x9'4" and is in the middle of the house therefore cannot add a window. There use to be a corner wall by the kitchen and back hall and was removed about 20 years ago. It was sheetrock for about 4 feet high with spindles to the support beam in the ceiling. This room is the formal dining room and there is also a kitchen dining room in the picture with the buffalo check drapes covering the patio door going to the deck.

I have been thinking a lot about your dining room. It is definitely from an era and type of house that isn't seen too often in these forums. I sense that you don't want to change any architectural aspects--no new windows or passthroughs.... that's okay! That is not a problem! But I do think that you are longing for something more updated, yes? But still something that "goes" with the rest of your house, that you like and are happy in.

I personally feel that my first choice would be to do a mural. I would do it on at least 2 walls, and maybe even 3 walls. It's not going to make the room look small and closed in: The room is already small and closed in. It's going to give you a sense of being somewhere special, and really beautiful. My choice is something like what I posted above, or the 4th picture below. A lovely, muted scene. Note how this is small dining room in the photo, and yet it doesn't look small.

My second choice is to do something large-scale, in the colors that you like. Maybe something like the 2nd picture below. Big, colorful, and again, "special". Not boring! You can accessorize with either gold or silver blingy things, like vases, mirrors, tablescapes. A new chandelier. You are probably going to have to search online for wallpaper. But if you search at name-brand places like Home Depot, and Wallpapers 2 Go, and some other places, maybe you can find free shipping, or samples, or free returns, as long as you haven't used the wallpapers.

Lastly, since wallpaper is hard to come by where you are, and perhaps you aren't so experienced with online shopping, you should consider skipping the wallpaper, and going with a really pretty, somewhat more bold color, and painting the room all over a pretty color just a little brighter than what you are accustomed to. That gives you that "special" feeling that this small room needs, maybe like the 3rd picture. I would consider painting the ceiling a bright gold. Then your family heirloom mirror makes sense in the room. Paint is much easier to match to new upholstery for your chairs.

That's my input.

if you want wallpaper use it on the long wall and pick up a color from the wallpaper on the other 3 walls; i would prime the bottom of the walls until they are white so you can start with a clean slate - order wallpaper samples from online to see what you like; mirror on the long wall with art on either side; 1 piece of art on the short wall above your buffet and you can use battery operated wall sconces to add more light to the room on either side of the art... upholster the chairs in a bolder color and put your runner lengthwise on the table to elongate it.. they sell all kinds online; can you use that light fixture elsewhere in the house and get a chandelier for the dining room? can you add some crown molding to the ceiling? keep your art to a theme you like - floral, nature, animals, etc. lhttps://www.wallpaperwarehouse.com/style/Damask/STYLE_526ac221c94fc?color_arr%5B%5D=COLOR_520b5249b2c97&pageid=1

link to classic wallpapers https://www.wallpaperwarehouse.com/wallpaper-style/Modern-Classics-Wallpaper/STYLE_526ac2c9b7ba1?pageid=2 link to sherwin williams wallpapers - https://www.swdecorating.com/default.asp?fm=/wallpaper_home.asp| choose a few and get samples; i do not know if your SW does this but when we remodeled our first floor i could not choose a color - they have a paint specialist decorator to come to your house - it was $90 for him to come by then they gave us a $50.00 gift card - this guy was awesome - he listened to what we wanted, looked at our floor tiles and kitchen cabinets and the other things we had and chose an awesome color for our entire first floor - CRUSHED ICE - which is a beigy grey and we love it..

Most whites on wallpaper would be fine: it's the whiter-than-white that would be a bit too stark for your house, since you have a lot of off white already.

Others have sent good wallpaper links.

I would pick wallpaper first, then decide on new chair seat fabric. Tied-on back pads are a very casual look, so I would not use them in this formal dining room.

Mrs. S-Thank you very much for the many ideas. That mural is beautiful. Will read your ideas again tomorrow.

fifamom-Thank you very much for the wallpaper links. Have looked at the Damask twice today and the modern-classic once but plan on looking at it again tomorrow. The SW site gives only icons and tried several times to open but does not give pictures. Will try tomorrow on Google instead of the link maybe that will help.