Beautiful furniture! Looks like it's in very nice condition! Blue and orange goes witht that dark brown wood and complimentary colors always jazz things up! I could also see a large white orchid with a runner only. Stay away from a tablecloth though.

Beautiful furniture! Looks like it's in very nice condition! Blue and orange goes witht that dark brown wood and complimentary colors always jazz things up! I could also see a large white orchid with a runner only. Stay away from a tablecloth though.

If you love it buy it and play it up! "Funky/fun/modern" reads inexpensive/temporary/uninteresting" when talking about things that deserve to be rich and fabulous. It's ok to create a dining experience that says "I am honored you came" and make people feel spoiled! Which eating at that set would be easy to do!

@Juli - Great idea, thank you!! Since I don't really have any other color scheme going on throughout the house yet, I can definitely add those colors in. I was thinking an interesting tablecloth could hide the "formalness" of the table.

@drdeb1234 - Thank you, I was afraid of that. I do love the set and hate to see it go, but I just can't envision it going with the rest of the house (although, I don't have anything else right now, so there's nothing for it to "clash" with yet).

@arcy_gw - That's an interesting idea, I hadn't thought of that! Thank you. Do you think it would be weird to have that kind of formal dining room, given that the room is connected to/clearly visible from the kitchen and the family room, which I imagine would be much more laid back?

I just want to add: there’s nothing wrong with the dining room being more FORMAL than the rest of the house; but I wouldn’t want one room being very TRADITIONAL in design when the rest of your style is funky/fun/modern.
And even though the rest of the house is a blank slate at the moment, it sounds like you do have some sense of your style. If you’re not sure though, browse the bazillion pics in Houzz and save your favourites. You’ll start to see a pattern of what you like (for example it was only when I reviewed my own idea book of “rooms I love” that I realized practically every room was painted white. I’ve since painted my whole house white and I’m thrilled with it).
Two more bits of advice:
1)Mixing styles can been great; as I mentioned earlier a traditional table and modern chairs is a great combo. But sometimes tricky to do well.
2)DON’T rush! Better to take the time considering what you want/like , than, for instance, hastily making a purchase that you will struggle to integrate into your home. Or worse, feel you have to then decorate the rest of the house to suit it.

Beautiful dining set! You can definitely mix traditional and modern for a wonderful look. Light fixtures, art, rug, etc ... are all factors in creating the look you like. You could go in many lovely directions with it.

Your set, imo, will work well because it’s got kind of an early 80’s contemporary feel to it. I remember as a kid seeing this style of ornate furniture in modern homes of that era (as well as traditional styled homes).

Thanks again @drdeb1234, great advice, I appreciate it! I have 0 eye for design, so while I do love really fun/funky pieces, I most certainly would not be able to pull them off. Maybe I'm more on the side of transitional, but with more color and a few bolder pieces here and there.

I definitely agree with your 2nd point -- I feel like I'd be rushing into buying the table, just because I only have it on hold until Tuesday. While I love the chairs and think the table is beautiful, I'd have trouble integrating it with the rest of the house.

Thanks so much for the ideas @Jilly!! I really like those. It seems like lots of windows and light are a common theme. I wonder if that helps make it feel lighter / less formal. My dining room doesn't have any windows (it gets a lot of light from the other rooms), but I haven't seen how it looks at night yet!

Can you put the two arm chairs in another room, the living room or a bedroom corner? Then spread out the other 6 chairs for some breathing room and that should help the tense mood a little. Are you willing to recover the chairs if they do not fit with anything else in your house as they are?

Rug, artwork, decor items and paint can make this room less formal. If the chairs are comfortable and the price is right, I would buy it.

For me a dining set is all about comfortable chairs.

Trying to "integrate" the set into the rest of the house will make it more formal, if you mean that you will be trying to match it to other furniture. My decorator really disliked what she called "matchy matchy". I had thought she would want to replace my harvest-style kitchen table because it didn't match the new kitchen cupboards in either colour or style. She was appalled that I would even consider replacing such a solid piece that had very comfortable chairs.

The less you match, the more informal your style will be. I wouldn't try to match the kitchen cupboards either.

Don't purchase that set!!!!!!!

Even traditional dining rooms are not necessarily matched sets anymore. I would consider this room below traditional with an edge. Note that NOTHING MATCHES. Not the table, chairs or sideboard.

This would be a more whimsical approach to a dining room and again NOTHING MATCHES.

In this dining room below the table and some of the chairs look like they are from a set, but nothing else in the room matches and they whole setting is more casual with wood applied to the walls as a finish.

Thank you @mrykbee, I responded to your other message!

Thanks @partim! I don't quite mean matchy matchy, but I was just thinking a formal dining set (well, I feel it's very formal... but maybe it's not?) wouldn't flow well with an otherwise laid-back / casual house (probably more transitional, as others have pointed out to me).

Great point, @BeverlyFLADeziner. I do really like the mismatched look, and I think the first and last pictures would be more achievable for me right now. I'm actually happy mixing and matching the chairs, as I would need to buy more anyways for when I can host my family post-covid.

Here's a better picture of the table/set, if it helps:

I think you have to decide if you want a formal set and then imagine how it will work with a teak floor, the casual fireplace, white bookcases, and the space in general. Suggest something more contemporary and perhaps more similar to what you normally lean towards. Mixing and matching allows a table to take on different looks, so easier to end up with a set that suits your taste

Thanks for the feedback @Maureen! You're right, I will need to think about whether I really want formal set or not. I like all of the suggestions posted here, now I have to figure out the common element in each that I like.

AJ, I notice when I click on your profile that you have no ideabooks. Ideally you should start one for each room, then save the pics that you love (or that have elements that you love). But don’t restrict yourself to the pics that people are suggesting here. Browse houzz photos! It’s such a great resource for getting ideas and honing your preferences

Will do, thanks @drdeb1234!! I've been browsing and saving the links in bookmarks, since I didn't have a Houzz account before. I'll start converting them to ideabooks, so I can get a better idea of what I'm going for before I make any hasty purchases. Thanks everyone for the suggestions!

My sister recovered good quality dull and boring dining chairs in a fabulous bright fabric and now the whole set looks awesome. Picture that set with chairs covered in a modern fabric you love.

Thanks @shivece!! Will try to picture that, and see if the set would be more "exciting" for me then.

You can paint fabric with latex paint if you want colour. That's a really good looking set. I don't think you need to mis-match the table and chairs to give it interest. There are plenty of other ways to make it an unstuffy room.

I'm assuming in your new home you'll have another area for dining right away, so I would really take your time with this room.

Thanks for the ideas, I appreciate it!!