Maureen- I love deep rich color and have a teal bedroom. I’m reserving another deep colored room for an adjoining office to the foyer- so this room will stay Wythe.blue or move to cream :)

Colleen- thank you. It’s Ballet White. An interior designer helped me choose it to go with my travertine tiles and honey oak fixed furnishings.

Beverly- i like your first photo, but all of these photos
Are a little too fancy/ fussy for me. Is there a way to make my space less formal despite my furniture?
I have this buffet pinned that looks to me like the one in your first photo.

Thank you! I am trying finding the right wall color for my kitchen below and love your space and ballet white! Maybe:)

Colleen- pretty kitchen! This book could be helpful to you in choosing a white.

https://segretofinishes.com/maria-killam-colour-me-happy-2/

I love mix and match when the match is made in heaven. The West Elm sideboard isn’t the right one. I would take a look at etsy for some finds. Prices will be much less, too.

Here are two sideboards that would work with your set.

If I many comment, I would remove the shabby chic chair covers and find a fabric to recover the seats of the chairs. Easy to do.

Let’s say you went navy blue on a sideboard. This Kravet fabric would be stunning on the chair seats.

Colleen I love your selected cabinet, but IMO it should be longer. 84" or longer.

Carmenita Carlyle 3 Door Sideboard, White Finish With Clear Glass Doors · More Info

Stein World Transitional Jungfrau Credenza In White Finish 17147 · More Info

STEIN WORLD 17332 Marcella 4-Door Credenza · More Info

Riverside Elizabeth 71646 Demilune Buffet, Smokey White · More Info

Sideboard Distressed White Mahogany 4 -Door · More Info

72" L Alyssa Sideboard Hand Crafted Solid Pine Wooden OVerlay Glass Doors · More Info

Beverly- these are beautiful! I will need to measure my space.

Fabric I was looking at for recovering chairs and art-

Judy- these suggestions are lovely- thank you.

My table is 76” long- should the buffet be longer? 82 will fit

Buy art because you like it, then buy everything else that will "go" with it. I think good art goes with any style, no matter the style of the art.

Okay- I am hearing I should remove the slip covers. I just purchased them and still have the packaging. I was trying to lighten the room and help take down the formality with them. This is our homeschooling room too.

Tara- wise thoughts. This thread is helping me get an idea of what will not compete with my chandelier too.

Art sizing- should I be looking at pieces bigger than 40” wide and 32” tall like the PB piece I posted?

I'm really not seeing the teal in this room. I think the navy could be stunning and tie your foyer rug into the dining room. When you post the scaled floor plan you will get a better idea of the size of pieces that will work in the space.

Call me crazy, but I'd get one of the old school big china cabinets with a closed cupboard on the bottom and glass doors on top. You could play with the finish to give it a modern touch. You could probably pick one up for a song on FB marketplace or Craigslist or an antique or used furniture store, etc. To me, that's what would be in scale with your dining set and the wainscoting on the walls. You want to show that trim off, not cover it with a long buffet. Think up not out. If you need a serving buffet, think of something open, like a parson's table. Or a serving cart on wheels, they come in many designs. Or if you're going long, then just stick with that for everything, make it in scale to the room. I wouldn't put two strongly clashing pieces in there and what you have already gives an off center vibe.

You do not want a lot of little pieces in there against the wall with that wall style. Also needs to be in scale to the fact that the wall is cut in two visually. Pieces should either in line with bottom, or take up at least 2/3 of the top. What you have, just peeking over the middle, looks out of scale unless you top it with a piece of art. Your eye should flow along the room, not move up and down and up and down in relation to the shape and size of the pieces in the room in relation to the strong line already running down the middle and around the top of the walls.

Beverly, as usual, gives many great examples of how to play off of the two parts of the walls.

Measurements

Design Girl- I can see that the blue in the foyer rug would be a better color than the green teal to bring in for accents with the cherry wood.

I pink mountain- yes! It does feel off center. Do you think it’s the curio cabinet that is doing this?
My ikea cabinetry is there serving a function- it’s not decorative.
I see where you are coming from with bringing in height. I haven’t seen what the Ballard Design’s designer suggests yet, but she wanted to bring in a tall mirror to bring the eye up.
I’m not sure if I want the fussiness of a hutch, especially with the curio cabinet. Maybe I should try to pass my curio cabinet off to my brother.. Hmmm, I also think my chandelier could look lost with a hutch?
I’m looking for art and agree with the idea of a longer buffet. What size should the art be do you think?

Ah- okay. I think I understand now. A longer buffet with an oversized portrait shape piece of art is what I should be looking for.

Beverly- your suggestions are wonderful.
I pinkmountain thank you for helping me see.

I'm all for "use what you have." The issue is twofold.

1. If you want to go with a long low sideboard on the other wall, with art or mirrors above, then make sure whatever you put on top of the curio cabinet is not lower or higher than the art/mirrors on the other wall. Then the eye will be able to scan along both walls and not move up and down, creating a harmonious look. The baskets are nice but not for the top of the curio cabinet. They blend in too much to the color of the wood, just look flat. Think of the two walls as working together. You can move the eye along with all kinds of accessories, from flowers to mirrors to pictures to mounted plates to mirrors or flat sculptures. I love some of the great suggestions here. But you may have stuff somewhere in your house that will work . . .

2. Since your dining room looks tight, another option would be to ditch both the curio cabinet and the sideboard and get a big hutch with open glass shelves on top. But honestly, they are expensive to buy new, and although you can get one for a song used, you might have to futz with the finish to complete your look, something like "antiquing" or "distressing" and you might not be into that. You've gotten lots of good suggestions for a long sideboard. But I would get something in contrasting finish to the curio cabinet then. If it looks close but not quite a match, it will be disharmonious. Go with traditional, boxy modern will look odd with your trim.

A quick fix would be to put the baskets on the sideboard and the vase with the greens (looks like large eucalyptus) on top of the curio cabinet.

Your house has gorgeous gorgeous bones!!

I have a very similar dining room table and chair set, inherited from my Mom. At first I thought I would just sell it, but since I don't have money to get a new one, it has grown on me. I am thankful for it's solid good looking wood and durability. I have learned that I can dress it up or down with tablecloths, runners, placemats, napkins, centerpieces, chair covers and other decorations, etc.

Thanks I pinkmountain- I will play with your quick fixes to make it more lives me while I sort out my design. I will look for some inspiration photos with a hutch too.

Looking for large art this morning with Beverly’s idea of using a longer creamy sideboard.
Does 40x54 sound right for sizing?
On a 72” long buffet and there is 58” between my moldings.
I keep coming back to teal but I found teal with more blue in it. Thoughts?

My chandelier is 48” wide and I feel like that is making finding art difficult too because 40” wide behind it doesn’t seem wide enough?

West Elm designer sent me these photos

The chandelier, though really lovely, is too large for your table. Maybe there is a better location for it. If your room is 12 x 15 then the fixture should have been in the 27" to 30" range, not 48"

• Yes the sideboard should be longer than your table
• Your sideboard selection design is perfect, so much better than anything I suggested but just too short.
• In my mind, your dining room is intended to not be too formal. That is the reason I suggested slipcovers that don't go to the ground.......tea length, like a semi-formal dress.

Yes- my chandelier is too big. I was so excited to find it on Craigslist that I didn’t realize it was too big until I got it home and then my husband hung it saying if we spent the money on it...This is the only other place it would fit, but I think the Restoration Hardware is working well.

RH in foyer

Beverly- I almost bought these but thought they would look silly. Would these be better?

Not that you're in the market for this, but...

I bet the chandelier would look more in proportion above a round table - 60-in or 72-in. A round table would not crowd the tall cabinet as much either.

mjlb- that’s an interesting idea! I love my table and my chandelier- wish I could afford the medium size in the chandelier.

Note that the photos the West Elm designer sent you that the the space behind the chandelier is blank rather than the design. I still think a painting is the way to go on that wall. And if you found your chandelier on CL, then I'm guessing you probably live in an area that you may find a nice painting on CL or FBMP. I've worked with a few Houzzers that have scored some very nice art off of these sites. Just to have to be patient as I'm sure you know.

Regarding the West Elm suggestion. It's basically something similar to the geometric design of the wainscoting. Not the same pattern, but a variation of a raised geometric pattern done in white. Why put something above the wainscotting that is competing with it. You want a contrast, so both top and bottom stand out for what is lovely and unique about them.

BTW, that piece of white molding along the wall just down from the ceiling is a picture rail. You can use it to hang pictures or other art without pounding/drilling holes in the wall.

Tedbixby and I pink mountain- agreed about West Elm pieces. I see it now- thank you!!
And I never knew about the picture rail! I always wondered about that odd little piece.
So I need to go oversized and probably canvas or non reflective for art.
What do you think of these pieces? They could be 40x60 or 30x40.

I also love Anthropologie’s primrose mirror and the 5ft height one measures 50” across...

I actually have a very similar shaped mirror in my dining room. I'm using an antique dressing table with mirror as a sideboard. I know this seems like nit picking, but here's a little thought from my experience. Don't place the mirror directly across from the seating area at a level where someone is sitting at the table looking across at themselves. It's uncomfortable. I ended up putting a bunch of tall pieces against the mirror to block the view. It just ended up being weird and it wasn't something I had anticipated, but a few other people on this forum have commented about having a similar experience. YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary) meaning it might not be an issue for you at all, this is just my .02, you might find it not to be a problem. Sometimes you just get things because they speak to you and find ways of working them in . . .

Thanks I pink mountain- we don’t often use it as a dining table , more for reading and a desk and don’t use the seats facing the mirror for that, but I was planning on using vases like in my inspiration photo to cover as well if using a mirror.

Ballard Designs just sent me these and I like them. Maybe with some of their blue vases and fabric for my chairs.

I love the Anthropology mirrow - I think the 3 ft one will be plenty large.

.Design Girl- that is good if the 3ft one will fit because the price is more manageable :) Do you think bronze or gold?

I just ordered these curtains - noting it brings in the pattern and white that attracted me to the WE pieces.

I like the gold.

Thank you Design Girl- that is what I was leaning towards too.

This Craigslist chandelier is the right size at 33” and special enough that I may be okay with changing mine out. What do you guys think?

It's a little too ornate for my taste.

My chandelier only really annoys me in photos. I just took a more centered photo and it helped with the balance. I think the primrose mirror will be perfect for the back wall.
Thank you so much Houzzers. You guys are awesome.

I'm glad you decided to like it there; I do too. It is oversized, but all the more dramatic for that. Not at all suggesting that you move it, but I was wondering how it would look in the foyer -- not bad at all, IMHO.

mjlb, I had the same thought!

mjlb- ooh- it is pretty in the foyer!

An idea for art if the mirror doesn’t work out and an idea for hostess chairs.

Not sure if I should start a new post?

But I am sending the white curtains back.

I am thinking these could look nice. Will they compliment my foyer rug?