I would do the same blue on the two dining room walls and change out the light fixture to a down facing unit. Shine the light on the table instead.

Thanks, Lyn! We’ve thought of painting the walls surrounding the dining room but we weren’t sure if it would get a little funky with the lines of the walls bc some have doorways etc and I didn’t know if having that dark blue going up above a doorway and then ending would look good. I like your idea about changing the light fixture. Unfortunately the placement of the light isn’t centered over our rectangle table bc the previous owners had a square table there. Maybe we add a couple pendants to somehow make the placement of the lighting work with our table? Here’s another photo of the rest of the dining area so you can see how the walls are.

And here’s straight on so you can see the light fixture placement dilemma.

You have great break points for painting the room a darker color.

have you ever tried spinning the table the long way and even butting it up to the wall at one end? put the sideboard somewhere else? just a thought.

re: lighting - Could you place 2 lamps on the back buffet - put them on a timer and have them come on every day around 2pm and get some light on that back wall?

I am usually not a fan of mirrors in dining areas but wonder if a large mirror where the art is could help reflect chandelier lighting and the lamp lights?

FWIW - if the light fixture placement bugs you - just get an electrician to move it - it is usually not that expensive

I always want lighting to light the dining table not the ceiling for sure and probably a linear fixture all LED 4000K bulbs will light up the space . I feel your pain I live in a home with huge widows everywhere and even at night it just feels better .There are some really cool linear LED lights that would for sure be better than what you have .I see alot of yellow glow from the spaces next to this so my advice cahnge all the lighting to LED 4000K and add more to the other spaces . I think DR s can be quite dramatic so dark walls can work as long as the lighting is awesome.

If you want more windows like at your previous house, is it an option to add a dining room window(s) on the art work wall? The downside in a more open plan for a room with multiple doorways is that it doesn’t leave you with another great spot for the sideboard.

Consider adding recessed lighting. The DR light fixture is pretty but seems small. Consider a larger fixture centered over the table. I have seen similar fixtures posted in Houzz threads with 6 hanging globes. Add dimmers for all lighting. Or go with something different.

My condolences on having to leap from the 20s to the 90s.

I’d get a good lighting design and electrician. Move the ceiling fixture so it is centered. Install architectural wall sconces that throw light up and across the ceiling as well as down. (Architectural meaning ones that can be painted to blend in with your wall color and are functional rather than decorative.)

The one benefit of 90s vs 20s is drywall is a picnic to cut in to for electric as opposed to plaster!

There are different ways to handle a wall of mirrors to increase the light reflected in your room.

I personally like the concept of mounting art directly on the mirrored wall to visually increase the light and the space but cut the expanse of mirror.

Thanks all! So we also have popcorn ceiling, which I also loathe and makes moving the light fixture more problematic bc patching the ceiling is pretty impossible to do without it being really noticeable. We thought of spinning the table but it’s even harder to get it centered under that fixture that way. We’ve tried one lamp on the buffet and that didn’t seem to help too much but maybe two would be better? And we’ve thought of a mirror though the previous owners had one there and it didn’t seem to help either. Maybe a full length next to the buffet?

I totally agree about the warmth, Patricia. The kitchen is all wood and warm busy granite and the floors are so warm too. I’d love any pics of light fixtures people think might work better. We chose the 3 globes bc we didn’t want to take away from the painting bc we love it but could always move it to another place in the house since lighting is definitely the priority in this room.

Design fan, unfortunately we can’t put another window anywhere in that room bc there’s a bathroom right on the other side of the wall behind the painting and the wall close to the family room has a sewer pipe going right down the middle :/

Thanks, Kendrah. I googled architectural sconce but didn’t see anything that could be painted. Do you have any that you like?

Beverly this is very interesting! I never would have considered but I also think the art on top has the potential to look pretty great depending on how it’s handled…