I would remove them and the drapery valances. I like the look of a rod across the top of the drapery rather than a consealing valance... everyone has their own ideas, but it's your house.

Or a deep color like a deep blue would look nice with a white table

I don't think dining rooms necessarily need to be bright if they are mostly used for dining in the evening. It depends on how the room is going to be used.

Thanks again, Everyone. I know we went off the pediment choice but these ideas are helpful. I should note we have a bunch of furniture (all from my estate sale addiction) but anything could be moved, sold - I’m not home but will try to find some pics of what we have. The oval table I loved. The table in the room was free! It’s seats 8 and has two drawers on the right side (if you’re facing the west window). I could keep this easily. For some reason, my husband is not a fan of round tables - “no one is at the head”. 😕.

Close up of side chairs. Soooo comfortable. Could keep these too. A lil on the less traditional side for me but I like them.

Host chairs.

Make your husband sit on the side of a rectangle table and not be “at the head” and maybe he’ll see how old fashioned that is. For someone wanting a lingering look he’s not very modern himself with that comment 🙄

The chairs look beautiful. Table style looks nice but too severe? Personal choice of course.

A round would be great for everyday. And with leaf makes more oval and hubby gets head of table. Good compromise.

There are many directions you could head, but I thought this combination might satisfy both of your styles. Before you start buying items, find inspiration rooms you are drawn to and keep pictures for reference

following

I think you need to define with words and photos what traditional, less traditional and modern means to both of you!

The "chandelier" your DH picked out isn't really "modern" and it is completely the wrong size for the space. Be careful buying random stuff that you are then stuck working around.

I agree with your husband. I had a historic house and can appreciate you desire to keep an original detail, but the room looks better without the pediments.

I'm also not a fan of your ceiling medalion. Something about it looks odd to me, and it doesn't look original.

Here is idea board picking up on your cobalt blue velvet chair and some oranges I saw in your pictures. Neutral rug. I know I can find great chandelier once main pieces are chosen.

Paint walls SW Full Bloom and do trim in a warm tan color. Add olive tree for greenery and accessories that pull your color palette together.

You have many possibilities and could go with deep blue walls too. I painted our dining room BM Van Deusen Blue. We love it. Creams, woods, whites and seasonal colors all look good with this beautiful color.

@Flo Mangan - thank you! Love the full bloom color. Since the blue is “cool” and the full bloom is “warm” would either work for a southwest facing room? It’s hard to see but the color inside the cabinets are persimmony. My fav colors are ambers, ochres, terracottas and deep blue/greens or celadon.

@chispa - you’re right. I’m shopping my home right now and deciding what my husband and I will both like and what we can part with. What I won’t do is get rid of my Mora clock!

And he doesn’t want to get rid of the Indonesian sideboard. It’s a mix! 🙃

Can’t recall if I asked this before - right now there are two slipper chairs in the south facing window with a plant table in between. Are the windows too low to make that area a window seat? No neighbors across the street - all forest - so it’s a fav place to sit for bit of us.

Oops both of us.

@Flo Mangan - I keep looking at your room! Love it.

I was excited with your Persimmon in your corner cabinets. Such a great color with BM Van Deusen blue. Then you can layer in your other elements. Just keep trim and pediment in trim color to emphasize this original element. So special. We bought a 1900 Victorian farmhouse when we first got married. Loved “restoring” it. It set a tone in our vintage neighborhood than upgraded the whole area. So cool. You will have a great time with this home!!

Once we started redoing the yard trying to capture the “period”, and a lady came by and said, “we are so excited to see you bringing the Shoemaker Home back to it’s original bones. We have some glass negatives of early photographs of the house and yard. Would you like to see them!” Yeah!!! She brought them over and this was the beginning of a 10 year restoration project. I had outlined the original beds nearly exactly as Mrs Shoemaker had done over 80 years prior. Very exciting. Then three home owners near us also began restoring their exteriors and landscaping. It’s now one of the most sought after locations in this little town outside of Pittsburgh, PA. You will be amazed at what you can find out. Local newspaper archives and local libraries are great resources! So interesting!

Such great advice in this thread! I agree you need a plan for the home -

FWIW i love the contrast of old and new, and we live in a 1920’s home - our approach was everything “permanent” should feel original (trim, wood floors, cabs etc) - and furnishings/lighting leaned modern (agree that ”modern” and ”new” mean different things) - I liked the freshness of the more modern feel but also we made sure to keep everything that made the home special (and the next owner could decorate much more traditionally and have a more period home if they desired) -

I thinking have a plan or philosophy (whatever it may be) will help - Make sure you create the plan with DH so you are both on board

If they go I think the center medallion has to go too. That will be an issue to hide what was....

@Flo Mangan If you don't mind me asking what town outside of Pittsburgh? I live north of Pittsburgh and there are so many quaint old style Victorian neighborhoods. I love driving through and thinking of how life was back in those days.

Is this an older home where those pediments were original? Removing them may involve reframing the windows and you would need a skilled carpenter/finish person so walls and frame are not destroyed. I agree the valance is abit much with the architectural finishes. If you don’t need privacy try going without window covering, or replace heavy draperies with light and airy sheers.

Ruth. Our home was in Oakmont. It’s on the Allegheny north east of Pittsburgh. Our daughter is in Gibsonia. Gibsonia has grown like crazy since she moved there many years ago. Are you in the North Hills or further north?

Flo. I'm near the big Butler fairgrounds. My cousin lives in Gibsonia and oh my you get the wonderful Oakmont Bakery! If I lived anywhere near there I'd be as big as a house LOL. I have traveled between Butler and Pittsburgh my entire life as many of my relatives lived in various areas of the burgh and it's amazing how much things have grown over the years. Still can't navigate downtown without major anxiety unless I'm on foot.

Oh gosh! Making my mouth water. Such a great town! We raised our family there and it couldn’t have been a better environment! So fortunate.

Driving in Pittsburgh is a nightmare and it never gets better!

We removed ours and continued trim across

If you post photos of the furniture you already own, I’m sure you’ll get help with placing what would look good in the dining room. It looks like an old house, so leaning into it can work - AND having modern pieces in an old house can work. As long as the room feel harmonious, the actual “date” of each piece isn’t critical.

Our house was built in 2010 and I have several antique pieces in it. I think a mix gives your house character - like the pediments on your built in corner cabinets,

Great idea…@RedRyder. I haven’t purchased a thing - so that’s good. Not sure if it’s the wall color, (too mushroom-y beige for me) or the curtains, and the lighting - all major things - which is why I feel like I’m still making changes.

Looking for more pics. But these are the major pieces. Two slippers chairs are in the south window. If I burned the curio cabinet yesterday, husband would be happy. 😂. So the compromise was to take out my cream Wedgwood Edme set and replace with pottery and masks from his travels - which I admittedly felt made the room less staid.

I’m on the team that says to leave the pediments, for their historical value. If you decide to remove them….save them as a future owner might appreciate them.

That’s quite a mix! The Scandanavian clock is fabulous! Probably need to find a different room for that curio. Could hold bathroom towels if it would fit in a bathroom. If you could measure all wall lengths and do a simple sketch of the room noting all windows, openings around the whole room, I can definitely a scale drawing for you.

Wow the clock is fabulous! A Gustavian table and chairs would work great in the room. Grey chalk paint can turn any traditional English or French furniture into a Swedish piece

Love my clock! Thanks! Curio will go - as in leave the room. 😏. It’s a sentimental piece. First practically free purchase at an estate sale for my first apt after college. Thinking I can put it in our sunroom as a bar cabinet - it’s lighted with 4 glass shelves.

And maybe “less-traditional”
is the better word for my husband’s style. While I did love the curio when I first saw it, I’ll admit I don’t love it anymore - just like it a lot. What he does LOVE is something like this which he’d change in a heartbeat for the curio. And my taste would range from that Indonesian sideboard to a French burled-walnut, marble topped antique piece. Deep sigh. 😃

I was thinking chalk paint in your future too. Maybe washes of some type so wood still comes through but brightens and lightens things up. Especially if you do darker wood table.

Your beautiful home is not new...early 1900's? Leave everything as is (except that off putting chandelier).

I would remove them. Because the bay area is too busy with the two corner cabinets & pediments, the valance over the drapes, the bay window, the crown moulding, ceiling medallion and the wainscot. That and there is yet a third corner cabinet with a pediment in the room. Too many clowns.

You can stash the pediments in case the next homeowner wants to restore them...and, since I like architectural elements as wall art, I would use one of the pediments in another room as wall art, painted in a color complementary to that room.

1939. And wish there was a LOL button @elcieg. I’m recalling the look on my face when he said “look what I got honey.”☹️🥺. It may fit the style of another home, just not this one, I think.

Yea, the room might be easier to design if the walls were a simple white trim and ivory. It’s reading “mustard-y” on the trim on my monitor…? Have you thought about the room color?

Your furniture pieces are lovely!

I love these Swedish Gustavian dining rooms!

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Great pictures Diana. Love the look and jumping off from a great piece you already own Cee Bee.

Agree, Flo. I don’t have exact measurements - not home. But here’s a floor plan. And love those Swedish pieces. Oh - assuming measurements work - would something like this work - could get husband to like this. No ormolu, inlaid flowers - to the right of the west window? Wanted something to serve as a display, storage, server etagere piece.

Nicely proportioned room. And nice storage piece. Hard to say where exactly it would fit without knowing its dimensions and the dimensions of the walls in the room.

I'd probably decide for certain on the table before I added other pieces.

Ok…so being Swedish, how could you not love the graceful, elegant style that accommodates the modern so well. Me thinks that the Danish mid-century influence might easily speak of Gustavian influences …..they are born of the same culture….,I’ll be watching your dilemma/thread.

@pat1250 - ooh la la la la! When you put it like that! Never thought of it that way. The styles should marry well, shouldn’t they? Interesting - the slipper chairs in the window are mid century - husband loves those too. Looks exactly like these - different fabric though.

They are extremely comfortable and you can sit in them for hours. Of course I had to put an Eastlake table in the middle! Mars/Venus! Will look for some inspiration photos.

Pic attached.

Thanks Cee bee. I will try to work on this tomorrow. Much will depend on table you select. See ya tomorrow if I can.

Thanks Flo!! For now, the rectangular table pictured above in the room will be the one. It does has a beautiful grain -a tiger mahogany? Oval would’ve been my preference if I was starting from scratch.