Why did you add the shelf?

You need to have something under the shelf. Right now, it looks as though it is floating, which makes it look top heavy. You need something to ground it, such as shelving that goes down to the floor.

Very sorry........but. Bitter pill here?

This wasn't a great idea. They need the molding taken off, they should be butted together as one, molding reapplied to unify, and then you find a buffet or dresser piece to put below those, a little wider, a bit deeper and paint it to match.

After that? You find a wall to place the entire three piece unit you created. Which will be a china hutch, or curio of sorts.

By the time you do this? It really won't be worth effort or dollars, as you can find a nice tall curio cabinet online, or china cabinet , used on etsy, ebay Facebook etc.

I'm sure you will be mad that I said it, as will others. I would take it all down. Repair the wall and paint. Take some pictures of the whole dining room. There are some great curio cabinets out there - painted, wood etc. Even those should be treated as the name suggests. A unified collection, something interesting or lovely inside. Not " extra storage" : )

Post more pics of the room, and you will get a lot of suggestions as it appears you have some nice art to begin.

Watch for something you can rescue and have fun with instead.....note the proportions below.

It's an unusual set up and so I am having difficulty finding anything similar to show for inspiration. I'm guessing there isn't enough room for a traditional piece of furniture there?

I would try getting some pieces of crown molding and installing it under the shelf to build it up down the wall a bit. You might have to try a few different pieces to get the right look, but it's not too expensive.

like this only the shelf is the ceiling:

You had two floating curio cabinets? I would have purchased a stand alone china cabinet from a resale shop and called it good.

But she didn't. Have any suggestions about what she does want help with?

We need to see the entire dining room from all sides to get a sense of what the space looks like and how this "problem" fits in.

Here is how to post a Design Dilemma to get the best results. You need to show the whole space—all four sides of an entire space—even if it’s about one specific Dilemma.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6417709/unofficial-design-dilemma-boot-camp

Keep in mind that you're inviting some design pros and people with a design eye into your home via photos. If they walked into your actual space, they would take in all of it: all four sides, doorways, floors, windows, ceiling, built-in fixtures, lighting, trim--the "givens"--then the features that can be changed--furnishings, paint, art, rugs, decor items, etc. It's all one first impression. Same thing with photos. That's why it's important to provide well lit photos of the entire space, taken from all sides of a room regardless of the size of your problem.

What she wants is in conflict with what she has. Adding "more" to what isn't working, is not really a good idea, and will not result in a good look- despite it may waste $$

Corbels and shelves will not help the look. She might show the entire room, as well....and it may have lovely possibilities. Just not.....this: ) where even the white paint suggests kitchen and not a dining room. I believe she already knows most of this. Hence, she asked.

This was an odd plan to start so what was the reasoning behind the shelf or for that matter hanging the cabinets on the wall as you did. No to adding more to the mess for sure .

Add base cabinets. Corbels or "chunkier" anything still leaves you with something that's just floating in the air.

May be adding some shelving below help to get balance?

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/kallax-shelf-unit-white-80275887/

Something like that ^^^^

Kudos Celery for taking the actual problem and finding a really good looking solution!

Celery, you always hit it out of the park trying to help instead of shaming posters for their chouces.

Nicely done, Celery!

In addition to the base celery depicted, i would paint the wall between the existing cabinets the same color as your other walls.

LOL....I love reading the comments

I had a buffet underneath the cabinets which was not long enuf The room is very narrow and I wanted the “look” of a wider room. Just not ready to remove the cabinets😩

I am looking for a centerpiece for area under the painting

Whole idea of shelf was to counteract the floating in air aspect of the cabinet s

Clearly that didn't work.

And a centerpiece would work better on the dining room table rather than on that very shallow shelf.

I can imagine some kind of arrangement or maybe a narrow, long piece of some kind. It's a great sailboat pic, you won't want to detract from that or have anything too fussy. Your curios are different than what we usually see, but they are FINE. Maybe something like this:

Love Celery's image! Then, move the artwork down a bit, and add a low, long bowl like Olychick recommended!

If you can't do the full shelf installation like Celery suggested, maybe a wide apron below the shelf would help.

Messy illustration:

You could try something to draw the eye below the picture. I’d try your tea set on the right side of it, arranged in a triangular shape with the pot in the back and the creamer/sugar placed forward on either side. On the left of the painting, maybe a pretty vase or candlesticks. You’d need something with some heft, taller than the teapot. Good luck! The apron above is a great idea as well!

I think I spy some candlesticks in the right lower shelf in the back. They may not be hefty enough but worth trying, with maybe candles that match the color of the teaset. I’d also suggest moving some of your items in those cabinets, such as a few pieces of crystal and the figurines to the shelf where the teaset was. Distribute the bottom shelf items from both sides to shelves above, and arrange some of the crystal in more varied ways among all the shelves. Look for balance among the items so all the doodads aren’t on the bottom.

Sorry but adding more tchotchkes to the shelf isn't going to solve the problem of the cabinets floating in the air.

You stated in one of your posts above that you wanted to make the room appear wider. The cabinets are having the opposite effect. A large mirror might work better to visually expand the room.

New framing of the art, if the art is worth the expense, would enhance the picture and thus the space.. Right now the plain wood frame on sailboat picture relating to nothing detracts. Or a different picture with better frame you have. I do like the idea of narrow shelving below to ground the top shelving. The plain white board palimpsest suggested is also a good less expensive idea.. But what ever you put on shelving must be carefully curated leaving spaces. Not fussy design.

I wondered about removing the picture and connecting the two cabinets with shelving instead of below the cabinets.

So, then I wondered if some type of plate arrangement, instead of the photo, might work to tie the cabinets together. You'd want to pare down your cabinet contents and maybe paint their backs to tie in a color theme from the plates and/or paint the cabinets themselves?

Sorry, I'm stumped. I'd take it all down and let your table and chairs be the focus. They look more modern than the cabinets to me, and I'd lean into that feel if this were my room. Good luck though, truly!