I need help tying my living room and dining room together. I live in a rental house so painting the yellow walls is out of the question (as much as I'd love to make them a neutral color). I really loved my curtains (from World Market) and want to keep them. I recently bought new furniture off Craigslist (a table, six chairs and hutch) which I will have to redo. They're solid wood.

I'd really love help with:
1. What color do I paint the hutch and current side table? The hutch will replace the bookshelves with something on either side. Grey? White? What to put on the sides? Chair? Plant? Lamp?
2. In general, I feel like the two rooms don't flow together very well...is there something I can do to help that? New chair covers? Does the dining room rug need to go? New dining room table color?
3. I have a lot of color (I like that to a degree)...but do I need to tone it down? Pic a main accent color?
4. What color should I paint kitchen table and chairs? Ideally I'd like the table, chairs and hutch to coordinate so that someday we can put them all in the same room. Certainly not a requirement though.
White table and chairs? White tops? Brown tops? Grey chairs?

As FYI, my kitchen has light blue/grey walls, blue and green curtains, ivory and medium-brown cabinets.

Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated!