Your room is very nice. It won't take much to make it look fresh and pulled together. The style of the art and the style of your new light fixture are not playing nice together. I would also add some color on your table. Pick something that will echo a color from your new art. Someone posted here a while back, "decorate where the people will be". A large feature wall is just going to draw attention away from the dining area and also grab your eye from other parts of the house. It's not going to make the finished, decorated look that I think you want. It will look like a lobby. Your carpet is a little bland and doesn't add anything to the room. Is there wood under your carpet? Can you pull it up and add a nice area rug? What color are the pillows and cushions on your sofa? Would you be happy using that color in the dining room?

@ SapphireStitch While it would be nice to wave a magic wand with an unlimited checkbook - I don't have that. I do have access to some money (got a HELOC). If some of the changes need to be done in stages and can be done effectively - we can do that, because the more money I have to pull upfront from the HELOC, the more I'll end up paying in interest. (yuck). I'm also not averse to acting as my own general contractor/project manager, if needed; I've done that before (successfully) But I'd rather not have to overall manage the project, just because my current employment is a boatload more demanding than my previous employment. The nice thing is that we don't have a defined deadline where "this must be done by" - no one is getting married, boatloads of relatives aren't coming to visit, etc. However, the kitchen as it currently stands is a source of daily irritation. We're getting to the point that if anyone is already in the kitchen, we try to avoid going in there until that person has left the kitchen. Tempers flare....we've got my boyfriend (who was envisioning a quiet, child-free retirement), my teenager (while she's not as much of a drama queen as some teens - she's just starting the teenage years, LOL), and me - frustrated as the primary food purchaser, preparer, organizer, clean-up person. And if my boyfriend happens to suddenly realize his blood sugar has dropped - get the hell out of the way in the kitchen. He's not very good at listening to his body - he literally passed out one time when his blood sugar dropped too low - he dashed into the kitchen, grabbed a glucerna and the last thing he remembered was opening it up - but he woke up on the floor sitting in a puddle of the stuff. (I wasn't home at the time). When either I or my teen are in the kitchen and if boyfriend does the mad dash into the kitchen - we pretty much have to drop what we are doing so he can grab something and while he stands there and he starts shoveling whatever down his throat. And since the space is so tight - it can mean leaving stuff cooking on the stove, etc. One time he dashed in, grabbed a breakfast sandwich out of the refrigerator, yanked what was already cooking in the microwave out, and threw his sandwich in. Anyhow, I digress. I know that some of the things we want are going to be big-ticket items - new cabinets, granite or quartzite countertops, slide-in induction stove. That's why I'm also looking for cost-efficient plans, such as instead of moving the sink to the middle of the room, let's keep it on the same wall and just shorten the distance from the hot water heater to the new sink location. Let's not blow out any of the exterior walls, and we can keep the current windows, dishwasher, and refrigerator. If replacing the 10'x13' current laminate would be cheapest to match new hardwood to the existing hardwood, rather than ripping it all out and putting tile down in a 20'x13' space, I'm fine keeping hardwood. If a nice, medium-stain maple cabinet is cheaper than white painted cabinets, I'm find with the the stained version... I prefer it, personally. Rather than a huge pantry cabinet, if building a pantry closet with adjustable shelves is cheaper, I'm fine with that (plus with all the small appliances and bulk-purchases from Costco and BJ's - I think it would suit our storage needs better). If getting an island fits the layout, but is out of reach - I'm fine holding off on installing island cabinets and countertop and using a kitchen table in the meantime. And because we don't have a "get it done by" date... once I have a really solid design/layout... I have the time to shop different cabinet lines and stoves, wait for sales and then to be ready to capitalize on hopefully a decent deal. I don't know if it's true, but I did see some articles that indicate the best time to shop for kitchen cabinets is November to early January.

Then all the toys stay in the playroom there is no reason to have them anywhere else except maybe one tou at a time where you happen to be. IMO your DR is not a play space ever.Then move the buffet where you have the cubes and get a nice colored piece of art above it . The dog cage belongs anywhere but there the tall piece needs to go . A piece of art where the clock is put the clock in the play room to teach her how to tell time. If you are having a dinner and there is another child bring the table and chairs out for that dinner and then back to the playroom Put drapes on the patio doors to the playroom so they can be closed when you have guests and there should be no toy storage in the DR so just move what you have into the playroom. Also a great idea to once a year get rid of toys no longer played with and we used to only release 1/2 the toys from BDs and Christmas so 1/2 way through the year we would exchange the 1 st 1/2 for the next 1/2 You will find kids play with the same toys for a certain length of time and then they are done. Add some nice drapes to the windows and keep this a nice adult dining space.

Real solutions. : A longer side board unmatched to the table. A new light for over the table. Perhaps a different rug . The bottom line is the room should relate to the rest of your decor, and we've no idea what that is. We're seeing what you are seeing. A sallow wall color, a dim and sad amount of light......a blank wall. ......a printer and toy storage. Appears you need more storage, Whatever happens above that storage is dependent on it's size......length. It depends the rest, and your budget etc length matters ...............