Very glamorous!

I like the rug a lot, but can't tell how it would look in your room.

Love, love, love the black! I prefer the ivory curtains.

Sable, thanks for the comment. I was afraid it might it up more gloomy than glam. I think art work will bring it all together if I can find the right things to use in here.

Here's a photo of the blue drapes that is a better representation of the color. The rug would pull this color in along with the wood tones of the furniture and the green of the upholstery.

msrose, thank you! We were posting at the same time. Still prefer the ivory with this shot of the drapes?

Really elegant! I like the rug! Are those "Minka Lavery" sconces and chandelier?? If they are, I have the same ones in my dining room. I really love them! I say if you really love the grey/blue drapes, I would use them. If they were a good price, you can always get the silk later if you change your mind! If you don't use your current pictures, have you thought of putting a large decorative mirror between the sconces? It would be gorgeous against the dark walls and would help reflect the natural light coming in!

bama12. Thank you! and yes that is the Minka Lavery collection. The drapes are really reasonable and can be ordered in 108' length. They would be less than half the cost of the silk fabric (and I wouldn't have to make them), so I am seriously leaning that way. I have a mirror that was between the mirrors previously. I took it down to paint and just put the old photos on the buffet to see how they looked against the paint since I didn't want to put picture hangers up let.

Here is the before....

and the mirror I already have...I think it would need to be silver leafed to lighten it up considerably to really show against the darker walls.

Yep, still like the ivory :)

I like the idea of ivory also. Have you considered doing a gold leaf on the mirror? I love the combination of black and gold because the gold helps visually warm the room.

I would probably not use the photos. You need something more dramatic with the wall color.

Love the gray panels - not loving the photos - the rug is a hard call but could be great if you think the colors work.

Good heavens!

It looks like we own the same buffet!

I think with that dramatic wall color, the gray panels add a very nice touch.

As for those pictures on the credenza? Way to "folksy" for your dramatic colors, IMHO.

As my mother put it, her daughters are "not allowed to hang any more small art."

I think your mirror, perhaps an antiqued silver, would be a fantastic touch.

Really a cool color, those walls!

It was a pretty room before, but the dark paint makes it gorgeous. I really, really like it.

I like the gray drapes more than the ivory. On my monitor, the rug looks very pale/pastel. I would not use the framed photos, but I think the mirror will look great, whether or not you silver leaf the frame.

Candlelight and crystal are going to look GREAT in that room!

I like the gray drapes, too.

I like the walls and the rug! Do not like the blue grey curtains, nor the ivory. . . can you try fabric that pulls out the gold/yellow (not really yellow) color from your rug? I think it would be more complementary to your rug AND the wood tone of the chairs, which is really pretty. That yellow/gold and grey combination is classic and very sophisticated, and you could gold AND silver leaf your mirror---I will post a picture if I can find one, but have seen some mirrors that are sort of both gold and silver and are very nice.

Agree with the no votes on the small pictures/photos on the buffet. Cannot tell whether those are family photos, but if they are I think those are very out of place in a dining room regardless of size, just imo. (possible exception of oil paintings of "lady of house" or ancestors, if you have that sort of house/dining room)

I really like the blue/gray draperies. The color works great with the upholstery & the soft black walls & adds depth to this lovely, elegant , beautiful room. Congrats to homeagain on your fabulous dining room makeover.

p.s. Hope you find your camera. Your lovely room deserves a quality photo shoot!

Wow...this brings a totally different look to the room! I love the rug and think that the blue-gray drapes can work really well. Can't wait to see it all put together!

So gorgeous!!!! I love the darker curtains. I am just not sure of how dark they are. In person whichh ones do you think look better? It is hard when you are not in the room. Things never photograph as they feel. Maybe the tan ones just do not seem as glam.

Love the rug!!!!!!

Cannot wait for more pics.

Looks great! Since your chairs are in the sage and there doesn't really seem to be any grey or black in the rug, I would go w/ the ivory drapes. I like your frames very much but they seem a bit to casual for the style of space now.

I'd like to see a pic of the mirror hanging over the buffet now.

Lets see......I'd try to incorporate the sage color from your chairs as an accent color for the time being. What about a runner on your buffet in an ivory color w/ a silver plated bowl in the center filled w/ either a white & green floral arrangement (something low) or something casual like moss covered spheres?

I'm going to do a similar chair rail in my black LR. My Black LR (I think) leans more towards a casual style and your DR is going more formal but in the end if we emptied both rooms they'd be almost the exact same starting point. This will be fun to watch both rooms evolve in different ways!

Better pictures!

Here's some wall art from other rooms that I am considering.

I have 8 of these Butterfly prints.

I prefer the darker drapes also -- particularly if they're a bit darker than they look in the last two photos. (They look a bit washed out in the last photos.) Whatever the drapes are, the fabric needs to be sumptuous and rich to go with your sophisticated wall color, and the drapes should be lined and very full. Ivory silk could work -- but the silk will have to be *gorgeous* with great texture to pull off your look without looking skimpy. You'll have a lot more budget-flexibility in a darker, heavier fabric. (Think how even inexpensive black pants can look good, but how hard it is to find really elegant-looking cream or white pants...)

I like the butterflies, but would suggest the frames be somewhat more substantial - black, with a gilt liner? Or maybe a similar wood tone to your chairs if you want to warm up the room? You may also want to try deeper-colored mats to give the artwork more visual weight.

The rug you have works well, IMO, though I also like the one you linked.

Though you didn't ask -- IMO, people get too concerned with 'matching colors'. I don't think they need to 'match' at all, so long as they don't fight -- and your colors don't fight. The color-moods harmonize; and so long as they have the same feel (elegant and sophisticated), I think you have a lot of leeway. A bit of sage in your artwork or centerpiece could pull in the chairs.

Above all, *don't* be afraid of the dark. You'll be using the room mostly at night, and by candlelight, what you've got started will sparkle and glow. Trying to 'brighten it up' into a 'day' room will backfire.

Stunning! I adore the gray drapes!

Your room looks beautiful. What a gorgeous, intriguing paint color...does it read more blue/black or brown/black in person ?

I think that the dark drapes are dramatic, just like your walls. I think that the ivory ones work in there, but anybody can choose ivory, but a gal that goes with walls like yours doesn't do what "anybody" can do.

Good job for being so brave, how is your dh doing with this?

I love the darker drapes for same reasons others have said. Here's another idea, just an idea because I love what you already have in there, but what about a green drape in a luscious fabric, sort of sage, but brighter? Then, instead of a rug like you've shown, something in black/white, like a herringbone or even a neutral jute/sisal for some texture.

It really is a beautiful room and I love the mirror on the buffet or hung above it...I sort of like things leaning...not so formal. I also love the butterfly prints (I have the longer vertical one hanging in our MB), and if you have eight of them, they could be a stunning grouping and maybe wouldn't need reframing, since you'd have a large grouping.

I, too, admire your bravery to do this...it really beautiful, and I will enjoy it vicariously!

What a fantastic makeover! The room looks so classy and exquisite. I love the wall color, furniture, and mirror! With the draperies, I think there can be more than one "right" choice. I honestly like both options. You may be in the best position to select since you can see the room in real life and lighting situations. Again, it's truly fabulous!

My vote is for the ivory drapes and butterfly prints. Very nice!

Gray drapes, leave mirror as is and butterfly prints. The ivory drapes just look out of place. Lovely wall color.

I also like the darker drapes. I concur with allison0704 above. This turned out gorgeous!

I think the butterfly prints, even if re-framed, look too light and summery for your sophisticated new room. Just love that wall color!

Wow! thanks everyone for the kind words. I am so surprised by how great this room looks (to me) and I'm so glad that you all concur. I guess everyone that hates it is just politely glancing at the photos and moving on!! Even I'm surprised when I look at the before and after above.

I didn't get a chance to respond to some of the comments yesterday so I am going to do that now before I start putting on the second coat. Let me know if I missed you.

The paint reads blue/black on the wall. In full sun it takes on a definite blue tint in the afternoon. The room faces SW but we have a large covered porch across the front which keeps the room from getting a whole lot of light. The Black Fox I was originally considering was more of a true brown/black.

The ivory drapes shown in the room above are a faux silk in a 95" length that I picked up locally and are rather skimpy on fullness and have none of the natural variations of real silk. It was the closest I could find to the color of the silk I was planning to use. The blue/gray drapes are darker than the last two pics as the flash is washing them out. They are polyester but feel more like a suede(d)cotton and the damask swirls are somewhat raised. Here is an grey moss silk that would work well with the chairs and the rug that is currently in there if I were to try to pull in more sage...

The rug I currently have works with the table/chairs and the wall color (it's dark brown, with sage green, rust, gold and ivory) but it won't work with the blue/gray drapes.
So I would either need to replace the rug or go with another color drape.

But again, in person, the blue/gray looks amazing against the dark wall and I plan to paint the study across the hall BM Duxbury Gray which is a dark gray/green/blue.

I want to use the same drape in both rooms. I would need 8 panels. The blue/gray actually looks good against the paint chip of this color also.

On another note, I found these two runners online that I think could work for the table...or am I completely off?

And finally, the 8 butterfly prints could work here as the colors are right but they were a rather inexpensive project that I copied from a blog linked below. Should I do something bigger more contemporary like one of these from World Market??

Here's the room again so you don't have to scroll up!

Here is a link that might be useful: Butterfly project

Oh, let me add two more pieces of information.

I can purchase 8 of the blue/gray panels and the blue/gray rug shown above for the exact same price as 8 of the moss grey silk dupioni panels I just posted and keep the rug I currently have.

The kitchen and family room located at the rear of the house are painted Duron's Moselle, a sage green.

I love it but I'm partial to grays!

I like the sage or ivory drapes there. The sage drapes give the chairs a reason to be there in that color. The ivory drapes would work better across both rooms. I am not fond of the blue drapes.
I'd lose the butterfies as they are not weighty enough for the new dramatic style.

You may want to try a pewter color for your "leafing". If you want, you could even use that on the wood frames.

I like the darker of the 2 runners and the last World Market picture.

I just want to tell you -- that I love the color, your
dining room looks very elegant.

Beautiful transformation! Love the chandelier and sconces! Yes, to silver leafing your mirror also! I think a botanical gallery style wall with large white mats would add great contrast. Something like this:
{{!gwi}}

I like the first artwork from World Market and the lighter of the two runners!

I love this post as I'm planning on painting my dining room black as well. I have the same white wainscoting as you. I prefer the cream drapes. I'm planning on doing a green drapery something between an avocado green and apple green. LOVE the black walls!