I see you have some really nice pieces - table, hutch - in a traditional but not formal design. The piano is a bit more formal but goes well (to me). But then I would not introduce more periods of furniture but stay in keeping the table.

So hard from pictures, but I think you have sage walls in the dining room and gold in the kitchen? They are lovely colours but do not reference each other.

Don't know the rest of the colours in your house - for example the living room and hall?

For me, I would like to see the kitchen and dining room painted the same colour since they are quite open to each other.

The only furniture I might change would be the chairs which seem more cottagey - beachy - as opposed to rustic colonial like the table.

Finally, they are fantastic rooms but need some oomph - nothing gaudy but something. I think you need a fabric with more texture on the windows and you could echo it with a runner on the table.

For example, what about a set of colonial chairs and you could tie cushions onto the seats in a fabulous fabric. Then use something from that fabric on the drapes?

For example, I noted a bit of red/orange in your painting ..
so what about something like these for a cushion fabric (which would be your accent):
** - you need to click on view repeat to see the full pattern

http://www.robertallendesign.com/trade/fabric_detail.aspx?product=234590
http://www.robertallendesign.com/trade/fabric_detail.aspx
http://www.robertallendesign.com/trade/fabric_detail.aspx?product=227892
http://www.robertallendesign.com/trade/fabric_detail.aspx?product=227743

or you could alternate fabrics on the chair cushions:
One in:
http://www.robertallendesign.com/trade/fabric_detail.aspx?product=231834
One in:
http://www.robertallendesign.com/trade/fabric_detail.aspx?product=231834

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and you pick up one of the colours in the fabric for your kitchen and dining room wall colour - maybe with a chair rail - with the top half being a neutral and the bottom half a soft colour (like your sage, or soft spring green -- something gentle but with life).

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Then your drapes could be in the neutral with great texture and a trim for oomph

like:
http://www.robertallendesign.com/trade/fabric_detail.aspx?product=235959
http://www.robertallendesign.com/trade/fabric_detail.aspx?product=235635
http://www.robertallendesign.com/trade/fabric_detail.aspx?product=231801
http://www.robertallendesign.com/trade/fabric_detail.aspx?product=214787

With a band of trim about 3 inches up from the bottom hem:
http://www.robertallendesign.com/trade/fabric_detail.aspx?product=185230

or a 4 inch strip of this about 3 inches from the bottom of the drapes
http://www.robertallendesign.com/trade/fabric_detail.aspx?product=232736

Then paint your beautiful bench in a fairly neutral coordinating colour - from the fabric.

And, I really like your fixture over the table. It looks just right.

Anyhow, my several cents :-) Just add a small accent of gorgeous fabric and design for cushions and take accents from it and everything will pick up right away. Really, any palette will work as long as it blends with the hallway and is something you love.

Finally, I would make a cushion from the design fabric and place it in your living room just to bring the concept in...

Please show us a photo when you finish your project!!!
Radley

I like your dining room, but you could make a few minor changes to oomph it up. Keep all the furniture. Chandelier needs to be changed out to something more interesting for the room. The scale of the artwork is all too small for the room. I'd select larger more colorful pieces maybe with black frames to add more contrast and interest.

I understand the connection between the kitchen paint color and the dining room paint. With the right art, you might not even need to repaint.

I really like your dining room! It is beautiful. I do not agree about the chairs. I think they add a wonderful texture and depth. I would switch out the light fixture and maybe some art work.

I really love your kitchen and dining. So warm!!

Thanks for the great responses and suggestions. I will give you a little more info. The kitchen paint is Devine Café. We chose it when we remodeled the kitchen to coordinate with the dining room which we did not change. The dining room is sort of mossy green. The pictures do not represent the true colors well. I made the curtains. They are toile.
I so agree with the "oomph" comments. And the observation about the scale of the artwork. This pic of the kitchen taken just as we completed the remodel is a little closer to the actual color.

Here's what I meant about changing out your artwork. Larger scale colorful prints with black frames to link to the finish on your piano, plus a more current fixture over the table. Do not change out the chairs. They are charming.

I love your kitchen and dining room. I think your chairs are wonderful and wouldn't change. I totally agree with Beverly about the artwork and the lighting fixture I love her suggestions in regards to both!!

Love your DR furniture, including the chairs. I'd get a more interesting light fixture, maybe even something like the West Elm panorama chandelier or some of their other fixtures.

I love your kitchen and dining room. You have some very nice pieces of furniture. I agree about the artwork. I also think you could add
some color and interest with a new rug.

Look at this gorgeous antique chandelier. I think it would be beautiful in your DR

Holy cow, you guys are awesome. I love all these suggestions/pictures. The artwork and the lighting fixtures are right up my alley. I am definitely going to follow up on some changes. THANKS a million. Valarie

I think a rug with more depth of color would really enhance your DR too. MOre along the lines of a Persian rug, sort of thing.

Ok, now that I have seen the kitchen properly, the wall colour is fantastic. I would paint the dining room in the same colour. It is warm and has depth and interest.

I still think you need a gorgeous fabric to bring in a design.

And re the chairs. Seems I am alone there in my suggestion. I agree that they are pretty but seem a bit small or low in relation to the table.

What I meant about texture in a chair would be something like:

http://www.houzz.com/photos/dining/upholstery-fabric-

http://www.designinc.ca/tr/tr.php?id=34 (see the 2 different fabrics - you would choose something in a palette you like)

http://www.roomservice.ca/episodes/episodes.php?epid=52&selseason=3

or
maybe just add 2 larger chairs at the end as a statement
http://sophisticating.blogspot.ca/2011/07/setting-mood-seating.html

Then you could carry the same fabric to the seats of your wicker chairs?

Or

Just use a great fabric as a seat cover for your bench and use it again as a table runner?

Your rooms have wonderful elements. Kitchen - great, wood pieces - beautiful, lovely proportions with light.

Also, I agree about the art. Even you did introduce a fabric, you could add a greater art statement...

See 4 prints with mirror in centre of page - especially if you painted the room in the café au lait colour of the kitchen, then you could have prints with cream borders:

http://www.pinterest.com/dallo78/decor-ideas/
or - like Beverly said...
http://deborahwoodmurphy.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/botanical-prints/

Anyhow, please let us know what you decide, I'm sure it will be lovely.

Since everyone has been so gracious with suggestions. What about a centerpiece for the table? I read somewhere that fake flowers are the number one decorating faux pas.

Radley, you're not alone re: the chairs. I think they're too porch-y for that dining room.

Agree: love the wall color in the kitchen. Browns are so underutilized but can be so beautiful.

Thanks also for all the links. I am checking all of them out.

Love your dining room already; the chairs too!
I think Beverly's suggestions are great and might be enough to oomph it up for you.
It's really calm and lovely as it is.

Radley, you can make those links clickable if you use the two boxes right below the message box.

Maybe there's enough room to rotate the piano in the corner. I'm taking a wild guess about the layout and details of your room.
Don't sweat the chairs. Lots of wicker/rattan chairs are combined with dining tables very successfully.
First get the lighting and the artwork right, and then the center piece for the table can be worked on.

I love the color of the walls in both rooms. An easy fix for now would be to bring some accessories to the dining room with the yellow/gold of the kitchen walls, to tie the two rooms together.

I'd get a runner for the kitchen between the stove and island with green and yellow to also help tie the rooms together. Multi-color but with greens and yellows.

When I looked at your first picture, the only thing that stood out to me was how you need a runner in the kitchen. LOL.

Beverly27: What were you suggesting as far as rotating the piano? Your floor plan was right on!
Oakleyok: The runner had not even crossed my mind! :-)
It's funny what we focus on.

I like the lighting choices in the pictures above. The first pic from Beverly27, the west elm fixture from Nosoccermom and the three fixtures in the first pic in the second post from Beverly. What about some of these lighting choices?

I don't think the chairs and rug work with your earthier palette.The beige chairs blend into the beige rug. My living room is warm earthy tones with BM Georgian Green walls, more olive than your paint. Last year we switched from a beige carpet to a darker one. It really grounded the space. Your kitchen tile is a rich brown with gold tones, and I would pick a rug that complements those tones.

I think the chairs try too hard to look eclectic, but the color and shape is too casual for a room with a piano.The rattan chairs in Beverly's last photo work better because they are a rich brown and have a more stately bearing. I think your chairs dominate the room because they are so unexpected and there are six of them. So I don't see that as an asset.

I think those lights have "Restoration Hardware" written all over them. They try so hard to be young and hip and edgy, but then they show up everywhere, so there goes edgy! I like the oblong shapes for your table that Beverly and nosoccermom showed. The first one brings in a bit of the black from the kitchen and the plates on your hutch. Small touches of black could be the color to bring the two rooms together.

ok, there are lot of setting available that you can do to improve the beauty and usefulness of your dining room. some of these are available in this link...

Here is a link that might be useful: Dining room solutions

I think a lower centerpiece would be better so it is easier to have conversations across the table. I have been liking some of the succulent center pieces I have seen recently. Real, but should last a longish time--much longer than cut flowers for example. Fruit in a bowl is always an easy and pretty centerpiece.

I just thought that rotating the piano would be a benefit for the room and the pianist. See layouts

What a gorgeous room. And your kitchen is to die for.

I love your chairs with the table and wouldn't change them. Do they have fabric cushions? if so, what colour? I would like to see a rug with more colour (a stripe perhaps - maybe dash and albert-ish).

I agree the tall centrepieces could go (they don't work with the chairs). I'd do low rectangular boxes. I have some and I just stick in 4" pots of whatever is in season. In the spring it's daffodils, in the summer plain grass, etc.

If you don't go for a striped rug, I'd love to see a black striped runner down the centre of the table to match the valence in the kitchen (at least it looks black and cream on my monitor). I'd cover the seat cushions of the chair in the same (if they have cushions).

I second all those who have said bigger bolder art.

Thanks again to all.
Daisychain: I don't have cushions in the chairs. But did consider that when we first purchased them. They were inexpensive as chairs go - purchased from Pier One. DH doesn't like them for comfort I think he won't admit it because he doesn't want to give me a reason to purchase new :-)
Mayflower: You have me pegged I do like "eclectic and edgy". I guess I am making choices that are too obvious though I really do just try to select things I like.

How about this vintage hooked rug framed as wall art? It's about 3'x5'.

BTW, here's a before picture of our kitchen. I lived with pink counters for a very long time. Someone liked them though, we sold the counters and the cabinets on ebay to help with the renovation costs.

I love your beautiful kitchen and dining room furniture.
I have to agree with some of the posters that the current chairs don't seem to work well with your dining room. I also agree that larger wall art would look great.
I really like the archway between the kitchen & dining room.

I love your hooked rug. Yes to hanging it! The texture will be a nice contrast to the glassed prints. Here is a website that has nice photos for inspiration. I tried to put the link in below but the url kept being rejected, so you can copy and paste the address.

http://heirandspace.blogspot.com/2012/08/decorating-with-hooked-rugs.html

I think the chairs look fine (if not little dwarfed by the wooden bench) and the rug looks anemic.

I do not like the grandfather clock tucked in the corner, and after studying a multitude of Houzz photos I can say I really dislike the clocks in the corner on an angle. It's like the clocks are lurking. My favorite photographs have other objects around the clock that temper its towering mass. So maybe the clock could move to the left of the arch.

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[Contemporary Entry[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-entryway-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_741~s_2103) by New York Media & Bloggers Vendome Press

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[Eclectic Hall[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-hallway-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_743~s_2104) by Santa Cruz Media & Bloggers Shannon Malone

[

[Traditional Entry[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-entryway-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_741~s_2107) by Hempstead Interior Designers & Decorators Holly Mathis Interiors

[

[Traditional Family Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-family-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_720~s_2107) by Brookline Interior Designers & Decorators Lee Design

Thanks for letting me chip in my 2 cents.

Two additional thoughts:

1) Don't frame the hooked rug!

2) Flower urns are too large for the table.

And applause for beverly27 for the brilliant tweak to the piano's orientation.

I just have compliments. I loved your flower urns. In fact I saw them and thought, that is exactly what I need for my table. I used to have a 7 foot grand piano in my dining room (no room for a table then) and I loved looking out the big windows when I played. Now that we have a proper dining room and the piano is tucked away in the dark living room, I only play when I have to. If you like to play a lot think twice about facing it to a corner. I like all the cool chandelier suggestions, and the larger art.