Actually, it's just two of us, but we use our dining room daily to eat...because the kitchen area where normal people have a table holds crates for our five Goldens :) In fact, the dining room is sort of our escape - one dog-free room where we can have higher-end furniture and artwork. It's definitely our "splurge" area. So, we're okay spending more there, since we have to think about dogs when furnishing the rest of the house. The tables I've shown vary widely in price but several are relatively reasonable because the manufacturers are having a difficult time. The Council table is way more than I'd spend, but I was curious what people thought. Parma - I'll still need a new rug, but a round one instead :)

kimmieb - those are both gorgeous chandeliers! Thanks so much for posting them. Unfortunately, I've already tried to convince DH and can't get him to buy off on anything this ornate. Also, I know they would definitely go with the style of the chairs and table, but I also have a mix of rustic iron and leather throughout the house (my love for early American and English antiques mixed with DH's fondness for the "Old West" has resulted in me aiming for "English hunting lodge") so I think I need to tie this look in to the shabby chic dining room somehow so everything flows. I can't use lanterns because I'm now wired for one center fixture and need more light, and I understand your comment regarding the last fixture maybe being too contemporary, which is perhaps why I've held off ordering it. I'd be getting the antique bronze finish, but it's hard not seeing it in person. The 8' ceiling height is limiting, but I do agree the size of the table needs something with mass. At the same time, I'd like to find an iron chandelier that's pretty and delicate, yet rustic. It's hard to find one that's not too massive, or Spanish, or Mediterranean, etc. Sigh . . . hopefully, one will come to me :-)

I definitely think Val's shield back are better quality than the first. Check the corners in particular, they are mitered and the profile of the carving turns the corners beautifully. The first looks like it's one solid piece and then routed out. Also the color on the carving perfectly matches the chair and is probably the same kind of wood whereas on the first one up top it looks more yellow to me and would make me wonder if it was a different kind of wood. I also really like the band 2/3 of the way down on Val's chair that breaks up the flatness of the splats. red, those are pretty neat chairs too. It's interesting how ornate the carving is on the legs compared to the back, but it all looks nice in that pic. The back is a bit different than you see commonly, so that's cool too. I also really love chairs where the seat feels more upholstered rather than screw on and re-cover, but it costs more to have them redone - which means you'd better pick something you like the first time you have them done. I believe this is indicative of an older chair. Sometimes a bargain is not such a bargain. The chairs I got were $100 a piece, which sounds good, until you realize that I gave them to a guy for a professional cleaning and polish and then reupholstering (the whole seat had to be rebuilt) and that added another $150/chair, but they are perfect. I bought the fabric myself on ebay for a steal (7 yards for 7 chairs, how lucky is that? I think I paid about $50 with shipping) I've been looking for more of the blue dragonflies for well over a year now and haven't seen it ANYWHERE. Here's what the chair looked like before (broken seat, horrible old fabric, the cat loved it though) After the cleanup/reupholstery: very dusty floor, sorry, it was during a time when we were stil doing work. I think it's funny that shieldback chairs are "back in" now. When I bought these from my antique dealer friends, they had them for years with no interest (of course I didn't know they had them because they were buried in the back room). I think they ended up selling them to me for less than they paid for them, just to get rid of them and they still ended up costing me a lot. I probably could have done some of that work myself (like the cleaning and polishing) but I was commuting 4 hrs a day at the time and was not looking for yet another DIY project.

lisa- Thank You for throwing it out there. I like to look at different ideas b/c in the end once we decide we'd like to feel confident that we explored our options! I thought the basement part might work but right away my dh pointed out that it makes it really hard to bring large things downstairs with the curve. (We have that now and its very difficult) In the Dining Room, would those buffets have cabinetry above for dish storage, etc? I like it b/c I was thinking tall cabinetry without the counter space but that would be nice : ) I definitely "get" what you're saying about banquettes not being for everyone. We plan to be here 10 years and if that works out maybe much longer. My husband and I do like the banquette idea especially b/c it keeps the area open from kitchen to DR and it's just a different "look" for us. We'd only use the bench side when we have a larger amount of people. That being said we're still open to not doing it if we think it won't work. Also, couldn't a new buyer just take out the built in seat if they don't like it and turn it back to a traditional DR? I'm not asking that sarcastically but it wouldn't seem the worst of things. OR- we could do a separate piece of furniture that's not built in too right? I think someone said Ballard has them. IF anyone sees others let me know. I know they have great fabrics that are kid friendly too : ) I wonder how long they come? THANKS EVERYONE! I so love this : )