i think you can make it more 'mod' with the drapes, tablecloth, area rug under it, light overhead etc - plus, maybe redoing the seat of the chairs in a new fabric.

Many of us have older dining sets or even antiques. One way to really update a dining room with an old set is to put a great color on the walls, hang textured drapes on big rods, and update the fabric on the chair seats. Your Queen Anne set is much like many on Garden Web, it's really what the rest of the room looks like that will decide how to decorate it...........and for that, we need a photo.

Red

I would take the cloth off and show the bare wood with a nice simple table arrangement in the center. Perhaps a table runner in a solid color. Simpler draperies would be nice too. Please show us a current picture.

red and art are right. The room will set the stage for the furniture. Can you post a pic of your current DR?

I have Queen Anne style in my LR and DR as well. In my DR, I'm using a modern glass table paired with my QA chairs. Sometimes, a simple change of lamp shades to black give a sophisticatd/modern bent to the room. I have black shades on my lamps in the LR. I still have the traditional swags on the window but also have the large wooden blinds. If it were me, I would use lace only in a balloon curtain (more modern) but would not use the full lace panel. I agree with removing the table cloth from the table and leaving it nekid.

We just remodeled our kitchen and wanted I wanted to update the look of our DR W/O breaking the bank. We removed a pocket door and the ugly mirrors that were here when we bought the house. Window treatments are from Restoration Hardware not cheap but less than custom.

Marybeth, I like what you have done. What kind of tables do you have with your sofa? Have any pics of that part of the room too?

I have nothing to add except to say that we have some very savvy posters here, but I knew that. ;-)

Just a few suggestions (not that you have to do any but certainly not all as that would look strange, but...)Add an unexpected rug that looks like artwork to the floor or make a square table cover (about 54 x 54) with one side leopard and the other velvet, trim with some bejeweled tassels, find a very cylindrical vase in an apple green and add some blondish dried flora, stick one huge piece of far-out artwork onto the wall. It's not the furniture.

We all (well, most of us) love Queen Anne and the 'real' furniture from the past, but it is true that accessorizing is everything and what was it that we recall from Steel Magnolias, accessorizing is what separates us from the animals (paraphrasing here).

As long as you have good bones (good furniture) you can get the look you are after with a little effort, creativity and elbow grease and some padding the streets looking for the items you love. The hunt can be a lot of fun, but the find is the great part.

I love that blue sofa! BTW, why do people call the look, "Old lady?" I'm not old, but that has always been the look I've strived for. To me it says, "Comfortable and welcoming."

I've been using lace and doileys since my early 20s.

I also like your table.

Thank you Marti8a. I recovered the sofas and removed the ruffled skirt and added bun feet. I do not have a before pic. of sofa but it was very country and 80's sea foam green and pink and coordinated with the flowered drapes and cornice. The space is small for today's standards and the newer sofas were so big. I would love to put hardwood in here also. We put it in the kitchen and FR. Here is another before and after pic. Alerit, I agree with patricia43 about classic good bones. Yes I love some of the newer DR sets out there and would love a new set but I think Queen Anne is easy to work with. I think recovering the seats would make a big difference. I would love to replace my armchairs on the end with an upholstered parsons chair.
These were the old drapes I had made to match old sofa sorry I don't have a pic of old sofa.

Alterit, have you looked at our dining rooms thread in the Gallery? Also, have you thought about putting a slipcover on your sofa to update it?

Marybeth -- I knew THREE was the right number for over your sofa. Looks great!

MaryBeth, that looks really good!

Thank's Oceanna! I think so too and thanks again for the good. advice. I have DH home today and I have a honey-due list long enough to make him wish he was at work LOL! I think he hung them a little high what do you think? They are 7 inches off the back of sofa but he is 6'2 and I'm 5'4 and we never agree on how to hang pictures. He HATES hanging pictures. He said. would rather knock out a wall or reshingle the roof!

Marybeth, those are great! It really transformed it to add the bun feet if it used to look like I think.

btw alterit, I really like your furniture. I would call it sophisticated rather than old lady. But I also agree with taking the tablecloth off, maybe using a runner to give it an edge.

Marybeth, the three mirrors look great and the height is perfect..

Queen Anne is classic styling - not old lady.

Marybeth, I love your mirrors. Did you get those from Ballards? I've been considering those for my DR, but can't spend the $$ right now.

Marybeth, I think you're right they could be a little lower, and just slightly farther apart.

Thank you guys! artlover,yes they are from Ballards. Watch their website. I got them on a 15% off special on orders $200 or more or sometimes they have free shipping which works out about the same.