What about wallpapering the back of your cabinet and making cushions for your new benches in a red or black toile? You may have to search ebay for a while to find matching, but Waverly Country Life was very popular a while back and with time, you should be able to find it. If you can't find the wallpaper, you may be able to find a coordinating red stripe. Waverly also made Country Life in black, and I think either color would work in your room. I always think the more toile the better in a room, so what about using your sheers, then just make stationary toile panels. They're really easy to make.
Dee

I love it. I'd add a black/white toile runner on the table and add some red candles on chunky silver holders to the whole shebang. Also add some black accessories to the cabinet. Bring in some silver candlesticks and/or serving pieces to that cabinet. Leave it it all white and bring in spice with the accessories.

What is your lighting? And I see the benches/pews in a distressed darker wood tone. It's beautiful, I love that table!

So you'd leave the china cab white? What about the table? Leave it black or go white? I'll go snap a pic of the fireplace and ceiling now.

To me it just feels not put together. I found some cool sheers (a little bit of texture to them but still sheers) at a consignment shop. If I can afford them I'll get them if they are still there but chances are they'll sell before I get the money together. It's been a bad past few months with all the remodeling and moving costs.

One thing struck me... if you only feed your family at the table, it's one thing, but I wonder how company, including seniors with bad backs, might feel seeing the host and hostess in 'nice' chairs and themselves relegated to backless benches!

Well, we do have company. When my in-laws come they get the end chairs - that's just a given. I'm sure other company would be treated the same despite the ends traditionally being reserved for the hostess and host.

I'm trying really hard to purchase church pews, hopefully that comes to pass. The benches are a second choice but preferable to chairs for both practicality and aesthetics.

I'm putting some more photos on in a moment

This is the ceiling and the light above the table. This is a very expensive fixture, the closest one we could find in the store was $800 plus ... got this one from a remodel tear out for $75. :-)

This is the fireplace. It is opposite the built in china cab and flanks the other side of the long table.

This is the wall going in to the kitchen with the matching buffet. I think the mirror that's above it is too large. I'd like to replace with a smaller one. I actually picked up an antique mantel mirror at an auction a while back that would look great, I just have to reglue it where is sat in the rain for all those years, caulk and paint it and I think it'll look great. It's a little smaller and has the same shape as the buffet top.

and just for fun, this is the kitchen which is off the dining room. Sorry it's fuzzy, using my phone camera.

The kitchen cabs and the dining furniture is the exact same paint and distress, funny how they look so different in the photos. The red on the walls looks funny here too, it's deeper, not quite a dark "barn" red in person. Maybe barn isn't the right word but an antique red.

Beth, I love what you've done on a budget. Your taste is similar to mine, but your talent is much bigger. You are my hero. Given that I am stylistically challenged, take my ideas with a grain of salt.

Since you like French Country, why not use a toile fabric on the doors of the china cabinet. If you don't like the shape of the cabinet and don't want it to stand out, use a red that will blend into the paint. Use a coordinating fabric as a topper on the curtains, but you could go yellow or gold as the background colour.

I love the idea of church benches at the kitchen table. While you wait, lawn chairs will do the trick if you have company. ;-) Hold out for what you love. Excellent score on that ceiling light, by the way!

...Pam

Well, I love everything you've done so far. I think the china cabinet and fireplace should stay white to match the trim and I like the black table. I like the mirror above the buffet, but I think I would like it better if the trim was metal to match the light fixture which is gorgeous BTW.

Laurie

I think everything looks wonderful right now, you have done a great job so far!!!

I like the buffet, table, chairs and the benches in black. I also think the fireplace and china hutch should stay white. The contrast is very nice. Looks like you have some white dishes so those will look nice on your table. You can always do chargers or table runners in white lace or even a zebra print to pull the contrast together.

Expensive...but wonderful paper: http://www.bradbury.com/

Here is a link that might be useful: bench with back

A very dramatic room!

I would forgo the idea of church pews for a couple of reasons. First, they tend to be bulky at the ends, which means you give up at least one person’s worth of seating room if you do one long bench on each side. Second, they tend to be heavy, and so if you do one long pew, it will be hard for people to move that bench in an out. Also hard for people to get up if need be, and that happens during long evenings gathered around the table.

Simple benches, no arms, two per side, in black, will give you more room, ease of movement, and ease for the people sitting there to get in and out. You could also add a simple low back - and then a cushion on your red and white french country fabrics to lighten up the feel of the dining table area.

Being so creative, think about finding twin bed size headboards to use as bench backs. They don’t have to sit up really hight on the back but could be charming if you find things with turned spindles, etc. I am thinking that you could fit two per side, which should give you 4 seats per side.

I agree that the mirror over the sideboard is too long, and too modern - it kind of feels like a mirror that goes on the back of a door. Consider doing the replacement mirror in an antiqued metallic finish, either gold or pewter, to add a little sparkle to the space. Be sure to tuck the cords for the lamps behind the sideboard once you turn them on. Down the road, if you can find a piece of black and white marble to top the sideboard, I think that would lighten it up and also give a great place for serving.

I would remove the doors from the hutch - they don’t look like they belong. Leave the open shelving and just paint the interior so it matches the whole hutch. Leave it white, since it is a built-in. I know that adding fabric curtains fits the period, but I don’t think you want to draw attention down to the floor as much as you do up into the room.

Are you committed to the fireplace staying? It appears to be a faux fireplace - is that correct? I am not sure it adds anything to the area, and it takes up space. I do love the picture above it. My grandmother had that print (and the companion older woman) in her home for years. Made me smile. If you are going to keep it, I would think about doing some kind of faux marble or other finish on it. The white just gets lost in the room.

I would think about having a runner made for the table in the red/white fabric, and then look for two larger candelabra or epergnes to use on the table. It is too long for one thing stuck in the center. Another thing you could do is collect silver, pewter or brass candlesticks of all shapes and sizes and do a collection of those on the runner, with white candles. The metal will bring some sparkle to the table.

For the windows, I think you need some fabric for weight, to balance all the dark heavy pieces in the room. I don’t think it should be side panels - too much bulk to add there. A fabric-covered wood cornice hung almost to the ceiling above the window would compliment the height of the room, and give some visual impact.

You said the windows are 100 inches - is that the height? I would love to see lace panels of some kind, something with some texture. I know you made the comment about it being your style and not ours, but I just have to say that i wouldn’t do the austrian panels - too fussy for the lines in your room, plus they remind me of casket lining, but that is just me. :-)

Again down the line, I would love to see some art on the walls. Metallic finish frames would again lighten up the feel of the space a little, and break up all the red (which I love, by the way - don’t change it, please!)

Finally, while I think your light is lovely, it feels to me like it belongs in the center of a living room or entry. I noticed that your entryway has a chandelier with arms - would you consider switching the two?

Take a look at this fabric. I am thinking it might have the correct red for you, and the tans and blacks would add depth to the room.

kent garden red currant

You have done well - now it is details. Enjoy the journey, and don’t feel like everything has to be in place all at once. Sometimes the best spaces are those that develop over time.

Wow thank you all so much!! Your comments are very helpful.

A few notes:

The window height isn't exactly 100 ...I ballparked. The sheers that are hanging there now are off the rack 95 s. They are some I just happened to have from another house. I had to hang them very low on the trim and they are still highwaters, hitting mid baseboard. So no, it's not exactly 100 but in that range. I considered lace, and very strongly considered lace on the bottom half and the top half bare of perhaps a stained glass framed panel hanging. There's a guy locally that could do a large center one and two smaller side ones for me for a reasonable price once I finish all the more urgent things. In the mean time, if I only had the bottoms curtained the only thing you could see from the street would be our heads when we're standing as they are high enough off the ground. The austrian rouched panels are just so gorgeous from the street and there's another redone victorian in the neighborhood that has them in their front bay windows. The effect is beyond striking from the street/porch view.

The mirror is getting swapped out, definitely. I wanted to but everyone's comments reinforced that. It's an easy and cheap swap since I have one. I just need to spend 10 bucks on the new backer board (this mirror is old and would fall apart if I hung it as is). I agree about the metallic finish but given it's shape, I'm not sure. I'll photograph it in a minute and post it and see what you think. If it were a normal frame I'd pewter it in a heartbeat but this shape doesn't quite call metallic to me. Tell me what you think.

Ah, the fireplace. No, I wish I could change it. When it was first placed (which was months before we moved and and the table was brought in) I loved it. The house had been stripped of it's original 4 fireplaces and I adore mantels. Now that the furniture is in the room, it's too crowded. The problem is that when I did the floors, being a total newbie, I as they say, stained myself in a corner. I worked from the hall down the foyer and stopped at the dining room doorway. Then I went in to the kitchen and worked through the dining room and out the front door. As I got to the dining room I realized I had no where to move the fireplace. Not anticipating moving it, I skipped staining and varnishing the floor there. If I were to move it, The floor wouldn't match. I think trying to redo that section would leave tale tell signs. While I still want a fireplace (nothing like a fire during a nice dinner, even if it is gel fueled) I wish I'd have had the depth cut down so it didn't project so far in to the room.

I do plan to embellish it though. I want to do the base/riser as well as maybe add some sparkle elsewhere. I've been wondering about tiling it ....

As for the light fixtures, I wanted a lower hanging armed chandelier. The light box, however, is not centered and I'm afraid if we go lower it will be obvious. Right now it's not noticeable. I spent a while simply gathering fixtures when we were remodeling. When it came time to choose which one went where I picked this one from my stash because it's a fixed height and wouldn't accentuate being off center. Make sense?

baby crying, will post more later. Keep the ideas coming, I'm loving them!! Thank you!!

Hi Beth0301.

Like you say, it doesn't really matter whether this is our style or not, since it's the style that you like. That, all by itself, puts you way ahead of the people who don't really have a clue about what they like, other than whatever they happen to see in the stores or on TV.

Even so, I'm a little bit confused, because you say that this is your style, but you then add that you're willing to change it all--to paint the dark walls light (even though you already acknowledge that the room, with all its windows & doorways, gets plenty of light) and to paint all the furniture white. If this truly is your style, why make such major changes to a room that already looks good? Also, you use the terms "shabby chic" & "French country" but I wouldn't say either of those describe your room. In fact, with your 1880s architecture--even though it's painted white--and your 1920s furniture--even though it's painted black--what I see is not either of those styles, but, rather, classic, unpretentious, American style--middle-class American style--and in saying that I don't mean it in any way but good. Besides, verbal labels aren't important, only but visual results, and you're almost there.

No, the only potential problem I see with your room is the one that develops when people try to work backwards from a popular phrase--say, "shabby chic"--to specific pieces or colors that are--supposedly--typical of that particular style, rather than going the other way around: choosing colors & finishes that they like & that work together, and then, afterwards, finding a word that describes them. In other words, I think your room already looks good, even if those specific stylistic labels don't really apply.

OK, furniture: yes, high-back pews may clutter up the room visually, but not nearly as much as a bunch of individual (and probably, unmatched) chairs, but either way, your family's & guests' comfort should come first, and aesthetics afterward. I happen to love the simple, clean look of traditional Japanese design, but, hey, I'm not about to make my friends sit on the floor to eat dinner.

OK, paint finishes: since the finish of your kitchen cabinetry is already dark & you don't plan on changing that, and your dining room's trim is already white & you don't plan on changing that, and since there's a large opening between the two rooms, let's face it, there's going to be non-matching finishes somewhere. Your job, then, is to make it look like intentional. Painting your furniture white will make the kitchen cabinets--as the only things left dark--look like somebody ordered them in the wrong color, and it will also throw the whole area out of balance. Your husbands's suggestion to paint the furniture dark--even if it didn't have any real thought behind it--turned out to be a good one. Like they say, even a stopped clock is right twice a day. I say leave the furniture dark--changing the brown chairs to match the other pieces--and let the contrast be not between whole rooms but between structure & contents, in other words, between the light trim & dark furniture. And since the other trim is white, the built-in china cabinet should also stay white. It's structure, not furniture.

To visually integrate the china cabinet with everything else in the area--and I'm talking both adjoining rooms, here--if you have white dishes that you can display in the cabinet, paint the back wall the black of the furniture and let the dishes' light-color silhouettes stand out. If you don't have enough china to make a nice display in the cabinet, hit Goodwill & yard sales and pick up a bunch of mismatched dishes with interesting shapes but ugly colors--I'm thinking 1970s brown-speckled soup tureens or cheap red-glass compotes or yellow-&-green psychedelic-patterned coffee carafes, I'm sure you get the idea--and spray paint them white. Or, alternatively, paint the same pieces shiny black & keep the insides of the china cabinet white. Either way, go for the same high-contrast look your light-colored dished have against the dark wood of your kitchen cabintes. Repetition of a single idea--even if the colors are reversed--is always effective.

OK, curtains: lots of people call straight-hung sheers 'dated' but they're absolutely appropriate for a house of this style & period, and their honest, uncomplicated style is a much better foil for the strong shapes of your furniture, the handsome stick-style stairway & the simple stained glass in your hallway than would be the dainty fussiness of gathered Austrian shades.

You say you want to 'pull this room together' and, yes, the details of your new seating still need worked out, but visually, at least, but I think you're pretty much there already. Don't fix what ain't broke. A shorter mirror above the buffet, a white ironstone bowl filled with curly locust tree pods & and sycamore balls for the expannse of dark wood on the table & I think you're set. And whenever that nagging inner voice starts telling you that your room still isn't quite right, that you still need to do something else before you're satisfied, just remember the excellent decorating advice given to Martha the Perfectionist when she was fussing arund, worrying about everything that that still needed to be done: "You're anxious & troubled about a lot of stuff, but only a few things--or just one--are necessary." Now's the time to enjoy the nice room that you've already created.

Regards,
Magnaverde.

Here's the mirror I was thinking of switching to. It's old and the glass is a bit foggy but it's not bad, and kind of adds to the charm.

What finish to apply? See how closely the shape matches the buffet? I am really intrigued by the idea of a metallic mirror but this particular mirror gives me pause about doing that.

And Magnaverde, thank you, your comments made a lot of sense. I've gathered a lot of good inspiration from this.

I think what's truly missing here is fabric. Fabric ties things together with color and adds softness and interest. I've held off because of the seating issue but now that I'm nearing a conclusion/decision on that, fabric will be next. I'm quite sure that simply paining the seating, adding some fabric to the seating and some accents, and doing something with the back of the china cabinet will do wonders for the room and fill that void that I see and feel whenever I go in there.

As for dishes, my husband has sentimental china, serving for 26, all white on white, so we've got more than enough dishes for display.

My everyday dishes are Corningware French White.

Suggestions for the fireplace? Tile? Something more pizazz/sparkly?

Oh, and Magnaverde, to answer your question as to why I would change some things because I know I sounded a bit contradictory ....

We hired a contractor to help us when we first started working on the house. He had a good sense of design it seemed. He went through the house with me early on and we made a plan for each room.

Then reality set in and the budget grew thinner and thinner and we started finding pieces at habitat, estate sales, craigslist, etc that were along the lines of what we wanted but maybe not exact. As our collection of treasures grew, I found myself altering the plan a bit for economy's sake. The more it went along, the more I altered.

Then, our contractor bailed on us, taking his 40% deposit, leaving us with virtually no work done and even more broke. At that point, we had to start using what we had. We were running out of time to get the house livable and my dream plans got put on the back burner in lieu of whatever I could beg, borrow or get on mega clearance. The paint changed from shopping at the benjamin moore store to buying leftovers and "oops" colors that I liked but maybe weren't exactly what I wanted. The fixtures became what I could find at habitat restore rather than the $300 per fixture ones I'd chosen originally. It's not that I didn't like these things, it's just each thing led me a bit further from the original plan.

After that, I've always felt like even though I do like these things, I am less committed to the individual components and willing to change some things, as budget permits, in order to make the entire space better.

Ah, now it all makes sense, Beth0301. When I work with a client, I always make them tell me the whole backstory before we we ever start about fabrics & colors: it saves time backtracking later on. Cake first, then icing. Like I said, a lot of people do it backwards.

And, believe me, I know all about Habitat & the mis-tint shelf at the paint store, and, for that matter, the dumpster behind my building. Except for the mattress on the bed & the bulbs in the lamps, my apartment is entirely furnished with other people's rejects.

On your mirror--like you say, the size, chamfered corners & floral motif are perfect--I'd go with old gold paint wiped with umber to highlight the moldings.

Beth0301 - what a gorgeous room! Seriously, that is a spectacular space and I can see how it would be a little overwhelming to make it live up to all of its potential. I love your pieces and I think the cohesive color palette you have going will make everything go together. I agree that the right fabric will make it sing. One suggestion is whether you have considered Ikea's Aina linen panels - they are 98" long only $49 for a pair. I have them in several rooms and they are very simple and seem somehow both casual and sophisticated. Also, if you have tons of white china it might look neat to have it stacked more casually in the china and on the sideboard. I think it could help the room look more lived in, and less on display. Love the white mirror - I cannot see how "patina-ed" it is, but I would lean toward leaving it as is, I love old white paint like that. And white has a way of freshening everything up. Enjoy your room - it is wonderful.

Thank you! The mirror is actually baby pink, lol, not white. I got that from some old guy, had been sitting in his leaky barn for years. He was going to throw it away when his cousin said he should post it on craigslist. I picked it up for $10. The back is warped and water stained but something about it called to me.

I will check out those panels if the ones at the consignment shop I found are gone. I'm really hoping they are still there as they are nice and very inexpensive.

I'm more convinced than ever after reading everyone's comments that the "problem" in the room is the lack of fabric. Cushions on the pews, reupholstered seats and a valance of color OR a simple panel with sheers will really pull everything together.

You were all so helpful and have inspired me to take the last few steps and get this space finished. It's a matter of finishing the mirror, swapping it out, painting the pews and chairs, adding fabric and tiling the base/riser of the fireplace. These are all fairly simple things.

Once everything above is done I will tackle changing something on the china cabinet. I want to see the other changes before I decide if I will paint the inside, line it with fabric/paper or something else.

BTW, I did decide to go with the pews for the side seating. The cost was one factor - the pews were half what benches would have been plus I can have them within a day or two. The benches would have been at least 2/3 weeks because of the cost. We've been eating from fold up camping chairs since march and I've passed my breaking point. There are 7 of us that live here and sharing 3 camping chairs at meal time sucks. REally. I'm done. I want seating before my daughter's birthday dinner next week. I'm really convinced that if I used thick heavy felt under the bottom of the pews they will slide without tons of effort. sure, it'll be less convenient than individual chairs but those aren't an option for this large of a family in this tight of an area. Plus, I am getting such an awesome deal on these that I can easily make my money back plus some if I decide later to swap them out for something else.

Anyone want to see the front of the house?

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