What a timely thread! I have the exact same situation. We are remodeling our kitchen and we removed the wall between the kitchen and the dining room, and "extended" the kitchen a bit into the DR space with a peninsula. Now the light (previously in the center of the room) will not be over the table, and our KD suggested choosing a fixture with a chain and "swagging" it to be centered over the table. Most lighting fixtures with chains come with 5' and more can be requested when the light is ordered (or so I have been told). In our case, I chose a Murray Feiss fixture and I think it will look awesome! (I hope so, anyway!) And FWIW, DH says moving an electric box (at least in our present house) would be a pretty messy deal... patching/repairing the ceiling, etc. So, I'm OK with the swag!

Great discourse, everyone--thanks so much! So many different issues that we all deal with LOL. This is a friend's home and it's a house full--my friend, her daughter and 3 active grandkids (13, 9 and 5) and pets of course! I was wondering how we could make it easier to navigate from the living room to the rest of the house the only pathway being through the dining room. With the table smack dab in the middle, it gets crowded. The light fixture is a fan/light combo and isn't going anywhere soon. oakleyok, your idea of putting of the table (end) against a wall with a lamp at that end is what I was thinking and would work beautifully! It would free up a lot of space. The table is rectangular and they could seat 5 easily. There just happens to be a window there, too which would be great for school work or just hanging out. I saw a few homes on Google images that were gorgeous but the dining room light wasn't centered over the dining table--funny thing was, had I not been looking for it, I probably wouldn't have noticed that! Thanks again, in my own kitchen I'm going to use the *swag to the center* idea when I get around to it. catkin

get another light on the longer chain-canopy stays where it is, the chain gets hooked right over the middle of the table. Doesn't work with every kind of chandelier, but some look fantastic (also was suggested-sorry-reading all the comments as I go) Can I get a pic of an example of this? I'm having a hard time picturing It also will look different from different points where you standing in the room . I agree, unfortunately from the entrance, and from the couch the symmetry is off. I may end up just having to deal, but it does bother me. can you remove the molding in the DR? It's a Craftsman home, so the molding is part of the appeal, I'd really rather not remove it. you can have a free-shaped branch type of light..a dream of mine. They are ridiculously expensive though. Great, something new to lust over. :) These are not in the budget I'm afraid, but gorgeous, and I think it would look amazing in this house.

I am in the process of removing 1990's ceramic tile from my terrazzo floors (1959 house in Orlando FL) with a hammer-drill. I have a goal each week to tear up 15 sq feet of the tile (and that much fits in my trash can outside). I prefer the not so shiny terrazzo to the ceramic tile. It is a lot of work especially getting up the thinset (I spray water on it to keep the dust down) and to not damage it..Once it is all up and I have some other projects done, I am getting the terrazzo refurbished and it will glow!. I have the same style house and love it. Your tile job is definitely DIY. No pro would have that mess by the kitchen and dining room. I think the potential there is huge. I think the dining room would feel less unfriendly if one could see out those french doors. I'd center the table under the skylight and hang a light inside the skylight. You (a pro) can put a light in a skylight, you just need to affix a board that goes from side to side and the wiring would get run to it in the same fashion it goes to your fan. Ditch the fan. you could hide the wires to the light by making a false ceiling about an inch lower than the present ceiling. You could go with a tongue in groove real wood stained something medium colored. I did that on one of my ceilings. These houses are built with those tongue in groove boards under your layer of roofing. I think those built-in shelving do-dads are really awkward and would get rid of them. They were an add on when they did the 1990's tile. So awkward how the baseboard is that tall baseboard and that era of houses had 4 inch ranch style. Sticks out like a sore thumb wrapped around those wall units. If you can get the glass clear in those doors, remove the shelving, take up the floors, put a light in the skylight and put some plants in there it will look like a different place.