I think a rug would make it work fine. But I'm wondering if you've seen the table and been able to sit at it? It looks like there is not much room for people's legs; I think it would be very uncomfortable to not be able to straighten out your legs or be able to cross your ankles, etc. Perhaps there is more room than the picture shows?

'm doing something similar to my 1920s house. Right now the kitchen is way too small and by opening up to the dining room we can add an island and entertain like we want to, plus I'm planning to keep the period details in tact like our stained glass window, part of the chair rail, our beautiful crown molding etc. I like the idea proposed of basically having a beam in between so that you can keep some of the detail but not having the 2 openings which I feel like would seem a bit strange. I'm planning to do something similar. Dont listen to everyone who says you own the wrong home, its going to be lovely and will function in a better way for your family. I looked for over 2 years for a 1920's house in my area of FL. Every single home had been remuddled by people like yourself who thought they were making it better. Except what happens is those houses remuddled in the 1970's look like they were remuddled in the 70's and look nothing like the charming houses of the 1920's. Those remuddled in the 80's look like the 80's, those in the 90's look like the 90's...You get the picture. Those of us who love old houses do not want a remuddled house. We want something where ALL the original character of the main rooms (excluding kitchens of course) are intact and rooms haven't been added onto or opened up in such a way that they change the character of the house. It ranks up there with painting beautiful old fir, mahogany, oak woodwork to make it more updated and brighter and it devalues the house because the house no longer fits with what it is. The problem is everyone now wants HGTV but the problem is HGTV is selling product and once the next product is hot, then today's product will look like yesterday's has been.

Read through all the posts and not wild about the size of the rug you bought. I liked the first one suggested with the blues, look for something similar. Here is my possibly radical suggestion. That corner unit draws your eye away from everything. Consider taking the door off, use spackle and touch up paint to hide the hinge holes. Then either DIY or hire someone to come in and cut off that curved top. It would be awesome if that curved top was act nailed on and easier to remove. then touch up paint anything that needs it. If you must need a door, take it to see if you can get the panes removed and a whole piece of glass replaced. And lastly, when you decided on the rug and curtains, paint the inside of the corner unit walls one of the accent color. or the same as the chest. Leave the outside of it the current color. I think the changes to that built in corner unit could go a long way with changing the look in the room. And for sure a different light fixture!

Well, I love the red against the white cabinets. What I don't like it the sickly color of the rest of the walls. I would paint them white and use the red as the accent color in the rest of the space. One more suggestion...if you have the time to do this... put a matte finish applied to the too shiny floors. In a big room, a finish like that makes it look like a bowling alley. It shouldn't take too long for the floors to dry. For the t v, consider building an entertainment piece around the window.