Remember--It's not a conference room in an office. It's your dining room. Keep out all commercial art (mass reproductions, galloping horses from BB&B, something somebody could have seen on sale at Marshalls, giclee (inkjet) prints of paintings with simulated brush strokes, art available in multiple sizes, etc.). If it looks as though it could be in a doctor's waiting room it has no place in your home. What's important to you? What speaks to you? What would complement the special occasions that will take place in that room? Do you have any great photos of vacation trips (you could use a grouping instead of one large piece)? How about local artists? For half the price of that Bernhardt sideboard you could have a significant piece by an emerging artist and a good story to tell your friends about it and the artist and how you found it. That will make you more interesting too. On the other hand you could have a story that starts and ends with "And the shipping was free!"

great advice upthread I'll try to be short, probably repeating several people: -get rid of the white console next to the fireplace/look for smth else instead if you need it there for function -think of other window treatments. curtains? woven blinds? roman shades? any of these will look better. move your sectional a bit from the wall, both to allow room for window treatments and because furniture generally needs at least couple inches to breathe..that wil also make room seem larger -you already purchased the ottoman in the same color and style of the sofa..off white, right? well something different would be better, but it's okay..buy a throw, fold it and put there to break your lines a bit. tray is great too-both for function and beauty. you'll appreciate it when watching this TV -I liked reading how your wife gets her art:) okay..so if there's no real room for other suggestions(I'm also prejudiced against mass produced canvas art..maybe she can be talked into a print instead?..)..put that art there first. Make sure it fits-seems huge?.. Say you go for that a very similar art, you have there-a bit of white, black, brown, indigo blue, fiery yellow white and brown you already have in your room (btw like your furniture) pull your other colors (in pillows and throws and accessories) from that art -deep sophisticated blues, golds. can be metallic accessories (like vases or flower pots?), can be softest fur pillows can be velvet, can be knitted throw. everythhing you buy-make sure it's a different texture..leather is sleek you've got enough of it. Speaking from experience-I also have my fair share of leather:) then look for a big ticket items like curtains and a rug. (or simultaneously..just keep your general scheme in mind). you can decide to make them fairly neutral. repeat the color of the furniture, just different material of course. or go for one vivid deep color but make it a shag rag for example. Don't try to match pattern to art..art has a mind of its own. Look at the room as a whole..what does it ask for? and know yourself of course..say I love many rugs but I don't like to clean them lol. You know whether it's high traffic area, what your habits are, and whether you'll be sad for 5 min if the rug will have spots and then get over it, or will be sad for 5 days. when you buy a side table try, again, to introduce another texture, just different material in this case. maybe wood. maybe ceramics(garden stool?some of these look really modern). every new material you bring creates dimension. Dimension is something you look for when creating spaces. Why? well that what we've used to. Ouside always has it. Even when it's a desert or an ocean. It has depth. we need to recreate it with all sort of ways and means that are availiable to us.. Good luck! will be a cool room edited because of thousand typos..))

A "gift" from your parents in the sense that they had the furniture in their house and passed it onto you? Just wondering as the dining furniture has the same style as the livingroom. Or is it a case that your taste are now changing compared to when your parents bought you the furniture and now your taste is evolving? Would you be able to paint the living room chairs and re-upholstered them to make them more modern as I think once you get your tulip dining table you are going to see that it isn't the cohesive look you are trying to achieve between the rooms unless you really mix it up.

For rug size, add 36-42" to each side of the table top. Tape that out with painter's tape on the floor. If your taped rug runs into baseboards or furniture that is against the walls, you don't have floor space for one here. Is there an 8th chair? The smallest rug you could get by with would be one only 24" larger than each side for chair scoot and sit space, but it will look skimpy with the heavy visual of the chunky table legs.