I would leave the walls white. Since you are on a budget my advice would be to edit your furnishings down and rearranging the stuff you have. If this was my space: I would move the dining room table out from the wall. It looks like you have enough space to float it in the dining room. You aren't using the woodstove at the moment right. Does the high chair fit into the space between the woodstove and wall? If so I would store the chair there. Put a pretty washable tablecloth on the table. Ebay has some great/cheap vintage ones. Then add a mason jar or large jar full of wildflowers on the table. Could you move the cabinet with the bread drawer out of the kitchen and put it in between the door and window where the dining table was? Would there be enough space? If so I would then ask dh to help me put up some basic white shelves in that space for storage. Move the garbage can back and that white rectangle (is that a fridge?) underneath. Reorganizing and decluttering the kitchen would really open that space up making it more functional. You could store the pantry type items in the cabinets and move your dishes out where they could be seen on the shelves for a clean modern country look. Where does that door lead in the living room? Is there anyplace you could move that wonderful china cabinet. I would move it to another room or upstair's and use it in a new way. Storing linen in a hallway or craft/office supplies in a rooom, etc. Store the china in the cabinet in the hutch that used to be in the kitchen that is now in the dining room. I think the idea of using quilts is a brillant one and I would put it in the area where the china cabinet was. Take the frames off the walls and repurpose the small bookcase and table in the middle of the room into other rooms. Again not sure of proportions but I would move the couch where the love seat is and the love seat where the recliner is and the recliner by the window where the couch was. Adding lots of large basics for toys and clutter. You have a lovely home. Can't wait to see what you do.

Busybee, you are right, a more appropriate place for the DVD's would be closer to a TV, which is in the family room right around the corner. A re-do of that room is coming soon (which will be a whole new post), so the DVD's will probably stay parked here until then. But I like your idea of storing them in a basket or something similar. A thought *did* occur to me to transfer the discs to a CD holder (like what you might carry in your car), something nice, maybe leather-bound and looks like an old book. Like this one I found on Amazon: But would I *gasp* toss the plastic cases??? I just threw out a bunch of old plastic butter bowls -- oh, the waste... That wing chair is awesome, isn't it? Looks like it would be small enough to be comfortable as a dining chair, yet big enough to be comfortable for a few hours of studying, or even just reading. Re: retraining the family -- oh, my liver! LOL. You see those French doors across the foyer from the DR? What would it take to open the door and drop the backpacks there instead? One would think... But noooo, it's more fun to leave it one step inside the door, so one's parental unit can trip and break an ankle after coming home from a long day at work. :-O The lesson here is that my darling children will probably be off to college before they'll be trained enough to lift the lid on a storage bench. I've thought about it, and that's the conclusion I've drawn. A settee, however, is open underneath, and I can just kick the backpacks under it when I walk in the door. :-P Tablecloth and curtains -- I will probably need some serious help here. I should probably get the rug and chairs in place first, and then I'll solicit opinions on those accessories. I admit, I tend to put something up that I like, and there it stays for *years*. (Wait 'til you see the living room curtains...) It's time for a change. I like your ideas about floating shelves and using the wooden chairs to "bookend" the china cabinet. However, I like the china cab where it is because it looks nice through the window from the street. :-) (But I am always open to hearing fresh ideas!) Looking at my pics, it becomes glaringly obvious to me that the upper fourth of my walls are quite naked. I think the chandy that I've honed in on, however, will add some interest higher up. I thought this would coordinate well with the other wrought iron accessories in the room: It still has curves, but not all the scroll. I guess it just feels "old world" to me, which is why I like it. I wish my budget could keep up with my mind; this would be an awesome room already if it could! I work full-time in a male-dominated field, so I am sorely lacking in access to female opinions. It is so cool, being able to bounce ideas here.

I love all the work you have been doing to make your new house a home. Can you move the dining table away from the fireplace? The room is so empty except for those two things, and they are squeezed together, competing for space. That last photo shows us that the table is not centered under the fan/light. Move the table to where it is under the light, please. Or do as someone requested above, and move it closer to the sliding doors. You must at least try it under the light so you will know if you need to move the light fixture when you do find the one you want.

You want your front door to open into your dining room? Practically, this has anyone coming to your door traipsing through a lot of your home as they are welcomed in. Do you use your dinning room daily? How many live in your home? Can your french doors be moved? Do you want to get into construction to make this move more balanced?