The funny looking kitty thing is a metal sculpture of sorts where the head and tail are both on tight springs and bounce up and down if you touch them. It just caught my fancy at HomeGoods one day, and although I just never buy stuff like that, I had to have it. I have another which DH bought me -- welded pieces/parts. Aren't they funny?? Here is a link that might be useful:

Hi Spencer, A Par 20 lamp is too long to be aimed at wall art in a 4" housing. It won't pivot enough without hitting the side of the can. How did you aim at the walls with what you have now? Nora must be including a short whip with the slot aperture trim to convert to a line voltage GU10 base MR16 because that type of slot aperture trim only works with small lamps like the MR16. Check on the adjustment range for the trim and wattage limit with the combination. You may be limited to 35 watts. To dramatize and call attention to something accent lighting needs to boost the lumens on the subject well above the surroundings to bring your eye to it. You may need to dim the center fixture to help compensate so that the art stands out if I understand the look you want of spotted paintings glowing more intensly than the surroundings rather than the general wash of light you have now. Different brands and styles of trims have different ranges of adjustments. Normally the slot aperture has the largest of the adjustment ranges and may go to 40 or 45 degrees without blocking the lamp so this should be a good choice. Other trims claim 35 or more degrees but may partially block the lamp.

You are so right that lighting can make or break a room. If you need ambient light from that lamp, the black shade won't give it to you. White or ivory fabric shades let out the most light, followed by white parchment, followed by paper, and then painted/lacquered hard surfaced shades. But well-placed lamps are the coziest and richest and liveliest way to light most rooms. If you flood the room with light, in my view you kill it dead. A gold lining changes the color of the light, but in my experience a white lining in a lacquered shade actually gives back more light, and a cleaner light, than the very nice but very warm gold light. Some are also lined with metallic silver, which is another effect. A colored fabric shade is very tricky. I never use them. Black is funereal, red is fortune teller/bordello, and gold is jaundiced. I have seen ivory shades lined in pink silk that do luscious things to skin tones, but that's usually a pricey custom kind of thing, and over the top for most of us! I understand the "white blob" thinking, but in my view it is only a problem when the walls are dark and the lights are too white and too high-wattage. Unless there is a reason to do otherwise, I usually try to keep all the lampshades in a room the same color (white, or ivory, or palest gray, or lacquered in black or red or green) so that the light quality is consistent throughout the room. An exception might be when you have sofas and chairs for seating, and want pale shades to light not just what's in your lap, but also your face and the general area, and then somewhere else in the room, a writing desk or game table, where you want only the light that shines up and down. I also like to have 3-way bulbs or dimmer switches on lamps whenever possible. There are some new CFL bulbs that don't have that horrid medical exam room feeling, but I find they need ivory/cream shades to soften them even then. Recessed lighting is very effective when the fixtures are kept small and close to the walls they are placed to light, so that they wash the walls and whatever is on them, rather than creating the rec-room effect, or worse, the dreaded Swiss-cheese ceiling! Have I prattled on long enough???

Are we talking about the "entry" right at the front door? Or the space up on the step up area toward the stairs. Basically, though, it's the base of the table that will somewhat define the style. The more rustic, it becomes more "Mountain lodge" and the more refined it can go modern, contemporary or even more "transitional". They are also pretty expensive so before you invest money there, figure out how much you want to or can spend now, and then start selecting things you like and create an "Ideabook" here on Houzz. That will help you "define" which style direction you like. You can "like" a number of styles, but ultimately one will become more apparent than others.