Maybe I should have started a new thread for the "After" photos to make this easier. oh well :) loribee, gsciencechick, msrose: thank you! If others have further advice, I'm all ears. I said no to a rug, but I'm keeping my eyes open if one (that looks easily cleanable) really wants to come home with me. msrose: the floor is a pre-finished, handscraped hickory. With two big dogs, "rustic" was the only direction we were comfortable going with hardwood floors. The floors are from a small company called, "Lewis & Clark." (I think it's only available regionally.) Yes, the floor IS dark enough to show dust in direct lighting (same with my black countertop... I can't tell it is dusty until the sun is setting and the light hits it just right.) The floors show wet paw prints, when they dry, in any lighting! We have a patio cover that eliminates a lot of the direct lighting in our great room, so I rarely can see the floors are dusty. I would use lighter floors if the rooms had direct lighting all day!

Rejuvenation Lighting, among others, reproduce these fixtures. Look at their website for a discussion of scale and hanging height. Its definitely a fixture for over a table, the hall variation tended to be a "pan" fixture where the center piece would have mounted medallion-like flush with the ceiling. There was a certain amount of leeway in the hanging height of these fixtures. Since many of the houses these were used in had smaller rooms (Think bungalow or 4-square) they occasionaly would have been mounted at a height that was "walk under" in case the table was moved from the center of the room. They generally were not as low as a full-on candelabra style chandelier. I wouldn't be too concerned about the lack of other mouldings. They were starting to move away from mouldings at the time this fixture was made, and I have been in houses that are intact, as built, (fixtures included) that do not have crown. Remember, this was a "modern" fixture in its day. Here is a link that might be useful: Rejuvenation.

So we don't want to do a rug just yet because I watch dogs for a living which is why we ripped out our carpets for Cortec flooring. We don't have much much room for a full sideboard so maybe one we can put in one of the back corners? I definitely like the idea of a new chandelier and curtains. Just not sure what type of Chandelier. We have a ceiling fan in our living room and a dome light in our foyer.

Yes, I agree nothing should be in front of that window! It really looks like there’s enough space between bench & china cab. I wouldn’t push the buffet any closer to corner either. Since you are adding another chandelier, why not slide table toward bay window so table is centered in the full length of room. This will eliminate the crowded feeling between end chair when table leaf extended. I would then also consider swapping positions of buffet & china - even though they have same sized footprint, the china is bulkier & might add to tight feeling behind bench. The buffet would also IMO be prettier to see from front door & that other room. You can easily test out this arrangement by moving furniture before installing new lights. Well, maybe not so easy as you’ll have to unload those pieces before moving! BTW, interesting table centerpiece! Surprised kitty doesn’t favor bench at window! 😉