Also 3. I nearly made the mistake of planning a major piece of casework large enough to fit a tube TV. I ended up leaving the TV part out... By the time I was done with the actual cabinets, flat TVs had become of fraction of the price they were when I was started the design. Who knows what audio equipment will be available in 4-5 years?

I am planning on painting an old china cabinet and want to do something to the inside back like discussed here. I am making the china cab a glossy black. I am thinking of silver fabric on some sort of panels that I can push into place. I absolutely love the deep color on the back of the white built ins that were in the blogger's photos so now I have to find something else to work on to get a similar effect. I love how it makes the white whiter and the light objects positively pop.

Painting the cabs to a high standard is an investment in both time and money I would not do in a rental. Also, is the owner supplying the paint for the walls? As a landlord and a former renter, I would make sure that any colors chosen get the owners approval first. As to what shade could work best for you on the walls, can you share more pics? Agree with you that the current shade isn't working. And I would most likely paint out that bit of white trim to match the new wall colour, if the landlord approves.

Wow, thank you all for the great suggestions! Replacing furniture is not an option - if we end up moving it will be a downsize, so not looking for new furniture Definitely like the idea of a new rug. Is it necessary that the chairs are entirely on the rug? That would require an 8x10. Won't be too big for the space? Already planned on replacing the fireplace doors with black. The brass is also from 80s Fan is also an 80s throwback. It does help with airflow in the room, but is not attractive. Shelves are adjustable expect for the top triangle. There are can lights on either side of the fireplace which are not visible in the orig photo. I typically use these only at night because I don't like ceiling fan lights. Here are more photos of the area. The kitchen and breakfast room are to the left and used to have the same oak cabinets, trim and crown. Breakfast room also had stained windows, trim, and chair rail (i.e. all 3 rooms were stained to match). A few years ago we remodeled this in white but did not touch the adjoining family room. My initial thought was to make the bookcases match the kitchen cabinets. But maybe just changing décor as suggested will suffice.