It looks like your chairs are very neutral. What are the colors in the rest of the rooms? What about window treatments? I would suggest finding a rug or drapes that I love and then choosing a paint color in one of the lightest shades contained therein, since the room is small.

Select a fabric that brings out the best in the wood finish so that your chairs don't appear so flat. Additionally, are you adding padding or batting so that there is a slight curve to the top of the seat? Right now the seats appear concave. If they were my chairs I would cover the seats in Raffia Cloth. You can simply wipe any spills off the straw You want the Raffia or Madagascar Cloth that has a fabric backing so that it's easier to staple and sew. https://www.caneandbasket.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=67 http://www.franksupply.com/raffia/supplies.html#raffiafabric

Everyone's remodel takes longer than they think! I'll be 1 1/2 years out on a kitchen remodel we thought would take 6 months, so I'm sure you're doing great. Thanks for the big photo of the fixture, and it does look perfect for your space with a nice blend of those colors in the drapery hardware as well as your somerset pendants and the mirrors. As for the mirrors, really anything can be made to work and blend into a space as long as colors, textures or patterns are repeated elsewhere in the room. If you like the mirrors, by all means keep them as they are despite all the opinions people are giving you. Other people aren't living with the space -- you are. It sounds like your pendant hanging length isn't going to interfere with head or visual space, but I'm not an expert on that so double-check the measurements. If your counters are a standard 36" high and the pendants reach 36" above that, then I think you'll be fine. Some people are putting in elongated fixtures over long dining tables, similar to the ones you posted in previous photos, but I have a dining table that is long with a small chandelier above it and have never felt that the fixture was too small. If you like the colors and shape of the round one you just posted, I think it would work for your long table, especially because it has so many lights in it. You might want to think about installing it with a dimmer so that it is not actually too bright for some occasions. I'm happy to throw in my suggestions as so many people have helped me a ton with our remodel here in the Houzz forums, primarily through the archive of searchable posts. I'm like you trying to make decisions on my own, so it's required a lot of time researching everything.

Sounds like a fireplace re-do might be a longer-term fix. In the meantime, I'd paint the mantle a dark brown, a similar colour to your end tables. It's not trim and shouldn't be white. It pops out too much in the white colour. Another idea that doesn't involve any ripping-out is to go right over the existing mantle using a mantle slipcover in wood. Here's one of many how-to's on the internet. If you stained your brick as well, you could have a whole new look. https://www.fwmadebycarli.com/2011/01/making-of-slip-covered-mantel.html