Yknow, IMHO, I wish we all could drop the "D" word from our vocabulary. If we love it , if its well made, if its functional - then a place can be found for it, period. In other words - your china cab is just fine, and it does look good on the side rather than viewed head on. That said of course we like our rooms freshened up now and then - but I think you can jazz it up in other ways incl choosing a new color ILOVE greens/browns/tans, but the pea soup color Im kind of tired of. (or so it looks on my monitor anyway, which has been known to be wrong.) Definitely think about going deeper richer. Dont know if Penny's or Anglo's deep dark colors are good for you but it gives you an idea at least of what deeper/richer could do for you. If all else fails maybe you could just take the living room color and just go a few steps darker/more intense with it. Let the DR be cozy and intimate complete w/ a big china cabinet - why not? The DR should relate well to the LR, and that would be one way of doing it. Minor quibble - I would think about that wall space where the china cab was - is there a third pic that could fit in there? With cabinet moved, that wall becomes very significant. Not liking just the two pics , needs to be 3 I think..... Or some other wall decor or arrangement .... minor thing, so perhaps just wait for the inspiration or right thing to come along.

for sure paint the ceiling white. just use the white base straight out of the can. don't have it tinted! use a flat, ceiling white. painting the ceiling will have a huge impact on the reflective quality. if doing white on the walls, it's really going to make the trim look dingy. I'd redo all the trim (do a little at a time) and the ceiling, and reevaluate the wall color. if you still think it's too dark, try BM Pale Oak

Thanks for your input. I'll definitly be doing a whiter trim no matter what color I go with. I'm considering a blue-gray as you mentioned. I tried uploading a photo. Benjamin moore whale gray. Or Sherwin Williams smoky blue. I tried uploading photos but it never works. Really frustrating. Normally I would want something to pop out of the landscape but in person there something nice about driving up to it. It's private and woody so it feels tucked in. If I went with sage it doesn't have to be this exact shade and it would have a lighter trim.

New furnishings, or paint the walls to honor the warmth of that furniture. You're tired of the look, which is why you chose the paint. If you can't change furnishings? Can't update? A warm ivory paint, a golden beige.............and that is where your trouble begins. and Ends. Sorry. But this ............. Or even this!!!!! ...lovely and traditional and WARM Will not become these below with just paint, What and who do you want to be????? EVEN with an update. ? The paint, sorry to say, is a fail with your furniture and especially with its coverings. .