Dining Room Help!!!

We are going to start our dining room next. I need major help with this room!
I have my (deceased) mother's dining room set. It is not my style at all, but it means a lot to us to have this furniture. My mom loved her dining room and we have so many memories with it. But how do I make this work in a more modern house?
Here is a picture of my mom's room. We have the table and china cabinet. I am going to get the seats re-upholstered eventually.



And here is our dining room. We are removing the wallpaper this week.



Here is a picture with the seller's furniture - the way we are laying out the room will be the same.


DH and I wanted to paint the room exactly like this picture I found online. We wanted to keep the beams and paint them white, and paint the ceiling the wall color. Would that look OK? Would this work with the furniture? What type of chandelier should we get (we like the modern ones - but that wouldn't go well with the table?)?



What about an area rug? I am leaning townards not getting one.
Any other ideas?

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Love your DR...so big!

It would be a lot of work, but if you stain the DR table and chairs a darker color...that would might give it a more modern look.

Love the last picture you posted...that would look great. I can't wait to see the finished product...it's going to be gorgeous.

ETA = I think an area rug would look great, too. I think area rugs add warmth to a room with wood floors.

Message edited 11/13/2010 9:12:31 PM.

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honestly, that dining set looks like a lot of what you would find today! i don't think it looks outdated at all!! i don't think you will have trouble modernizing the room around it

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I don't think the furniture needs to be modernized - I think it's the room that needs to be modernized. And before I even got to what your idea is, I was going to suggest painting the beams and trim all white - i think that's going to look awesome!!!!

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You have a beautiful space to work with , I did almost the exact same thing in my dining room. We painted Great Barrington Green and then the chair rail area all a super white, I LOVE the way it looks. We actually worked from our china cabinet which is very traditinoal. We opted FOR a rug ,although after laying down mahogany flooring I wasn't thrilled about covering it up but it really does warm the room up so I say go with the rug Your furniture is really nice and I agree with PP it looks like sets availalble today.

We went with almost a similiar chandelier to the one in your photo but it also had crystal in it. I think a chandlier can make or break the room so we looked long and hard before deciding! As for modernizing the room, to make it not totally traditional, I hear all the time to blending different types of woods so everyting is not matchy, matchy--maybe some accent chairs with differnet woood tones, a table of some sort in a different color wood --my designer friends says you shouldn't look like you are trying to match--some people hate this look, but it's very in right now supposedly--we ended up with a darker dining room table than our china cabinet and at first I REALLY wasn't sure and fought it....but now I love it! Good luck can't wait to see how it turns out.

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i agree about painting beams/trim white.
i think you can do a mix of modern and traditional.
keep the hutch simple.....plain plates and not too much in it.
for the chandelier go with a large drum shade. those are a cross between modern and traditional.
if you are doing a buffet, go with a round mirror over it instead of square.
and i think for curtains, try west elm or crate and barrel to find something that is subtle modern.
it's a beautiful set and room!
good luck.

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would you be open to refinishing the furniture? I think a white or a gray wash would make it seem "traditional modern". I have seen chairs and tables in this style with a light, distressed wash and it's beautiful.

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I would love to refinish the furniture someday.. but right now that is too much work and too much money.

Dh started removing the wallpaper last night and it seems to be coming off easily!

Yay or Nay to painting ceiling? I want to do it, but DH thinks it would be too dark.

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I think you need to not paint the ceiling the brown color, it will close the room in.

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My diningroom is a very similar color green. Love the box moulding and all white ceiling

I think a chandelier like this one might be a good mix of modern and classic. Anything too modern is going to look completely out of place with that set IMO.

5 light

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I personally like the wood beams stained. I would leave them and paint the ceiling white. It gives it a rustic look but if you want more modern I guess white would look better. As for a chandelier I would get something like the one that's posted in the last picture with the green paint. It goes with the style of the furniture. Its a beautiful room and once you get a fresh coat of paint the furniture will look more updated as well. They have those type of tables in all the furniture stores still. It will look great!

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I think a large part of your issue is the decor in the first pic... it's more of a country style. I think just taking the set out of that style room will make a HUGE change for you.

I love the idea you have for the walls in the new dining room. I think that will look sooo nice!! Will you be framing it out like that too? I really like the framing part as well.

I was going to ask what you plan on doing with the beams but I just reread what you wrote and you said you plan on painting them white. I was actually going to suggest that. I know a lot of people love exposed beams, and they are nice but in this particular room I feel like they are closing the room in.

i would also suggest no rug, but I would get some nice luxurious curtains that hang floor length with a small pool on the floor. make that lovely window look even more grand.

Will you be keeping the moldings wood color? They are very nice, the wood is nice. But white might give it a nice crisp look as well.

Also, the light fixture... I'm not sure how I feel about the gold color... it should match just fine, I think I'm more a fan of silver or rod iron black color. You could spray paint it. If you do or don't, I would suggest little shades on the lights, just like the ones in the room pic you posted with the wall color you like. That will make the crystal part of it stand out more... right now my eyes are directed right towards the bulbs and it seems a little harsh on the eyes.

Your dining room is so big and so beautiful!! I can't wait to see the finished product!!!

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