Day 1.3(b) In Which I Think More About the Dining Room

Let's take this wall by wall, shall we?


This is the wall on which I have my computer. Unfortunately, the photo is the "before" from last year's cure. But it is the best I have to show you what it looks like full on.

I'd like it to look more like this:

Isn't that purty? With its combination of open and closed storage, strong horizontal lines but with the vertical lines between the bottom and the top all lined up. The lighting. The curves of the Ant chairs breaking up the boxiness of the unit.

I like this too--in particular the dark top and the light sides. I love the symmetry. In an effort to try and recreate this, I stained my computer table.

The "old" colour is on the pull out shelf, the "new" one on top. Not to worry, they match!

Moving clockwise (The West Wall):



This wall has grown. And grown! Someday I'd like to do a photoessay of how it grew. But not today. We have purchased a white Expedit for all this schtuff. I'm hoping it will look less cluttered and more unified. Something like this:

(image from O At Home, September '07)

or this:

(Be still my beating heart.)

Moving on: the Window Wall. It faces North. There's never, ever any direct light. What indirect light I do have is filtered by the shaggy evergreen tree outside. It does keep the room warm, though.

This is, again, an old photo. The red curtains are gone. The shelving is as above.

Aaah. The East wall, with the China cabinet, the dratted pine door and the old painted IKEA bookcase.

Do you think my China Cabinet and table could look like this? (image from MSL Sept. '07)

Of course, I don't get nearly the light this room does. Nor is my china cabinet so tall and stately. And there's no room for the Windsor chairs, nor the urn-on-a-pedestal thingy. But I like the yellow and green combo. Actually, THIS is the colour scheme I want for this room. I cried when I found this on the Tricia Guild Web-site.
And so, where are we? Back at the kitchen door, with the shelving on the wall.
I love this image from AT:SF--and I'm thinking I could do a blue accent wall just like this with the shelves--but, in that long horizontal configuration above. We'll see. And you will too. Because I will paint this room. I have too, in order to get the Expedit up.

Here are my thoughts:

Paint the book case and chairs yellow. Put up yellow curtains. Paint out the red with a neutral: but put either blue or green on the wall with the computer. Paint the pine shelves white.

Other essential info:
The room is 11 feet long, 10 feet wide.
The window is not centered.
The floors are golden oak.
You will be able to see the west wall with the Expedit in the living room mirror over the mantle.
Painting the pine door is Not Allowed.

What do you think I should do?

Stain the pine dining table dark or paint it white?
Paint/Stain the dining chairs to match or contrast?
Should I have blue, green and shots of yellow or just two of the three (which two?).
The drawer units beside the computer desk...what to do with those? Keep them white (and re-cover the box-drawers with white paper)or paint them dark to match the computer desk?