LOVE your style!!! Big hugs to the wonderful cat!! :)

A big vote for black Billy shelving from Ikea -- it is a mere 11 inches deep -- and can be customized with doors etc. Also -- it comes in two heights -- so that you could do a shorter shelf unit in the middle -- and add artwork.

Other possibilities -- perhaps check on your Craigs List -- might be something there that might work (with a bit of paint!)

I would add a rug, yes, to help define the dining room.

Other than that, I got nothin'. I like it as it is. It is an interesting, pleasant, comfortable room. It has a sort of an "Apartment Therapy" creative humble vibe to it that I really like!

If you want to center the chandelier and keep the medallion, you could swag the fixture. We did that in one of our dining rooms.

That looks like a happy room!

I was going to suggest IKEA Expedit, maybe in black or even a color. You can put doors on it, legs underneath, different heights.

Or get a CL buffet/hutch/sideboard and paint it a bright color.

Here is a link that might be useful: painted antique sideboards

Another vote for Ikea Expedit, jazzed up as you see fit. You could pretty much fill that wall with Expedit shelving and use a combination of doors and open cubbies (love the idea of wallpapering the back wall of the cubbies).

I love the uniqueness of your room but I have to ask, why the two white chairs? I'd like to see two more of the leather chairs there.

I'd keep the window frame and put photos or other colorful pictures (postcards, even) behind the individual panes.

And then, please invite me to your next party.

I love it as is. Other than maybe a rug, which I don't think is a have to, I don't think I would change a thing. You've achieved the look that many of us strive for. Though I could see the expedit shelf in there if you're looking for a longer cohesive piece.

Thanks so much for all your kind remarks!

teacats, thanks! And right on with the craigslist idea.

mtnredux, I think you're right. A rug will it help define the area but also soften it a bit. Right now it's very "hard" which my husband likes (modern) but could be cozier.

crl - we have been considering swagging or even adding another chandelier swagged over (same or different).

nosoccermom - as always, LOVE your inspiration photos! All that yellow really speaks to me.

sueb - yes, DEFINITELY need two more chairs!! originally we were looking for two arm chairs for the ends of the table, but I'm glad we held off as now we'll get a pair that matches the others with this new configuration.

thanks so much louisianapurchase, that is so kind of you to say!

**************
Question 1: Bar

The open shelves aren't working for me because we have way too much cat fur.

My original idea was to do a 12" deep faux credenza with RTA cabs and then shallower floating shelves on top. Maybe kind of like this?

[Modern Dining Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-dining-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_722~s_2105) by Portland Design-Build Firms Vanillawood

And THEN I was thinking I could get a long mirror or some mirror tiles to do a backsplash type thing just between credenza and floating shelf. But maybe that would be too much/too bling? It would just be nice to have some reflected light in this room since it's so dark.

But then this came up (and promptly sold - heartbroken) at my local MCM shop and now I can't get it out of my head.

$800 -- why?? Why isn't it mine??

This wasn't an MCM heavy area so they don't come up too often...maybe once every 6 mos. But I could wait if it would be ridiculously perfect.

But if you guys thought it would work, I would also be totally open to a larger buffet/hutch combination! I was nervous it would look too 'heavy'/domineering from the living room.

That's why I suggested checking out a combination of Billy shelving from Ikea -- its very thin in depth -- and could be made (with some help from your carpenter) quite customized! :)

The bottom half could have doors to create more hidden storage .... and the top half could have glass doors ....

And you could add additional lighting to the unit too ....

Here is a link that might be useful: Pinterest -- pin board featuring Billy shelving ideas

Question 2: Lighting

The off centre chandelier is kinda working for me. I toyed with the idea of adding a second (maybe mismatched) chandelier.

But then I was thinking wall lights serving as picture lights might look better? Maybe two of these ranarp lights over the painting?

or these? (would have to hide wall bracket)

Another option would be one or two lamps on the bar.

Question 3: Rug size?

I think a rug would be nice.

The table is just shy of 8 feet long. I think I'd get an 8 foot long rug to keep main traffic path clear.

In the photo below I've shown two options - an 8x6 rug (18" for chairs to pull out on either side) and an 8x11 rug (runs almost to wall on both sides).

I know everyone always undersizes their rugs...but somehow I'm still liking the 8x6 option? What do you like?

Love your house!

YES to the MCM piece. YES, YES, YES. What I'd do is find all the shops that might get something in like that, and put your name on a list. Consignment shops are often willing to do that-- you describe what you want, and they call you when a prospect comes in.

Other than CL, try Krrb, if active in your area.

Here is a link that might be useful: Krrb

teacats -- thanks so much for that link. Very inspirational!

anele - thanks! The MCM piece literally sold two days before I rearranged my dining room...le sigh. Getting my name "on the list" is a GREAT idea! Let's just say this store is getting to know me pretty well...

This post was edited by robotropolis on Tue, Apr 8, 14 at 22:45

I love your room, I love it's oddball features that are your non-negotiables. There were several good suggestions here, but in particular I love the thought of the yellow that nosoccermom posted in your room. Even if you can't find the perfect MCM piece, I think even something more traditional could work with such a bright colored twist. Or the credenza with floating shelves would look great. For rugs, I agree that the 8x6 seems like the best fit (provided room for chairs to pull out). Plus the cost difference for a 6x8 vs 8x11 would be a huge chunk of your budget! Do you have rug styles in mind? Regarding the chandelier. I don't mind the off center actually (and I am usually a sucker for symmetry). Does it provide enough light for all people seated at the table?

I love the chandelier, can I ask where you got it?

Bosma, you're in luck, it's from o.co! The bulbs are plain glass, not crystal. It is a knockoff of the bling chandelier which comes in a few different finishes and different sizes.

Here is a link that might be useful: chandy

This post was edited by robotropolis on Tue, Apr 8, 14 at 23:49

Kellienoelle, thanks for your nice words! no rug style in mind. Except maybe indoor/outdoor? Maybe yellow?

Maybe something like this Dash & Albert?

The wall end of the table is a tiny bit dim. The lamp in the corner helps!

This post was edited by robotropolis on Wed, Apr 9, 14 at 10:00

DIY Mobile light

or sconce

I'm too old to like MCM, but have you checked CL?

Alternatively, get a cheap buffet and paint it yellow. Even the ugly ones look amazing with a bright paint job, e.g.

Floating shelves above

Oh, and I do like the IKEA black and white rugs, even though they're in a lot of designer blogs.

Here is a link that might be useful: DIY Lindsey Adelman

Have you considered ladder bookcases? Crate and Barrel makes affordable options.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sloane Leaning Collection

While trolling Craigslist keep your eye on the business section. I have seen some incredibly cool storage solutions in that part. Everything from vintage open coolers to Country Club golf lockers to store display shelves to Restaurant Bar remodels or going out of business sales. Your lovely room could easily accept something of unique quality. As you know CR is hit or miss but I would include the business section in your searches.

I am just going to throw this out there. I love the window you have leaning against the wall. What about a horizontal window actually in the wall? It could be wide and not too tall, fitting in between a hutch/credenza type unit and the upper shelves. It would bring in light from the stairway area. Or you could have some small square windows in the wall that randomly fill in where shelves are. These could just be glass framed into the wall or old windows framed into the wall.

One other thought. While I love MCM and that unit you posted, I think that particular unit may overwhelm your space. I think a better plan would be open shelving above a (MCM)credenza/hutch/Ikea unit.

Diane

Isn't it funny nosoccermom, my story is quite typical of my generation in that my grandparents set up their house in the early 60s and had quite a bit of MCM (sadly none came to me)...so I always saw it as different and glamorous compared to the country florals and what not of my parents' house. My parents also have no nesting instinct so what came into my house growing up was not attractive to me.

Love that DIY sconce!

jterrilyn, totally love that industrial look and good tip on going through the business section. Credenzas show up there quite regularly. I troll our craigslist (Kijiji in Canada) every day. It takes a LOT of patience around here to score something good.

Not my style but someone has two of these babies up for $50 each and they haven't gone after a MONTH! What a steal! I almost wish I needed more bookshelves.

geokid - I love the look of that C&B shelf. Sadly the amount of cat fur that would accumulate on the lower tiers would blow your mind. And I have cleaning help! But she can only do so much.

powermuffin, what a great idea about framing windows into the wall. Could be disconcerting when someone went upstairs, but it would be unique and interesting. Because we just finished a huuuuuge kitchen reno, I don't think it would be in the budget right now, but I am going to keep it on the dream list. My contractor has to come back some day in years to come to do our last 1980s bathroom...so I might put it on his list then.

This post was edited by robotropolis on Wed, Apr 9, 14 at 10:44

Not much to add, except to say I love your room.

Robo, you have some very interesting things going on in your diningroom. The end result should be smashing. I would cross-post over on the GW kitchen forum if you have not done so already as they have a huge resevoir of knowledge over there as well. I am certainly no interior designer, but here are my random thoughts if this were my diningroom:

1. If that mediallion can be installed on your ceiling, I can see no earthly reason why it can't be uninstalled and then reinstalled centered over your diningroom table. It should then be a minor electrical issue to entend the wiring for the chandelier to the medallion.
2. I love your large work of art on the back wall but think that there are two major issues where it is not being shown to advantage: (a) It looks pale on the light wall. You need to pick one of the colors of the dots to paint the entire back wall, including the door and the door frame. Is there anyway to eliminate the door so you can sheetrock the door area and center your art work? (b) That last question leads to the second issue. The art looks crowded on the left 2/3 of the wall. If you have to keep the door, I'm going to make a suggestion you probably won't like. The jagged outline of your art seems to me to lend itself to being cut into 4 vertical sections (like a triptych) and have the 4th section secured on the door so that it does fill the entire wall.
3. I like what you have done with the dining chairs in carrying out the same theme with the upholstery in the various colors of the dots. Continue that idea with the new chairs. The dark painted accent wall as a background should make the chairs and table look much richer also, as well as the chandelier.
4. Because of the richness of the ceiling medallion, include crown molding on the walls at ceiling height to complement it.
5. Enclose bar area with 12" deep hanging white base cabinets but use either black or same wood as the table for slab doors.
6. Have a carpenter make the same thing as the Ikea Expedit boxes, only 7" deep and have them floating on the wall to leave the surface of the base cabinets available for bar use. Paint the back of each box a different solid color, selecting each of the dot colors. Or have floating shelves above to match the same color as the slab doors below.
7. I agree with the area rug idea to warm up the space.
8. Normaly I don't like track lighting but that is one option since your art is so large (get led bulbs). Recessed ceiling cans with the swivel enclosure of the light focused on the art is another option. You need to consult with lighting experts for ideas since so much is rapidly evolving with lighting these days. Try the GW lighting forum as well.

Anyway, a great room which you should have great fun decorating your way.

This post was edited by Texasgal47 on Wed, Apr 9, 14 at 12:25

Thanks so much sas95!

Hi Texasgal, thanks so much for all your creative suggestions.

I have been considering painting the art wall either a deeper tone of the wall color (French Canvas - darker would be something like Sag Harbour Grey or Abingdon Putty) or a graphite black (my kitchen lowers are black). I am going to hold off until I find a rug, I think, just in case the rug veers in a particular direction. I like the idea of warming up the space even as I somewhat fear making it totally gloomy. But I like the slight restaurant look I have going on in there, and hey, restaurants are often dark right?

I also really like the idea of floating cubes on the wall!

This post was edited by robotropolis on Wed, Apr 9, 14 at 21:35

I agree with the darker wall behind the art, and maybe wrapped around behind the "fauxdenza," if you go with that option. I think it would be great with floating shelves above. I also like that it would emphasize the horizontal along that wall, whereas most furniture pieces would break up the wall by having a stronger vertical component.

Re: "framing windows into the wall. Could be disconcerting when someone went upstairs, but it would be unique and interesting," We are doing something like this in our new house-- interior window is framed into wall between tv room and hallway that contains an open stair. We used frosted glass for more separation, but it still allows light to move between the two spaces.

Here is a link that might be useful: fauxdenza images

Thanks lori! I truly love those fauxdenzas.

Here's my progress so far: I've installed some drawers in one of my expedits and am going to try in the space. Bought a rug at homesense but it was WAY too stripey and didn't work-- so it's now in my family room where it looks very happy. Rehung my curtains in the living room - that's almost like DR progress right?

That's it! Gotta move the expedit tonight. Have this 8x10 rug coming in from O.co to try, if it doesn't work it's going in the master bedroom.

I got a lead on a house of old furniture some guy's getting rid of. His girlfriend sent me a pic of this thing. In my head I know it's too big and dark to work but in my heart I love it. Hopefully he's not selling it for like $200 because if he is, I'm lost:

This post was edited by robotropolis on Mon, Apr 14, 14 at 9:51

Robo, I don't normally hang out at this forum, but of course, the postings to the right, drew me here.

I love your room!! While searching Kijiji (I live in Ontario, so am familiar with Kijiji vs CL), be sure you check out the Free portion. Tons of bookcases, credenzas, wall units etc being given away as people downsize from large tvs, and books etc. You could paint and configure them to your own look.

Also, join Freecycle in your area. You could post a Wanted ad looking for whatever you decide on that you want.

Good luck! I LOVE all of the ideas presented to you! Give both your kitties a kiss on the head for me.

Love your style.

I haven't read all the replies so forgive me if I'm repeating.

1. swag the chandelier to centre on the table - I have done that because I like flexibility in changing the dining table position and I find it works great.

2. I'm using wall mounted IKEA BESTA cabinetry along an entire dining/living wall. It's 25" high, 15" deep, has a variety of door/interior options, and can carry a lot due to the suspension rail system. That might work well for your bar because you can mount it at any height. You could use some or all glass fronts lit from within, or hide it all away. You could have trays of booze displayed on top as a "fauxdenza" for special occasions. The system has glass cabinet tops which would work well. (I also adore nosoccermom's yellow "ugly" buffet pic).

I would not paint the wall darker behind the painting. The current wall colour works because it is subtly differentiated from the painting background and creates a scultural look. A dark wall behind the painting will detract from the painting IMHO, by creating a lot of contrast - the wall itself would become the focal point with the painting becoming a "hole" (negative space) in the wall. I have lived with a lot of large artworks and I believe there's a reason why art galleries generally use white walls - it's not the only way to display art, but I advise caution when doing otherwise. If you want a different wall colour, I would paint all the walls the same colour if you want to keep the painting as a focal point.

I see you're going to try out Expedit. Do be aware that that line is being replaced and fittings may change in dimensions.

As great as Expedit is, I think it's had its day and it is too recognizable as an IKEA cliche at this point. No offense intended to anyone - it's still a great look that is very practical, but I wouldn't invest in that now. I do have some different IKEA cliches in my living area that will probably stay because they just work well for my space and I don't have the budget to do better. But I think the BESTA is a better option as a built-in fauxdenza and is more easily customized for your space.

You know, the nice thing about Besta is I already have two older units in the appropriate size with glass/metal doors so I'd probably only have to buy a few more (plus some extension rails). Something to think about for the cheap at heart (that's me). I think the expedit is likely not going to be a permanent fixture but it will be a good stand in for the height/depth of Besta to see if that will work out.

We have two expedits but we also have records .... and if there are two things that go together like horse and carriage, they're surely expedit and vinyl.

I will definitely take your comments about the wall color under advisement. I am cheap and lazy so keeping the same wall color would be great for me! I like richly painted walls for other people, but I am just starved for light at all times in our rainy climate, so I think that's one reason I have been gravitating toward light walls. Also the way we did the kitchen would make it hard to choose an ending point for dining room color. Not impossible but hard. If I did paint the DR it would almost definitely be black or graphite.

This post was edited by robotropolis on Mon, Apr 14, 14 at 14:06

Ooooooh, I like that big, dark, old wood cabinet. Go for it.

My friend just sent me this, $25 at the local sally ann. Of course I am kind of terrified of bed bugs, which are fairly new to my area. Kid not included, sadly. Notice that in my storage needs above, nothing I mentioned will fit in this dresser! But I still love it.

That dresser is awesome! You could convert the drawer fronts to cupboard doors if you're willing to do a little rehab (attach the fronts together from behind and add hinges). I worry about bedbugs too - you could rent a steam cleaner to take care of that.

I'm pretty sure my Bestas will fit vinyl as I need a place to store mine - they are 15" deep with adjustable shelves.

Yes, I figured you'd have issues figuring out an "end point" for colour changes in that space. I live on the west coast of Canada so I am all about off-white in my living spaces...I totally need the light in this climate. I used to use darker colours when I lived elsewhere but it doesn't work for me here.

Robo, the dresser would be wonderful for your space except for one "minor" issue -- none of those drawers are deep enough to stand bottles upright. If this were my space, I would want bottles to go behind doors, or into very deep drawers, to prevent the bar from looking cluttered.

Texasgal, you're absolutely right. I put my expedit in here as a stopgap measure and this is what happens when you ask my husband to put "only the bare necessities" on the bar:

This experience definitely decided me against any and all dressers.

New rug came! I love the colors and how they echo the living room curtains.

So I think it's a go! It's a weird space to enrug but the 8x11 thing seems to be working ok.

Love the rug! And somebody else seems, too.
What happened to the old wood cabinet with glass doors?

I asked her for a price on it and she said to make an offer for the lot of furniture. So now I have to decide what I want to offer for:

1) pristine vinyl 'fencing swords' embroidered kidney shaped coffee table. Well, she calls it leather.
2) blobby small coffee table
3) Pair of Yellow and brass atomic lamps
4) Walnut dining table comes with TWO leaves - needs refinishing as the table is now lighter than the leaves.
5) Glass curio cabinet.

She said I can go view on Friday.

Wow, would you be interested in all of these items?

BTW, the colors of that rug look so much nicer in your DR than in the original post from Monday (web site pic).

The rug looks so much better irl than in the original photo you posted. It is great! So much so, your kitty has claimed a permanent spot it appears.

I like your DH's thinking as to 'bare necessities' for a bar!

Love that view of the rug with the curtains. Fantastic combination!

Just wondering, and I haven't read every post so maybe you talked about this, why you didn't place the rug the other way, with the long end parallel with the long side of the dining table?

Thanks for the rug feedback! The colors turned out great, bright but vintagey feeling. Perfect for me.

nosoccermom, I don't NEED all that furniture...but I kind of WANT all that furniture. Especially the freakin sweet coffee table.

sueb, the main reason is that the main traffic path of the house cuts through by the table there. And kitchen stools back up to it. So it seems that ending the rug with the table kinda works?

Also I have having a problem with getting enough rug in behind the chairs on the right without ending a rug right in the middle of the path from the laundry room to the kitchen. So it seemed to work to pull the rug all the way over to the wall on that side even though it's a bit oversized really.

My house has no center hall or staircase, really no hallways at all, so all traffic goes through the rooms on either side. It's kind of confusing and people always get lost, which is impressive considering our main floor is less than 1000 square feet.

My non-declawed cats destroy all upholstered things and most rugs, but they are cute.

This post was edited by robotropolis on Thu, Apr 17, 14 at 14:33

"nosoccermom, I don't NEED all that furniture...but I kind of WANT all that furniture."
Haha, there you go. In terms of offering money, it's the person who throws out the first number who has the advantage. See below on Harvard Business School advice on negotiations.

Here is a link that might be useful: when to make the first offer