Well... it's hard to tell for sure because things are a bit fuzzy, but I really like it. And I'm surprised by that, actually. If you were to describe it with no pictures my reaction would be 'don't go there'! But I think the contrast between the curtains and walls is stunning actually. And your wood looks wonderful against that color. If you think there is enough of a difference between your niche color and DR color and that it will feel more finished to you, then do it. It won't be so different that you'll be ruining the complementary elements that are already working with the curtains and wood tones but might be enough to make you happy.

Would love to see more detail of your curtains - they look smashing.

Beautiful room and very nice curtains!

I think the teal is fighting with the colors in the curtains. Your wood tones have a lot of gold/orange undertones, too, at least from what I can see in the picture.

Maybe a soft golden tone would be a better choice for your walls. I've read that warm tones are always nicer in a dining room, as they encourage people to sit and enjoy the meal, and linger for conversation. Don't know if that's true or not, but that's what I read...somewhere.

Anyway, teal is a great accent color (as in your niche) but it looks like you have neutrals on the other walls and surfaces. With your fabric and fireplace tiles, I think a soft gold might be a better choice. Of course, everyone has different opinions...that's what makes decorating so much fun! :)

While the wall color and the curtain colors are beautiful, I dont think they are the right shade to work together. If you want to keep the blue walls, I think a more muted greyed blue/green would work better.

I like the colors together, but I think the contrast makes the room look chopped up. You've got a little paint, drapes, a little paint, drapes, a little paint, fireplace, a little paint, window... I would hate giving up that teal, but I think you need to choose a paint color that unifies the room. Maybe you can bring in some teal as accessories and keep the niche?
Diane

Wow - the niche came out great! I think the dining room colors look great together, but agree with powermuffin that the teal makes the room look too choppy - particularly with different colors in adjacent rooms. Or, I guess you could extend the teal into adjacent rooms, if that works for you.

The photos are blurred, but it looks like the window drapes may not all be hung at exactly the same level. If so, something as small as that may be annoying you without you being aware of it.

Is that niche the last wall of your dining area?

The only thing that seems missing is your accessorizing. I like the colors etc but it just doesn't seemed finished. I think accessorizing the areas like the mantle and that buffet/table with the mirror would make it looked pull together. Maybe a nice centerpeice of some sort in the center of the table...?

What about plants?

Can't tell from angle of the pictures but does the light over table seem too high?

try uploading your room picture on the benjamin moore website.
Then you can try painting it in different colors.

That should help you see if it's the curtains, or the paint, or both, that you don't like.

Yep.....the teal wall color is too much. A soft gold or tan would be wonderful. Then a table runner and center piece. That table is beautiful with those chairs! The curtains are fine...it's just the paint color that isn't "right".

I love it as is and I love the contrast. Beautiful curtains too!

I think the wall with the switchplates could use a larger picture or feature.

I think a table runner in some sort of teal shade would soften the table and tie in the wall color.

I'd like to see something over the fireplace.

The light fixture is a little bare. Is there a way you could drape some crystals or such on it? It does not need much.

Other than that, it is a very pretty room and I agree it just needs a few accessories.

I think what's missing is the pattern or art that combines the two colors. It would help if there was some more texture in the room. Your drapery is hanging somewhat disheveled so I would work on making them sit more similar to each other. I definitely wouldn't go darker in the paint color.

IMO, part of the problem is that there isnâÂÂt enough wall space for the teal to be a real player in the color scheme. Between the openings, windows, fireplace and woodwork, plus the drapery panels, you hardly have enough wall visible.

I think the color is fine - but I would put it on the ceiling as well, to get more of it into the room. Then you need accessories with more visual impact to pull the three colors together, and perhaps a piece of art or two.

Hello,

I love the color that you have in the room. It looks awesome with your fireplace tile. I think it is the curtains. They seems to clash a little with the tile color, at least from the pictures provided, plus I think they are too much of a contrast with the wall color. I think I would go for a curtain fabric that picked up some of the teal color that is on your beautiful walls.

Elaine

What is going on over the mantel? Could you paint that teal, too? That would bring more of the color into the room. If you can take a sharp picture that shows the curtains against the teal, it might help us.

I have to say that I love the contrast of your walls and trim and my eye really enjoys the combination of colors.

How about replacing the mirror with a very large piece of art. You can take all the colors that you already have and add some of the browns you're craving and do a sort-of abstract landscape. In general, I think the scale of your accessories are off.
What is so appealing about your damask is the contrast. I would only suggest filling in those 1/2 stencils left and right. But, that just may be me.

I really like your style.

I agree on painting teal over your fire place; it will complete that wall and tie in the colors better. If you do that first, I think you will see a huge change in your room.

I would also spray paint your mirror over your side board with a finish that will tie in better with your curtains; do they have gold in them? Add a centerpiece to your table to pull in the teal and curtain colors. Since you eat at this table daily, look for something smaller, simple, maybe oval shaped, that you can pick up, move out of the way for your meal and then replace easily.

Add just a few things to your mantle over your fireplace that pull in your teal and curtain colors. Look for at least a few accessories for there as well as the sideboard that have some height and bulk to them. Once you find accessories to fit, re-arrange your mantle so that your items are in groups, not spread out so evenly.

I'd raise up your mirror so that the top of it falls between the top of the mantle and the top of the door; I don't care for straight lines myself.

I'd paint your switchplates the same color as your wall and get a bulkier frame for the picture on that wall. I think you'd want something with substance for it, maybe a wood frame with some detail that pulls in the accents of your curtains. The picture itself seems to pull in colors from your curtain colors so I would not change it out, only the frame.

I love your room, needs a bit of tweaking, but great colors, great furniture, great substance.

Your home is lovely! I am not a designer, so take this with a grain of salt... the only thing that strikes me, is the different color over the fireplace... like why is that there, sort of.
I am kind of agreeing with Les, it just seems like there might not be enough of the color to carry it.... I like the ceiling idea.
If you don't want to go the add more, direction, I would say maybe then it needs less... change it to a less contrasting color?
I do like the curtain color with the teal though. GREAT you made them yourself!

Thank you for all your comments! I had several paint chips out last night, and my DH was like, What are you doing?!? I have so many projects going on simultaneously, that he thinks I'm nuts to consider painting a room that has just been painted, and a room, that in his mind, has nothing wrong with it. For me, since we eat in this room every day, I feel like it just NEEDS to be addressed. Anyway, you all touched on many of the things that I've been thinking, that have been bugging me etc.

htnspz, I laughed outloud when I read your comment about my dissheveled drapes. Yes, they are dissheveled, but I gave up on straightening them out. Our kids are constantly moving them, hiding behind them, and our dog likes to lie against the wall right under the print and always kicks the drapes aside. Sigh. Oh well.

So, the curtain fabric is this one:

I actually picked it so that I could put teal on the wall. I thought the fabric would work with the teal. I was trying to use the reddish color and teal in the same room so that it could tie in with the rest of the house, which is mostly yellowish/cream with red accents. Given my DH's comments, I'm going to try to make the colors work first before giving up on the entire concept. May be accessories will do the trick, and may be that's what's missing. I agree that the frame the picture is in is horrible. I have always hated it! It is thin and metal, and it doesn't look good. Do you think if I frame it in gold and put it over the fireplace it would look better? Or do I need something with teal to put over the fireplace? I was thinking of adding a bench under the window with a cushion that has teal in it. I hesitate to put anything on the table bc it wouldn't survive for more than a day. But may be I can do some kind of decorative bowl? I am sooo bad at accessories. Mostly bc I see them as useless dust gathering tchotchkes. Any suggestions? A lamp on the sideboard? What could I put on the mantel?

If I can help it, I'd like to try to keep the curtains bc they took me forever to make! Not that they are that fancy or elaborate or anything, but there are 6 panels plus the border piece.

Thanks so much!

Accessories? Got any old books? Pile 3 on one corner of your mantle and stick one of your current do-dads on top of the stack. Get a bulky candle stick with a short, squat candle that pulls colors from your drapes. Surround the candlestick with a few of your current do-dads that are on the mantle. Or go with mismatched candlesticks, just some that have some 'umph' to them, not skinny ones.

I wouldn't move the picture to hang over the fireplace because of the panels that are there. It looks good where it is; just needs a bulkier frame.

While the kids are sleeping, paint that section over the fireplace.

A lamp may work on the sidetable, but paint and raise the mirror first, it will give the area a new look to it. Then you can see if the lamp would work.

I'm all about doing things in stages so I can sit back and re-eavluate how things look and go from there.

Should I paint just the insides of the panels over the fireplace? I hesitate a little bit on this bc I like the wainscotting over the fireplace and it might take that look away. It is a small section though, and if I hate it, I can change it back pretty easily.

The teal paint is beautiful, it's the curtains that don't match. Since you like reds, what about a fabric with both teal and rust? I have a large rug and the main background color is teal. But it has some smallish rust accent colors in it, and I have a lot of burgandy and red in the house and they match beautifully!

Darker material for the curtains would be perfect.

It's only paint. If you like the look of the panels, paint only the interior first. Step back, re-access and see if you like it. It's a tad more time consuming, but that way you may be able to keep what you like while increasing the flow of the teal color in your room. It's just time and a roll of blue tape. If it doesn't work, paint the whole thing teal. But do it in steps first.

I like the curtains, think they add some splash and they DO appear to have some teal in them.

If the curtains are made in the same colorway as the swatch photo, then I think they DO go beautifully with the teal. On my monitor the fabric looks like gold patterned silk. and the tile on the fireplace looks gold too.
When I looked at your dining room, it didnt look like a new build and I had to go back up to reread, thinking I had been mistaken. Great job! leave the wood over the fireplace painted white like the trim, I think that is one of the things that say old house about the room. It is probably the "finishing" touches that you need.
And you'll know your kids are grown when the curtains just hang properly.Sad,in a way.

I'd say that the swatch pretty accurately represents the fabric for the curtains. The background is a cream color with undertones of yellow/gold, but it's more creamy than gold (I'd say). The paint color kind of matches the ligher of the 2 teal tones on the sea shells. I kind of wish I went with the darker of the 2 bc I have learned that I prefer saturated colors. The tile is a honey onyx; so, it is golden.

Cooperbaily, thanks for the nice compliment. We love our house, but I am obsessing about decorating it to give it character and feel lived in. At least we have the mess that our kids create daily to give the house the lived in feel. I was thinking of adding a gold starburst mirror over the fireplace, having completely forgotten that I already have the Mexican tin mirror in there.

This room is really perplexing to me bc it's a dining room and I can't think of any dining furniture accessories beyond the table/chairs/and buffet that are appropriate dining pieces.

Thanks!

Another vote for 1) liking the fabric and paint together, and 2)agreeing that carrying the teal over the fireplace would help. Leave the raised sections white if you like, but paint the insets.

I've had a couple of instances where I saw teal in combination with coral and just went "wow, I LOVE that!" One was in a hotel room that had teal walls and a coral-framed mirror, the other was in an outfit on a mannequin in a clothing store. So I guess I just have an affinity for that combination!

gobruno, on my monitor the gold in the fabris is all I can see which is why it stands out so much and draws my eyes away from everything else. When you stand away from the curtains can you see the teal print? That's why I think a darker curtain with a bolder print would work better...only if you yourself cant see the teal in the print from a distance.

I could be wrong here, but with the deep teal (my new favorite color), would a heavier curtain work better? Jewel tones in that room, red, teal with gold/copper accents pieces would be beautiful!

Maybe if the curtains were heavier I'd like them better? But that doesn't matter, all that matters is whether you like them. :)

Since you do sew so wonderfully -- perhaps you could create a matching short runner for the top of the buffet. And consider making some cushions for the chairs -- maybe with a teal fabric on the flip-side so that you can switch things around.

Then flip the mirror to the vertical position. Hang one reproduction print of shells on each side of the mirror. Add a lamp there too. Both the new runner and the prints of shells will help to move the colors over to this area of the room.

Since your mirror and your chandelier are both silver in tone -- add a large silver bowl to the table for fruit. You could sew a large mat of teal fabric to place under the bowl.

Above the fireplace -- I do like the white paint. Perhaps add three sepia-toned photos of your kids sitting in front of your new front door of your home -- mount them in large, rectanglar mats in the teal color and frame them in silver -- to work in the color of the chandelier and the mirror.

Jan at Rosemary Cottage

Here is a link that might be useful: art.com -- vintage shells artwork

Again, thanks for all the wonderful suggestions. So, Oakleyok, are you saying going deeper teal on the walls and reddder in the curtains?

Jan, thanks for all the great suggestions. Btw, I don't sew that well at all. I actually just learned, and these curtains were super basic (just sewing straight line hems). I was thinking of switching out the cushion fabric on the chairs to tie in the colors, but frankly, I don't love the chairs, and was thinking of replacing them. So, I didn't want to invest in changing the fabric if I was going to get rid of the chairs. I just don't know which chairs to get. Like the idea of hanging the mirror vertically. I also like the idea of teal matted photos. I just did sepia photos for our bathroom. Where does one get teal mats?

Thanks!

Jan...great suggestions! I love the drape material, BTW!

In addition to accessories, the first thing I would consider if you canâÂÂt/donâÂÂt want to paint the ceiling to bring in more teal, and you are going to hate me for this, is to change the banding on the drapes to teal, or at least add a couple inch band of teal between the red and the print. That will also help the teal pop out of the drapery fabric.

I would NOT paint the panels above the fireplace in the teal. What I would do is get a thicker piece for the mantel shelf, and drop it down so that the bottom of it starts at the top line of the tile, and paint it the same color as the rest of the panels (white?) I would then look for three platters or six smaller plates to hang in the panels with teal as the primary color.

Or, use two of these on each of the outside panels, hung one over the other, and then a teal vase in the center with some branches and greenery to give some height.

teal seashell plates

Maybe this vase from Pier1:

Teal reactive vase

Pier1 will have all the faux and dried grasses, twigs and small floral accents to pull in the colors you want into the vase.

If you donâÂÂt like the plates, look at the seashell and starfish/coral wall art pieces on the Pier 1 site - they would work instead of the plates on the two side panels.

Please also take a little time to paint all the vents teal to disappear on the wall. They are not decorative items. :-)

A taller more vertical mirror over the sideboard, and either one bigger lamp on one side, or a pair of lamps on either side. Consider finding something if you do a single larger lamp, that has a ceramic base.

I know this is expensive, but I think it would be stunning there against the teal wall, and picks up the coral pattern in the drapery:

coral porcelain temple jar lamp

If you want to add teal to your table, a simple way would be a single patterned/textured placemat in the center that you could use daily rather than a long table runner (which you could trot out for special occasions) that might get in the way. I'd buy more than one because of wear and tear and for when one is in the wash. You might even try making one and using a ribbon banding on the edges.
For some reason, I am picturing a placemat with gold tassles in the corners...

I love the wainscoting over your fireplace as is. I've been wanting to add it to the space over our FP in our FR. I'd regard it as an architectural element and work with it. It's a wonderful room. Try more accessories, perhaps a rug, or cushions for your chairs, artwork, etc., and you may just fall in love with what you have.

les917, thanks for all the links. I love that lamp! I think I'm going to have to wait on that though. So, I'm going to try to bring both more red and teal into the room to try to bring it all together and connect it more to the red in the adjacent great room. I dropped that flower print off this weekend to be reframed in a larger more substantial wooden frame. I have some autographed menus from restaurants we've been to, that I'm going to have reframed with teal mats with a little bit of red matting peaking out. I think I'm going to turn our mirror vertical. Dianalo, I like your idea of the placemat for a center piece. I'm going to look for some fabric/placemats. That way I could put a centerpiece on it and slide it around pretty easily. I'm thinking of a windsor bench for under the big window with pillows in teal and red. How does that all sound? This room has been a real challenge for me!

white pleated tier sheers on slender dark rods extended about a foot outside the window casing above the double hung windows would look lovely,keeping the transom window part bare.Make some small rectangular pillows for the chairs with the curtain fabric. Hang some artwork that would bring out the color of the fireplace surround. I love the teal walls and the white trim.

This is just my personal feeling, but to me the teal makes the room look cold. I love the curtains and admire your talent. Since you like saturated colors you may not like my idea, but I would paint the room a soft, rather light gray which has a bit of warm brown in it i.e. a warm gray and not a cool gray. Your room is beautiful but does need accessorizing. A bench under the windows with pillows or even a padded bench upholstered in a beautiful material that ties in with the curtains would be lovely. Here's another idea that I used in my dining room. It's painted a warm red but I thought it needed something more. I bought some gilding at Aaron Brothers which comes in little jars in two or three kinds of gold color and painted stylized flowers all over the walls with a small paintbrush. I'm not an artist so it's not terribly detailed but on such a large surface what mattered was the sheen of the gold which made the walls look almost as they though they had been papered but it was more interesting than that and everyone seems to like it. The design can be whatever you want it to be but should be fairly large so it doesn't take forever. I painted half wreaths of flowers. It does give a more lively look to the walls.