Dining Room Decor Update

I have slowly been putting things into the dining room.  I started with a pretty blank slate so I've just been changing my mind alot about where I'm putting things.

I finally put the art up on the walls above the sideboard.  I hung up 5 pictures and then walked into the other part of the house to find my camera.  When I got back into the dining room...there were only 4 pictures hanging.  I completely thought I had lost my mind.  I looked all around for the fifth picture.  Seriously, I spent about 4 long minutes baffled.  Eventually I figured out that it had fallen off the wall and was hiding behind the sideboard.  Sometimes I'm slow.  Anyway, the saw tooth hanger came off the back of the frame.  Until I fix it, it will have to just remain sitting propped against the wall.  I realize it's not very symmetrical looking right now, but I swear I will eventually fix it.

Along with the two stencil pieces I painted, I hung Warhol's Yellow Cow and Butterfies and a self portrait of Renoir.  No real reason for the pictures other than I liked the colors and they were super cheap.  I think Mr. Renoir was $.99.  I've also added random objects to the sideboard, testing out colors and shapes.  I decided against hanging my big letters so for now they are just standing.

My giant hour glass brings in a little wild green to the room. This summer I ended up with a bunch of photo booth strips so I popped them in my favorite accessory...the mason jar!

A couple of my Missoni pieces are on the right side; the bowl currently holding some Christmas cards.  The blue and coral vase is something I have been lusting after since I saw it in a magazine back in May.  It's from Anthropologie and worth all $28 I paid.  The owl is actually a coin bank.  I figure there's no rule that you can't keep your coin bank in the dining room.

All in all it's finally beginning to get a little bit of personality in the room.  I've been looking at fabrics for the drapes and for recovering these chairs.  Here are some of the things I've been checking out.

I'm hoping to start on the furniture refinishing in the new year.  I want the sideboard black and the table and chairs a dark walnut.  It's going to be a tough job.  Feel free to volunteer to assist.  :)  Here's a mock up of the darker table I created using Sherwin Williams' Color Visualizer.

It's still hard to imagine since those olive drapes and mustard chair pads throw you off, but I think it's going to look great with the floors!