Dining Room Meditations

Eventually, I'd like to post before and after pictures of our house.  It will be more to show our faraway friends that we're using their wedding gifts than to show off how our house looks now because, frankly, there isn't much to boast about in what I've done to the place! 

For example, the dining room hasn't changed much since John first saw it during his walk through.  We were blessed with a house that came furnished and we like a lot of the furniture to boot!  It has changed considerably, but that's because in his bachelorhood, the dining room was a place to store his bicycle and the extra bed that needed a home.  But now it's largely back to how it looked when he first moved in. 

I'd like to redo it with this color scheme: 

This pic is actually an apron which a friend from NY made me!  I love toile and like the almost-teal blue put with a golden brown.  Now, this is what our dining room looks like now: 

Plans include to bring the fake plant to Good Will and eventually take down the quilt on the wall.  It's not bad, but it's not me.  But, like many other things, for a while, I left it up because it added color to a wall I hadn't paid attention to yet.  Now that Christmas is coming, its fall colors are pleading with me even more to be replaced.

We love the table, by the way!  And the chairs have cloth seat covers which I know that I can remove and re-cover with a toile that matches the color scheme. 

But there are some issues.  Looking at the table, here's the wall to your left: 

The issue isn't so much the portrait (which was John's, by the way!) but the color of the mat.  It could be changed, I suppose, but it beautifully matches my beloved tea box underneath it which was a gift from my beloved sister and which could not be so easily changed.  It also matches this: 

This article of furniture is an old entertainment center left at the house which is holding many of the bowls, vases, etc. we received as wedding gifts.  It's on the wall opposite the table.  And it could be repainted, or perhaps ultmately replaced . . .

Another shot: 

We received this table as a wedding gift, and isn't it gorgeous?  But you can see that not all our special dishes fit in the maroon entertainment center. Hence, I'm hoping that we'll at least add another shelf to its enormous TV-shaped space inside.   I also think that our blue and white china will go prettily with almost-teal and a golden color. 

On top of the little chest are the four pieces of a gold-toned frame which I'm hoping to put back together and get mirror glass for.  It belongs above our keyboard, facing the windows. 

Perhaps someday there will be a piano there instead.  :-)

So, almost-teal and a golden color.  But do I boldly paint the upper walls that almost-teal?  Or do I keep it for an accent color on the chair seats and entertainment center?  And if I do paint the upper walls that color, what color do I paint the entertainment center? 

Thoughts most welcome.  :-)