This dining room is a great example of having all the right elements.  The four dining room essentials are all in place: beautiful table; chairs; chandelier; and sideboard. Other dining room design elements like a traditional area rug, art and additional lighting all help create a polished and put together dining room.  Yet the room still lacks a little bit of drama or pizzazz.  A few additions and changes can help create more of a sense of drama in this formal dining room.

Shutters on the windows can control the light during the day and provide privacy at night but do little to add to the formal feeling of the room’s style. Rather than take down the shutters, curtains could be added to the windows. The curtains wouldn’t need to cover the whole expanse of the windows and could even be dummy panels that just frame the window. Hanging the curtain rod closer to the ceiling can also make the windows feel bigger.

Paint color in the walls and ceiling could help make the room feel richer. Deeper colors are nice in a dining room that is used primarily in the evening. Soft light from the chandelier and other lighting creates a dramatic look in the evening.  Coordinating the wall color with the existing rug would pull the two elements together. Adding linen napkins in another color picked up from the rug is another way to enrich the look and feel of the room.  The painting above the sideboard is another good source for color inspiration for accents and wall color.