3-Stage Makeover: Elegant Dining Room

By Doug Hansen

Slide 2 of 12

Stage 1: Plain Dining

The alcove is a terrific feature that increases serving space, creates a natural focal point, and balances the room's pair of tall windows. The arrangement within the alcove, however, underwhelms. The console table is beautiful but underscaled for the niche. The mirror is dowdy and the spindly lamps belong in another house entirely. Walls and window treatments have the clout to make or break a room and in this case, it's the latter. Dining rooms offer the perfect canvas for invigorating color, but this room's beige-and-white scheme plays it far too safe. The windows' drama is stifled by timid draperies that melt into the walls.