Update:

I have a confession. We've been neglecting our dining room since we moved in. We stacked lots of boxes in there and used it as a sort of purgatory for things that still needed to be unpacked and gone through. We told ourselves we'd get around to it. And then we just left it there. It became the place where we stored things we didn't know what to do with to get them out of the way. We've been avoiding this room and eating all our dinners on the couch in front of the TV, partly because we're lazy and partly because there isn't a path to the dining room table.

Here's what it looked like when we moved in:

And here's what it is looked like in its sorry state:

This room has always kind of depressed me because it's so dark and sad. I mean, look at all that wood paneling. And don't pay any attention to the tape on the floor -- we've been mapping out our new laundry nook/mud room.

We finally decided to do something about it, though. So we picked up some paint, enlisted the help of my mom (I'm only good for the middle portion of the wall these days), and got to it. It actually ended up taking three weekends because we had to do multiple coats and paint all the trim but, in the end, we got it done. I was banned from the second go-round of painting because my back started bothering me. The council took a vote and decided it was too much physical exertion for me, so I was forced to retire my paintbrush.

It's almost done. We just have a few places where we need to do some touching up. We should have some photos to share soon but I am really pleased with how it turned out -- so much more cheerful and lighter. A definite improvement. And even though there are about a million other things we still need to do to this space, I think we will be using it much more often.

Here's the to-do list for this room, in case you're interested:

1. Clean brick on fireplace
2. Paint mantel
3. Remove ceiling fan and replace with large pendant light
4. Remove other light fixtures
5. Paint paneling
6. Paint trim
7. Add chair railing
8. Replace flooring with hardwood
9. Build built-ins on both sides of fireplace
10. Add sconces above built-ins
11. Find art for above fireplace
12. Build wall with wide doorway to space?
13. Window treatments
14. Find rug
15. Upgrade furniture (farmhouse table + buffet + chairs)