Our Home's History - Dining Room

I think I'm suffering from decorating ADD - maybe it should be called "ADDD" or "DADD" - nevertheless, I am having a hard time focusing on any single project right now.  Instead, I flit from one thing to another.  I have been posting about our home's history, and I think this is the source of my latest diversion.  

Let me elaborate.

Here are photos of our dining room, as it has evolved from one owner to the next.

Previous owner:

Homearama Photo:

And as it stands now:

I guess the reason I'm feeling focused on the dining room now is because aside from it being a better photograph, little else has changed!  None of the photos have an area rug, the chandelier is the same, even the dark wood tones of the furniture are similar!  Although I do really love my furniture - especially my buffet...

We have had our dining room furniture for probably 11-12 years now, and I still love it.  But, while the room isn't terrible, it's just not the look I'm going for, and some days I'm tempted to start peeling away at the wallpaper - just to see if it comes off easily.

It's a conundrum, since as I've said before - our house is very open and the house was decorated with that in mind.  The rooms flow with the colors as they are now, and if I change one room in this open space, I feel like I need to have some sort of Grand Plan for the rest of the space.  Let's revisit this photo - see what I mean?

Here is another picture so you can see how when you walk in the front door, the dining room is RIGHT there.  

Is it possible to redo this room in a neutral enough way that it doesn't look completely out of place, yet blend with the great room and kitchen when we do finally decide on paint color(s)?  And I should say that the reason this room is even up for discussion is because I can do it myself.  Painting the rest of this open space is going to require professionals.  

Well, for now, I'm looking online for inspiration...

(Photos courtesy of Inspiration for Decoration)

From Emily A. Clark:

Funny, most of those pictures have slipcovered chairs, which I really don't see doing - maybe recover the chairs or do something to change them up.  I do want to make the space lighter and brighter though.  There are several things I know I want to change just off the top of my head:

 So, what do you think?  Can I redo this room without a complete Master Plan? 

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