Lighter and Brighter

I am in the process of making our home more light and bright.  I'm trying to do this only with things we already have or things I can find on the cheap.

The room I decided to start with was the dining room.  Before the room looked good but was a little crowded with the hutch and was darkened by the burgundy roman shades.

The wall color will stay the same but I am contemplating painting the trims white like they are in the bedrooms, bath and kitchen... more on that later.

First, I switched the wall canvas art with my plate collage and found a big white basket I had to put on the table for fruit.

Second, I brought in the white curtains from the guest room.  This probably made the most difference in the brightness of the room.  It also makes the window more of a statement in the corner.  I like!

I added two white floating shelves I had on hand from IKEA and loaded them with brightly colored kitchen goodies.

I like where this is going but I want to do a couple more things.  I would like to find some fun fabric to recover the chairs with to add more color and the light fixture needs to go.   Its too dark and I want something more light and transparent so that when you look from the living room to the kitchen there isn't any visual blockade.  Just a nice, flowing, cohesive feel from room to room.

The light fixture I would like to get is from the Pottery Barn.  I love the vintage/rustic look of it and I think it would look perfect in the space.  Now I need to decide how many fixtures I want to purchase.  I could just hang a single pendant or I could do multiple...

(Photo Source)

I LOVE the look of multiple pendants like in the photo below. I LOVE these lights.  I love how subtle and elegant they are. Love. Love.Love.

(Photo Source)

So what do you think?  One light?  Two lights?

I have lots coming up for you too! We started upstairs this weekend and my in-laws will be coming to stay with us next week!  So you know there's about to be a bunch of progress up in here!