My Dining Room

I have some good ideas for the dining room.  I've already purchased most of what I'll need to put it together, though I'll still need to accessorize.

This is what I'll be working with

(note for new readers, this is the seller's decor...I still haven't seen the house in person)

The big picture...as the room relates to the rest of the Great Room

(nice antlers eh?)

My sister went and picked up an 8 1/2 foot long wooden old church pew off Craigslist for me (only $100!)

It has great carved wooden crosses on the side.  I don't have a pic, but I'm planning for a look similar to this:

from Katyelliot.com

I'm planning to paint my pew white, though I would love to attain the patina this gorgeous bench has.  I'm just not sure my highly laquered pew could get to this point anytime in the next 50 years.

Here's another example of a long bench and table

Besides some nice pillows, I'm thinking the most effective and affordable way to make the pew comfortable to use a King comforter or duvet.  It would be almost long enough to cover and would wash well.  I could either fold it, or hang it across the back and seat so it would be similar to a runner on the bench with pillows at the corners.  Have you covered a long bench before?

For the table, ideally I would love to find a french style table, but I don't think it's likely to find in Fairbanks.  So, as an alternative, I'm going to be building a table in this style from
Knock Off Wood plans

Here it is finished...I'll do mine in a lighter stain

I bought Henriksdal chairs with long white slipcovers from Ikea for the main adult seating (the kids will be using the bench!)

I have this chandelier to hang over my rustic style table

For $30, I got these 4 shutters off CL that I'm planning to hang above the pew on the wall.

I'm not sure if I will paint them all the same color, or leave them different for interest.

And as I noted in another post, I really want a Gustavian Mora clock for the corner of the dining room, but that will be a long time coming, since my budget isn't that healthy.

The french door and window will be painted white with long white curtains added

Here is my Polyvore inspiration board.

So, what do you think?  Any other ideas or thoughts?