Our dining room is carved from of a part of our living room.
We kept it simple and functional. Especially with children, you want to keep everything fuss free.
My husband and I were debating whether to go with a ceiling fan of pendant light for the dining area. And in the end we chose function over aesthetics. And I am glad we did.
The weather has been so unforgiving lately, and the ceiling fan really helped when dining and hosting.