décor will help a lot. I would consider different chairs, right now it looks like a man cave lol. maybe linen slip covers could help. I dont think you need another texture on the walls.

Is the dining room or a library?

We can't see enough. Based on what little I can see, I'd put stuff in the shelves (mostly BOOKS would be my choice). And I'd paint that wall because it appears icky with the builtins. Based ONLY on what I can see, I'd paint it red. :)

I would cover thin plywood with a light tone on tone fabric to fit between the verticals and replace horizontal shelves with glass. That way nothing is permanent. But it's a LOT lighter and brighter.

I would consider another table with a light marble tabletop to help with all the wood. If the shelves don't have lights add led pucks to the top.

Unless it’s an imitation, that’s an expensive old room with a very particular look. If you don’t want to make permanent changes, I’d do as others suggest and add books and possibly slip covers. Otherwise I think a room like that warrants working with a designer sensitive to the period of the house and quality of what’s there.

As suggested above, fill the bookcase with books. You can buy vintage books online. Cover your chairs in linen slipcovers and make a decorative arrangement on your dining table.

Let's hear more about this room. The house is a new buy? Furniture is yours or previous owner's? Honestly, the photo looks cut and paste. Chandelier is lighted but I see no reflection. What is the wall color?

A new photo is definitely in order.

The delicate look of chandelier seems 'lost' among earthy leather. Have you a way to apply grasscloth without ruining the leather?

Btw, lower priced at 164 -

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Thank you all for your excellent suggestions! We recently moved into this Victorian. The built ins are in our dining room. I definitely agree about it feeling very dark and heavy with a lot of wood. Love the idea of slipcovers and vintage books. I was thinking about either getting cane or grasscloth wallpaper and covering a piece of cardboard/foam board to cover the wall in the builtins. The surrounding walls and ceiling are Swiss coffee. Here is a recent photo.

I’m also open to new dining set. If you have any ideas, please let me know!

I’d definitely consider a new dining table and chairs. The one you have is neither Victorian nor a modern twist—it’s just heavy and masculine in the space. If you’re staying there for awhile, permanent changes might really be wonderful (but not if you’re not doing the whole house)—lots of ideas from Europeans updating older homes, like this room from Covet House:

Oh this is a better pic! Stager your vases instead of in a row.

but now I see its not that large of a space. its actually really cool.

If you own, I would change the light fixture, it would bring a real modern flair to the space, and I think the built ins would look more like a modern touch than old school.

I love those suggestions thank you! This looks great!

I agree with RL Relocation -- bring in stuff to modernize the whole space - balance with a nice vintage rug

I think the leather backing is actually very interesting…has character, is quality vintage. I would work with some other elements in the room before you decide to cover it up even in a temporary way. The advantage to having the background dark like that is that it shows off the pieces and it blends in nicely with the wood. I wouldn’t hurry to fill the shelves! Deal with the easy elements like the rug, dining table, chairs and chandelier. There are some great mock ups here, for ideas even if some of them aren’t exactly your style. The bookcase could then become a feature wall.

I agree. ^^^

It’s awesome! Lean into it, make the room more moody, masculine, whatever the description. It could look fabulous!

I wouldn’t go too modern in here, that’s so overdone. Do something unique!

Love RTHawk’s mock-up, that looks super cool. Very eclectic and great mix of styles.

The trick will be to get something that lightens things up and contrasts but also fits in with the rest of the house, your style, and the somewhat vintage look. I like the idea of a vintage looking rug to join the bookcase to the dining table area in terms of style. The chandelier is more difficult. You might want to post a bit more information about the general trend in the rest of the house?

Meanwhile you could think of some simple and inexpensive things to do with your bookcase. That would lighten up that background… Storage baskets, across the bottom, could be a useful place to store dining related accessories. If you have art and photographs already, those would be a simple inexpensive way to break up the background pattern. Arranging bookcases is a whole art which you can go online and learn lots about.

https://houseofjadeinteriors.com/2020/02/how-to-style-dark-shelving/

There’s even an entire blog that addresses your exact issue. 😉

Good luck! I’ll be following along to see how things develop.

So much amazing inspiration and ideas! Thank you! The house is Victorian and all over the place in terms of style so eclectic maybe? (Parisian modern, coastal, traditional, transitional, definitely more feminine than masculine, which is why I struggle with so much dark wood/leather). I love the baskets lining the bottom shelves and my husband will love the suggestion to work with the leather back. I will start with the chairs first. Thank you thank you!

Are the shelves moveable? Can you remove some of them? Then you could prop some bright art in those areas. Can you narrow the space between some of them? In other words, by moving and/or removing shelves, you can vary the spaces between shelves and that will make it a more lively area. Shop your house for interesting objects and experiment. Don’t just buy vintage books. Do you have books? Use them! Remember that you can place art books on stands and they can serve as art. You can stack books horizontally as stands, too. Have fun with this! I would love to have those leather backed shelves in my dining room. Say….why not start a collection of art that features FOOD???? Just a thought!

I've seen this done but on a small scale with some built in shelves.

A friend covered some foam core board cut to fit tightly on each section with fabric and put them against the back of the shelves. She didn't attach them in anyway to the back of the shelves. They are held in place because they fit tightly. She could have also used wallpaper or even painted them. She changed the fabric once because she found something she liked better and it doesn't cost too much to change it out.