A test render using Cycles of a dining room scene I am working on. All crits/comments gratefully received.
In a bit of a hurry, so that’s all the info for the moment.
Pretty cool design!
If it were mine to present, I’d change the lighting to a more outdoor one - single sun and blue enviro.
I’d also composite/create a scene around it so that all that glassware has something to reflect, meaning realism x1000 
This is the tutorial I always reference people to when I recommend trying HDR lighting, written by the helpful Greg Zaal posting above me. Definitely give it a go! The design/models looks great though.
H3X That tutorial wont help him as he is using cycles
Though I guess he could watch it for the image mapping
Gregzaal, I was in a hurry to get some feedback over the weekend, so didn’t bother with an environment. I have a dining/living room from another wip (which I have yet to post, but really ought to) in which this table will go.
As greg pointed out, H3X, cycles works quite differently when it comes to HDR, so that tutorial is not relevant, but thanks anyway.
As it is, that scene does use a skymap, which is where all the blue comes from!
I’ve had more time now to update this image, and here is an Octane render. Cycles struggles with interiors (if you know how to get round that, please tell me!) which explains my decision to change render engines mid-stream. The only thing that bothers me is that I forgot to make the lights hollow cubes instead of solid blocks of glass. And perhaps the top could be cropped off.
Oh well, I have another render cooking with the cubes done properly with a nice ripple effect as well, so hopefully things will look a bit more realistic.
No post production, BTW.
6 hours to render, for 3225 samples.
Attachments
I decided to have a go again with Cycles, this time using some large “floods” to light things up in much the same way one would use umbrellas or soft boxes.
1000 x 1000px, 2000 samples, for 2 hours 8 minutes rendering.
The image could do with some post-processing, feel free if so inclined!
The lighting needs some more work, though, so fire away with those suggestions, please.
Full size image here.
Attachments
Woah… I know I’m baised, but I seriously love the cycles render! Just needs to render for a little longer 
Yes, it has a lot more character to the lighting. It is also warmer; the Octane one seems more clinical. This has nothing to do with cycles or Octane, but simply the way I decided to fiddle with the lighting. Working with Cycles is so feedback-intensive, it’s worth the extra wait.
And this is the result of 6500 samples (some 20 hours or so). What is obvious from this picture is that the recessed shelf on the right is proving a struggle for cycles, with noticeable noise despite the sheer amounts of samples/time.
Likewise with the blurred carafe on the right, the noise is still noticeable.
All things considered, cycles is one of the most amazing things to happen to Blender.
