Kent,
I will try to offer some humble opinions for whatever they are worth. The 1st impression I got when looking at the painting was that there was a lot of pink. Your impulse to darken the background is in the right direction, but what you really need to do is lessen the chroma.
When a color just jumps out at you, it means it is too intense. To counter act this you can add gray in the same value. If you still feel the background competes with the figures then you can still go darker, following the same principles as mentioned.
The other biggest problem I see are the arms of the little girl. On this scan, they seem too light in comparison to her face. Here it would really help to have your reference photo on hand to see how the dress color relates to the arms, to the face, etc.
Your chairs look great and I wouldn't touch them.
The commode in the background is nice too, but it needs to get toned down to recede into the background.
I am a bit confused about the object behind the little girl and in front of the commode. It looks like a separate piece of furniture, yet there is no spacial depth between that object and the one behind it. I would ask myself weather this piece is necessary and if the painting would not benefit from less furniture clutter. You might consider extending the commode in the background. This will push the girl really towards the viewer, keep the mom in the middle ground and the furniture in the background.
I have been having tons of trouble getting my uploaded photos to look exactly like the original. This might be the case in your photo as well, therefore look at my suggestions and judge for yourself what applies and what doesn't.
I hope this helps!
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