MPG, yes, cut the large arborvitae down around the front doorway, and keep the ones in the backyard. You might also think of removing a few more of the large ones near the garage. I think you can get away with removing half or 2/3 of them, leaving just few for your accent points. I'd take out the large green 'meatballs', and I think you would be fine not to replace them with anything. It looks like they were planted to screen the driveway and it's cars so people outside the yard couldn't see into the yard from the street. If you still feel the need to screen your driveway then think about placing shrubs and trees in the lawn area well off to the sides of the driveway. You have a formal French-Italian villa look to your home, I'd play that up with the choices you make for any additional plants you choose. Since you are in a dry climate, lavender, rosemary, herbs, and a few shrub-trees that look like the olive trees in the Mediterranean area. But do check out books that cover your drier climate. Every place has a palatte of plants that look the best for it's area. And think about painting the white trim on the house, and the trim around the garage a shade darker than the existing color the house is currently painted. If you don't like the house color then, when you remove the large arborvitae, it that would be a great time to repaint. Whatever color you decide on, you would do the same thing, you would paint the details in a slightly darker shade of the main color so they stand out just a bit, almost like a shadow. And when you do remove the plant material, you will have to slice through and loosen them from the foundation before you have them pulled. They have sent roots under your foundation if you are on a slab. You will have to grub out the old plants' roots, and add more soil to those areas where you have taken the plants out since they have used up all the organic matter and all the nutrients. Cruise through magazines and garden books, focus on homes that look similar to your's to see how that style is enhanced with plants. It's not always very formal, the rustic Italian farmhouse and the extremely formal French city villa are miles apart. And check things out through interlibrary loans from your local library if garden books are few in number. Go ahead and remove the extra plant materials, and amend the places well ahead of anything going back in, and take your time living with the blank canvas so you can visualize any new ideas better. I think you have a fantastic project ahead of you, have fun!

I like to follow the rule of thirds. It is aesthetically pleasing. However, in this situation, I'm trying to figure out if the 1/3 point is the rod itself or the distance from the top of the panel to the ceiling. The difference is not that great, but could, I suppose, throw things off. Let me see if I can explain what I'm talking about. The distance between the top of the window casing and the ceiling is 14". One third of that is 4.66". The distance from the floor to the top of the window casing is 80". If I use the 84" panels and allow for about 1/2" clearance at the bottom, the top of the panel would be about 4 1/2" from the ceiling. BUT, if I want the rod to be 4 1/2" from the ceiling, then I need to purchase the 95" panels and shorten them and the top of the panel ends up about 6 1/2" from the ceiling! Does this make any sense? WWYD??? Now, let me show you what I think I'm going to use for the rod. Does it blend in with the wall enough? And which of these two colors do you think I should use? The one draped over the sofa is SAND and the other that I didn't bother to unfold from the way it was packaged (sorry about that) is IVORY. If you'd like to see the IVORY opened up, I can do that. SO MANY DECISIONS! I don't know why my pictures are larger than usual. I swear I resized them the same as all the others. Sorry.

Thanks guys for your continued input. I am making a simple turkey dinner for the family (It is Thanksgiving in this part of the continent) so can't play around with furniture arrangements until later in the week or next weekend. However, I plan to rework the furniture arrangement multiple time with my little furniture cut-outs to see what I can do in both the great room and the dining room if the window seat moves there. I will post some alternatives later this week and hope you will come back to see them when the post pops up again. Here are few replies: Oakleyok, Your idea of placing a love seat in front of the window seat had not occurred to me at all. I will try out your idea with my furniture cut-outs. I agree that we should have room for a couch facing the TV if we lose the end table. The plant idea on a window ledge is great, although I tend to send plants into palliative care quite quickly LOL. I do see the family using the window seat for reading. Given we are in Canada it is rarely too hot or too sunny near a window. Thanks again for your help. Lavender_lass, Wow that dining room bump out is so beautiful!! Sadly, we won't be able to do that at this point in construction as the brick cladding is already on the back of the house. Also, we have a climber rather close to that side of the back now that the addition is done, and I wouldn't want to reduce the passage between climber and house any more. Yet, I will draw up a window seat in the dining room as I like that look. I was going to make a shallow shelf for decorative plates in the south/west corner of the dining room (top right corner). Maybe I can make some sort of combo window seat/plate shelf. I just have to find a way to accommodate that smaller dining room window on the west side. Thanks for your help and inspiration. Rosie, I am totally with you on disliking the "turn your back on family" seating arrangements. I do think Lavender's arrangement improves upon that problem. I am not worried about anyone walking in front of the TV. We don't even have cable, so mostly use the TV for movies once in a while. The kids use the one in the basement with their X-box a bit more frequently. I will do just as your aptly described to try every possible arrangement with a variety of furniture. Maybe the TV has to move so we are facing the dining room more rather than having our backs to it. Do you think we need a new spot for the TV?? I hate to think about moving that fireplace other than scooting it back a bit as the vent is installed through bricks, but if it has to move....don't tell DH just yet. Thanks ever so much for your kind help, Rosie. Carol P.S. Please come back everyone to see the various alternatives I post by next weekend. In meantime, if you have any more ideas I am all ears.

I'm not a fan of any of those options...for various reasons. Mostly because the style/scale as well as the tone doesn't look like it would compliment the bed.....although without links hard to know. The Bernhardt nightstands in your pic from Haverty's are 40 W x30 H x21 D. That is why they don't look dwarfed by the bed. Do you have room to do something like the pic Penny posted? Basically a simple open rectangle with a sturdy leg? Another thing I'd consider is taking a look at kids' dressers/desks. Some are even similar in size and shape to the Bernhardt nightstands.... https://www.perigold.com/furniture/pdp/smiling-hill-4-drawer-dresser-sta6494.html?piid=17238112  Another approach would be multi-tiered side tables, not these exact ones obviously, but again something with enough heft and presence to play nicely with that bed.