I recently bought a black leather Stressless recliner made by Ekornes. I am not extremely excited about the way it looks, but I have neck problems and finally could not tolerate my wing back chair anymore. It is the most comfortable chair you can imagine. I had to compromise looks vs pain relief. Now my family grabs the chair if I am not in it! I have a friend who has had hers for years and it still is in fabulous shape. I hate the bottom of the chair more than anything. Have not figured out how to post pictures yet, sorry.

I was thinking about this thread as I was doing some reading in various places about humus. Even wikipedia puts it this way about stable humus: " this is organic matter that has been protected from decomposition by microbial or enzyme action because it is hidden (occluded) inside small aggregates of soil particles or tightly attached (sorbed or complexed) to clays. Most humus that is not protected in this way is decomposed within ten years and can be regarded as less stable or more labile." It also refers specifically to lignin being one of the main precursors to humus, and that black carbon (e.g. biochar) also seems to contribute a lot to stability. Interesting the way that OM gets attached to clays. I don't know if this is actionable information or what it tells us exactly about what to do in this case; but I'd be tempted to place an emphasis on woody/pulpy inputs (or composts from them) in adding organic material, or at least plant material (stems? corn cobs/stalks? etc) or paper/cardboards that have fair amounts of lignin and get some charcoal/biochar in there too. Just speculating somewhat, but hopefully logically. This will have implications for nitrogen and other nutrient availability - i.e. it might make growing some types of plants or getting good yields harder, at least in short term - but might have benefits in getting there to more stable soil in long term. FWIW.

Thanks everyone for this latest batch of comments! Amazing chandelier suggestions, I think I said "ooohhh, ahhhhh" for each and every one. I think my next steps will be: - Establish a strong visual line around the room to help humanize the proportions, as per House Vixen. The sconces feel a tad too low if I'm using that height around the whole room (they're actually only 6 feet off the ground) but I hung the portrait of my Nana so the top of the frame is at 7 feet, and that seems like it would be a good height, still not competing with the doors or insanely tall window frame. - Roll up and remove the rug for a while, see how it looks, possibly replace. I like the suggestion from ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9 to consider a tribal style oriental rug. I've seen some that still look very contemporary. - Lower the chandelier (that seems unanimous) and consider replacing with one of the stunning styles above. Question for everyone: if I replaced the chandelier with something in a burst style (I'm leaning toward urchin or sputnik at the moment), what should I do with the sconces? Any other easy lighting adjustments you can think of? The current chandelier and sconces are on dimmers which helps a lot, but I wouldn't mind having a few other lamps in the room for balance. - Another question: How does everyone feel about plants? A ZZ or snake plant are probably my best options given the light in this room, and I have a few cool planters, but I'm curious about size and placement. Or skip altogether, since it's a dining room? Besides trying to strike the right balance between modern and traditional, I'm also trying to be realistic about the function of this room, which is as a major thoroughfare in a family home without much extra space. In other words, while I would love for this room to look like it does in this photo much of the time, realistically I'll spend much more time using the table for arts and crafts with my toddler, sorting mail on it with my husband, and throwing board games, blocks, and other toys into the storage than actually dining there (thankfully we have a bright and lovely breakfast room at the end of our kitchen where we eat our everyday meals). Oh yeah, a few more quick questions: - Still paint the radiator to match the walls, even though I have 10 inch high white baseboards? Wouldn't that look a bit odd, to have a gray radiator in front of a white baseboard? - Some other ideas for family photo displays? Honestly, I'm hoping that once I put a big piece of art above the sideboard, I can keep the frames there (below the art) and they'll blend in a bit better instead of standing out so much and looking cluttered. But if that doesn't work, it'd be nice to have other options (besides, as Elaine Wilson said) hanging them in an odd little arrangement on the wall. Thanks everyone!

I just thought I would update. I'm at about 90% improvement so that's great. But this has been the longest recovery to date and that worries me. I'm still very stiff and sore and walking is difficult, but at least most of the pain has subsided. It's mostly side/hip muscles so I assume they were strained a bit to compensate for my inflamed spinal muscles last week. I have physical therapy scheduled for Wednesday and an MRI for Friday. I'm excited to finally get a real diagnosis and start strengthening my back so hopefully this won't happen again. Regarding the chair, it's been wonderful. I expect it's made my recovery a bit longer as I haven't been walking as much but it's been more comfortable. I don't need the lift assist anymore but I still sleep in it at night. I tried to sleep in my bed on Friday night but the pain came back. I think I need to accept that my preferred plush mattresses are bad for my back. I'm looking into buying a firmer one. Thanks for everyone's suggestions and input!