Thanks sheesharee, for the compliments. It came together with a little bit of luck in finding things, lots of patience waiting for the right thing to come around and a lot of help from this board to advise when to jump or when to keep looking. Yours will too! I've been looking for a rug for this room for about 6 months how, but I just did not have the vision or confidence to know what I wanted though I like to think that has changed. :) Thurs I go to look at the rug, plus my patio set comes in so I'm hoping to have some pics to share by Friday.

I love the furniture you've picked out. It will look bright and cheery and just the feeling of the inspiration pics you've posted in your other threads...once you paint! Paint the darn room already! :) My last house had muddy mauve and no natural light (houses on three sides and a big porch on the other). As soon as I painted, it changed everything. Even my mood was better. And if you have a front porch, I suggest you paint the porch ceiling blue. It made a big difference looking out my window and seeing Martha Stewart's Porch Ceiling Blue. Almost as good as being able to see the sky. :) Let your room evolve. Don't feel like it has to be "done" right away. Take your time finding art and accessories that you love. You're doing great and you're going to have a lovely space to enjoy.

I agree that the drapery panel that you posted doesn't quite go with the sofa fabric. But I'm wondering what initially attracted you to the crate & barrel drapes... Are you trying to incorporate more contemporary/transitional elements into the room? Or was it the color? If you want to bring more contemporary elements in, then I'd suggest a textured solid or stripes for the sofa instead of the paisley, & a contemporary patterned drape (I don't like the color contrast of the crate & barrel pair with yoru wall color, but )and removing the skirt from the sofa when you have it reupholstered (assuming that's what you plan to do with the fabric, vs. buying an entirely new sofa). The darker paisley is lovely, but very traditional, and seems like it would be hard to coordinate with a contemporary drapery pattern. Alternatively, if you love this particular paisley, how about having a darker textured sofa (maybe the darkest color in the paisley which looks almost brown) and then using the paisley for accent pillows? I agree with Palimpsest that the dark color of the walls would work better with a deeper colored sofa.

Wow thanks for all the great ideas and suggestions! I admit I hadn't thought so much about the lighting. We replaced a "boob light" over the dining table with that fixture when we moved in and you're right it does look a bit kitcheny, though it lights the table very well. Do you think the drum shade we have now in the LR would look good there (on a built in fixture)? I do see how a round table would work better visually but DH hates round tables and this is one of those areas I am OK with that - we do play a lot of board games there and the rectangular tables seem to work best. We hung the pendant light because we did not have enough lighting in the room there is no overhead light and with our furniture placement there was no way to plug in a floor or table lamp in the middle of the room where it's needed for reading and general light. For ambiance we have 3 table lamps in there and the bookshelf accent lighting, but we need something closer to the ceiling to get better lighting. I thought about running a cord under the rug but it would still be exposed part of the way, and that's considered a major fire hazard so I am reluctant to do that. Maybe we need to install an overhead light, but then the question is placement and style. I admit I know nothing about lighting as a decor component but I love it when I see it well done! I really need help on that one, clearly. Regarding the idea of opening up the stairway, that is definitely on my wish list! It would bring more light downstairs too because we have balconies on both upstairs windows (off each bedroom) that shade the downstairs windows. However that's further down our list, after this project, then kitchen reno and then some bathroom TLC. As part of the kitchen reno later this year we plan to open up that wall section from the pass-through on over to the hallway, and to the ceiling creating a breakfast bar area on that countertop, to open up that area. One thing that I'm trying to think ahead about is how to light the kitchen and peninsula when it's so close to the dining area. I was thinking can LEDs in the kitchen and over peninsula. I think we could fit in 2 full size sofas but I expect it would look a little crowded. We're just 2 of us (hoping to expect a third soon) and we don't really entertain a lot, so we don't need a ton of seating. DH and I really want to able to snuggle up comfortably on the sofa together - we've never done that on this one something about the size and shape just doesn't work! It is a Jennifer Convertibles - our first "real" furniture - and I was very disappointed that it didn't hold up structurally, we've had it for 5 years and the cushions lost support a couple years ago and it was sold as "genuine" leather but was clearly bonded. Normally I sit on the chaise by the window and he sits on the sofa, we feel too far apart. I'm thinking maybe a full size sofa with chaise on the fireplace side, and then a chair on the dining room side, either the existing one or a new one... and get rid of the chaise by the window since there would be a chaise on the sofa. A large potted plant would look nice but so far I haven't had luck with plants in here as the LR windows are all NE facing and overhung by a balcony so not enough light for most. Maybe right up by the window they would be OK. If not, I'm sure I can find an interesting item to put there. The fireplace wall does look dark in these pics, I think it's the contrast with the sun coming in the windows and of course it is the darkest wall, but we have electric candles on the mantel and hearth that come on in the evening, and the table lamp and accent lighting on the bookcases light that area pretty well. If we don't have the table and chaise by the window, I may put a floor lamp there. Maybe we should purchase the furniture first, then decide on lighting once we see how it ends up? We're planning to go shopping this weekend. Color and fabric is something we haven't decided yet, we were not happy with the leather and we'd have to pay a lot more to get good quality real leather, and DH says it's cold and he'd prefer fabric. With fabric I like slipcovers because I have allergies and dust sofas are awful - being able to wash the cover intermittently is helpful. I'm thinking a lighter color since the current stuff is very dark, but I'm pretty flexible on that, going to select the next sofa based on comfort and practicality more than appearance.