OK now that we are all looking at the pic in this window, I have some thoughts to share. To me this sort of very woodsy/foresty setting lends itself beautifully to a naturalistic rock garden/alpine garden sort of feel, heavier on the foliage and structure than color. For instance, a cottage garden would look really out of place in that spot to me. I might consider using a beautiful focal point dwarf evergreen as the major element--I can envision it being wider than it is tall; my current kick is the Globosa dwarf blue spruce, which I seem to mention in every post, LOL! I'd position that right about in the center of the photo or slightly to the right. Then fill in around it with other dwarf evergreens or loose-habit shrubs that can take some shade since it appears that this is at least semi-shady/understory. For deciduous plants with lovely early-season blooms, I'd like to see viburnums; to me, a white blooming variety would look more natural here than pinks but either would be lovely. Some evergreen azaleas might work as well since they're low maintenance but can be pruned to keep them in scale. Then I'd underplant with hostas and maybe some astilbe set off-center and hellebores mixed in. If you'd like to do a groundcover, maybe purple wintercreeper or even lily of the valley (which can become invasive, though I never consider that a problem since they smell like heaven to me and I have the room!). Note: I do know that the dwarf evergreens are pricy, but you'd be using only one of them so to me it would be worth spending the chunk of money on it since it could form the entire backbone of the garden and become such a focal point.

Don't have to be really old! LOL There is a new and really gorgeous subdivision not far from me. When I first an open house there, I was seriously ready to sell my house and move, but the housing market was down (which meant taking a loss), so I had to "chill out". Guess what? I know someone who bought a house there and they had terrible problems with black mold and had to move out due to being allergic to mold. One never knows, right... OP, I really feel your pain. Every single appliance broke soon after we got this house and new appliances do not fit the old openings. Do I need to say more? Did I mention finding mold in AC vents a week after bringing a newborn home? Well, "this too shall pass". :-)

Thank you, Mae. I'm definitely trying to enjoy this time, I know how fast it goes. The kids are just REALLY missing our old house. It's only 5 minutes away, but the house itself they are missing. My 4 year old asked the other week "when can we go back home?" my 8 year old can't talk about the old house without tearing up and my 11 year old who used to share a bedroom, is now scared to go to bed and says her room terrifies her at night. I know a big part of the home sickness is the new house doesn't have a homey feel yet. I have been buying soooo much stuff but I couldn't even tell you what. A book I bought for one of my open shelf areas🙄 said exactly what drdeb said. So I have definitely slowed down and decided to do one room at a time. I am just rushing a bit for the kids sake... maybe mine too. I think for the empty wall area I'm going to do family pictures. I know it's not what most designers would do, but I think I can display it in a tasteful way, and my family is really the only thing I love enough to hang in such a showcased area. We just now got family pictures with our newest addition so it might be awhile until I get them back, so I'll still keep my eyes open for something that really speaks to me but I'm not holding my breath. Thank you everyone for all the help once I start getting everything in and put together I will post pictures! Now, I think the next room to tackle will be my daughter's "terrifying bedroom." 😩

jennifer, if you want to do a slat wood wall (there are a lot of tutorials on how to do it. it's mainly 1x1 or 1x2 wood 'sticks' that are 8'-10' tall. you could use fir and stain them. or you could paint them black. or, if you have a bigger budget, get walnut or something similar. walnut you'd only have to oil. it's a red wood. just a medium brown tone that would great w/the floors. if you like a more natural color, look at 1x2 white oak pieces. (any lumber place should have them) a satin oil finish is all you would need. those can also be stained a walnut color. (oak is cheaper than natural walnut this one is actually poplar that they painted. if you're goign to paint, use poplar wood https://brepurposed.porch.com/2020/01/20/diy-wood-slat-walls/ so, you'd paint the wall black, and attatch the slats. this looks like Alder that has been stained a darker walnut stain. here's the lighter stain color. you could also get plywood and rip it to 1" pieces (however, plywood and lumber have skyrocketed this last year. it's ridiculous what a sheet of plywood costs.) https://simplyalignedhome.com/affordable-slat-wall/ I think if you even did the entry niche w/some type of slat or design would look great I'd go all the way down, and prop paint it black, or do the wall in black and do walnut wood pieces. or, I like this too. find a cool black/white/gray piece of art, something more vertical, and hang it. bring in some bright color stools to fit under the marble. bring in a entry way rug that matches or make a cool design and use that as your art element in the niche (I actually made a headboard similar to this one out of scrap wood pieces. came out really cool) over on the dining wall, you could easily do a living plant wall