Thanks again, all! The general consensus seems to disagree with my ideas and go with another simple end table and leave the space behind it empty (or place a lamp/large plant). I should mention, the corner is about 4x3.5 feet with where the furniture is now. Unfortunately, I am unable to purchase new seating, otherwise brown would be my last choice, as I'm not a fan. :-) Currently, all of the wood tables/chests in the room are not the same color of wood either. Should I just start over with all new ends tables to make it work? I'd prefer not to purchase TOO much for this space as it is yet another rental.

"My husband and I can’t agree on a plan." This implies that you both have plans, but I will bet that no plan exists. The place to start for yourselves and us is a BASE PLAN, which shows a bird's eye view (map) of the area. Landscaping the front of a home is done with knowledge of its surroundings (all the way into the neighbors' yards.) But your pictures show just pieces of this. You should return with the camera to THE EXACT POSITION from which you took picture #3. Then aim the camera to the far left so you can include what is seen all the way over to the property line. (If the picture does not overlap with picture #3, take another that does.) Then continue on, panning the camera to the right and capture the right side of the property, again, all the way to the property line so that we can see the whole property in its surroundings. That's the only way a person could be able to understand it enough to make sensible recommendations.

@Christopher CNC For an indoor plant I like peat a lot and I can control the watering. Like you, I do not like to water plants. I like a well-draining soil that retains a lot of moisture. For an outdoor plant that is outside of its ideal environment, I think the plant dictates the soil. There are succulents that will do well in a well-drained peat soil, and there are succulents that would get root rot quickly in that soil. So the issue with putting rocks below a soil layer is that you raise the perched water table. If your perched water table was going to be six inches, then the new perched water table will be the height of the rock layer plus six inches. That's not inherently a bad thing, as long as you know where your roots are going to grow, and you do not want to rob deep rooting plants of well aerated soil. With a gritty mix you have a pretty minimal perched water table. If I were buying the soil from a garden center, then I agree who cares about a little more cost. But gritty mix is such a pain for me to make. I have to filter out the bark. I have to filter out the Turface. It takes way too much time, and I do not enjoy it.

Well, I think people hesitate to answer when we notice other things in the room that dont feel right. Namely the clock that is floating in space lol. also we need to see more of the space so step back and post a picture of the whole room. Honestly, before you pick a lamp I think you need to finish the walls behind the sofa that will play into what belongs there.