Wow! I'm floored by all the awesome feedback. Thank you all so much for your wonderful ideas and encouragement. There is a lot to think about here and I am feeling so inspired already! I think I am leaning toward repainting. The color feels so murky even by day, I'm just ready for something lighter. The idea of light green is appealing because perhaps I could find something that would allow me to keep my drapes. I'm not feeling ready to make another investment in drapes with young children running around the house. The ideas to paint a neutral color or a light yellow are also tempting. Though, I already have so much cream and khaki and camel in the house my husband calls it "tanland" :) I will definitely look into more fabric in the sheers as well. I have been wanting a buffet/ console, but did not know where to put my cabinet. I'd have to move my table towards the foyer if I wanted to put the cabinet on the same wall as my door. Not enough room behind the table otherwise. I could move the chandelier with it pretty easily, but I'm not sure how I'll feel about the table being off center with the window. Perhaps its time for the cabinet to find a place upstairs. I also love the idea of lamps and gold framed prints that I could change out with the seasons. The rug is the Brice rug from Pottery Barn to the person who asked. It looks like it is no longer available though. There is so much to think about here. Thank you all again for your help. I'm still open for more feedback too if there is anyone who has more to add!

I second what Patser said - we got our Fixer Upper two years ago - every "redone" flipper house we walked into I cringed as it was so overpriced and cheaply done. So, we did what Patser said - good bones, structure, nice hardwood with lots of potential. And, better yet, I can pick everything I want - DIY - so we spend the money on better materials and cool tools vs. labor and then we know it's done properly (although it takes us years to do it). Instead of cheap vinyl windows - we splurged for Marvins as DIY (which were easy and quick), it was the same price as installed. Instead of cheaper cabinets, we splurged on what I wanted - Cherry & Glazing, and DIY (ok, cheated on hanging them and got some help, but that was the only time). We got tired of the cheap windows, badly redone hardwood or cheap carpeting where you can't see what is under it, crummy kitchen as people can't afford labor and good cabinets and nice granite (not uba tuba), metal doors (not solid wood). But, some women and some men will walk into our home and say yuck as they like modern, others will love it - you can't appeal to everyone so, I'd say stick with classic and not the cheapest off the shelf materials (after making 2-8 trips a week to Home Depots/Lowes we can tell very quickly now). I hate wrought iron too - I'd want wood and Baldwin ORB (which we did but very $$$) for knobs, etc. Oh, and I don't care about closets as long as there are a few - it's amazing how creative you can get when you need to be, especially DIY with an amazingly handy husband.

Our house is unfortunately not big enough for dh to have a man room although like you I would be happy for him to have one. His consolation prize is his outdoor kitchen with a flat screen TV where he can have the boys over for BBQ and watch the game. I know a lot of people with man caves and a disproportionate number of them chose the colors of a favorite team as a starting point. THat could turn out ghastly or it could be pretty cool. Depends on the team ;-)

This has been an interesting discussion. Not sure why the term "man cave" has so many negative connotations. My SO and I created one when he moved in with me, in one of our guest bedrooms. The term was funny and enjoyable for us to use. My SO's bedroom at his previous house was called "the cave" by his family because the walls are all dark wood paneling and he has light blocking, red and black curtains, and dark wood furniture. His favorite colors are red and black. He has trouble sleeping so keeps that room practically hermetically sealed. I jokingly accuse him of being a vampire. He's introverted and likes to have a place where he can retreat away from the "sturm und drang" of the household. I tend to give rooms in my house nicknames anyway. We never got around to replacing turquoise carpet or trim in the master bedroom, and I disparagingly referred to that room as "the aquarium." On the other hand, I got to have total reign over the other small guest bedroom, which had a pink, red, cream, light brown and green color scheme. I got to use my old doll crib to store guest towels in without my SO gagging! It has floral art on the walls, which I guess is totally emasculating, or at least so I gather by the reaction of my SO. (I'm joking, this is a gross exaggeration! He would just say it isn't something he cares for and I know lots of women don't like floral patterns as well.) I'm a botanist, what can I say . . . And I got to have some WHITE furniture in there! We are moving into my folks old place eventually, and we've had some interesting discussions about our new digs. We're going to re-create the previous decorating scheme, I get the smaller guest bedroom, and he gets my dad's old "man cave" extra bedroom which was where my dad got to go watch his TV programs and had his messy office before my mom died. The house has a "sitting room" off the main entrance, which I am dedicating to my mom, that's where I am going to put her favorite pieces that I inherited, and then SO and I will get to work together on the family room, dining room, kitchen, screened porch and master bedroom. It's going to be an interesting ride. Anyway, for us, each of us having our own space to decorate as we wish helps solve a lot of problems in the common areas. I get to indulge in all my light colored frilly whims, and he gets his dark, somber retreat. We could call it his "office" because I also have an office in the house, but "man cave" is a fun term for us. Not sure what my room will be called. I used to call the old one the "girly room" but that is sexist, I suppose . . .