First, I hope all is well with your child. Rightfully it is hard to think about furniture when you are dealing with something so major in your family life. YUM! I love the color of your new upholstered pieces, the wall color, and the whole architectural vibe of your lovely home. I have kind of skimmed through the other comments, so if I am repeating things already suggested (and perhaps rejected), I apologize. Part of the reason I think the room feels a bit cold is because of the lighting. Almost all of it is in the corners of the room, not near the seating to create warmth where people will be. I would also ask if you have considered trying the sunroom rug in here, and putting the LR rug in the sunroom? I think the light background would lighten the feel of the space, but also work with the dark walls, particularly since it appears that the rug has black in it (or a very dark navy, which would also work in the room). I would take down the artwork that is on either side of the doorway behind the open french doors. It doesn't allow for nice viewing of the art, and really doesn't compliment the doors, either. They are actually a bit of architectural detail as they sit open in front of those end walls. Take the floor lamp out of the corner, and use it next to the wood chair - ideally between the chair and the couch if you can. Turn the small cabinet against the wall that has the small shelves, making it a part of that vignette, and put the small lamp on there that is currently on top of the tall bookcase near the sunroom, so it will tuck on the left side of the cabinet under the shelves. The lamp that is there now, (which appears to be another of the same floor lamps as the one on the other side of the doorway) can move to the other end of the room. Take the two pieces of art that were behind the french doors and stack them on the wall to the right of the small shelves. Angle the armoire into the corner. Sitting flat on the end wall feels crowded. Move the lamp on the bookcase to the small cabinet, as mentioned, and hang the clock that is on the shelf above the bookcase. It is light, and will add some reflection and sparkle up there. Move the collection of silver candlesticks from the brass table to the shelf where the clock was. I like the chair and ottoman to the left of the couch, at the side of the room that opens into the sunroom. I think it blocks the view of the radiator beyond, and makes the overall look much nicer. Try to find a way to add the other floor lamp here. I think your drapes are pretty, but the rods need to move out further on each side of the windows. The drapes shouldn't be angled, but hang straight, and they look skimpy pushed so close in on the window. I do agree, tho, that I would rather see something with some pattern there. These in the gunmetal might be one idea: daria in gunmetal Consider getting heat-resistant metal paint in a silver or pewter and paint all the detail metal work on the top of the fireplace screen. It will add another point of light in the space, without losing the overall darker feel of the screen which is nice in front of the firebox. I love the silver pillows. I like the brass tables, but I would use them as end tables on either side of the couch, and use the small silver table to the right side of the wood chair. Neither of the brass tables feels large enough as a coffee table. Using a rich coral as an accent color could be a great choice with the upholstery color and the wall color.

"... I dig decomposed granite :)" Fine. Me too. Love it in fact. Just because I like something doesn't mean that over-using it is a good idea. Over-use being using it in places or ways that isn't compatible with "best" use. That's a term that calls for interpretation but my experience says your proposal leans toward over-using. In my mind, DG is soft PAVING and I can't see how paving nearly the whole yard is superior to planting it with appropriate plants. If you used DG where it would make sense to have paving, I think you would me going in the right direction. Can't say I understood the pictorial example you provided. It looks more like concrete to me, too. On pea gravel I would say it's an even worse thing to consider since it does not make good paving. It's more like a mulch that's potentially troublesome.

I've had a house with a small LR where the door opened directly into the room. I used a 60" love seat and floated it facing the fireplace, and then put two chairs on either side of the fireplace. Of course, we didn't have a TV in the room, so you would probably put one chair on either side of the sofa, so one could watch the TV, which I assume is going over the fireplace. In the end, we actually built a wall with an opening into the LR. Everyone told us not to do this as it would make the LR too small. Well, the LR was going to have a pathway to the rest of the house from the front door, so at least we now had a wall where we could put things up against. We were very glad we did this, and subsequent owners of this house have told me they loved having that wall!

you are in the tree forum ... frankly.. im not sure you have room for any trees .... you mention shrubs ... over time.. im not sure you have room for any shrubs that gain height ... as they will get too wide .. just as fast ... which adds up to me thinking.. you have a nice small space for perennials ... the easiest way to plan a garden.. is to be able to clearly define your goals ... what do you want to accomplish ... once you can define that.. then the plant options will follow .... sort of like.. build it.. and they will come.. lol ... also .... if you wander the area... perhaps you will see something that strikes you.. design-wise ... and you could snap a pic.. and one of the forums can help you ID the plants ... ken