In my front landscape, I used the water permeable landscape fabric under a good layer of cedar mulch, with holes cut for the perennials I wanted there. It's doing very well several years in, and any weeds that try to get a foothold (usually dandelion) are easily pulled out by the taproot. That said, I have Lamium and creeping phlox spreading out as a "green mulch" around the taller plants, and they do a pretty good job of choking out any volunteer weeds now that they have a foothold. I tried the cardboard in my butterfly garden and it looked good for a season, but I didn't keep up with it and now I have a mini hayfield on the side of the house, with some butterfly friendly plants mixed in. I just let it go because I have noticed lots of wild critters using it as cover and habitat. I guess I have to pick my battles! :D

Thanks alot everyone for your helpful suggestions, I think I'm gonna change the handles and then use the some form of shades either basic or roman type. I also like the suggestion by graywings but since its a small apartment I guess using shades would be a better choice. Privacy films are also good idea but since the window frames are aluminum I prefer to cover the frames too. I'm from Iran and currently living in Iran. I won't have difficulty finding shades or blinds or any other type of coverings since there are numerous European brands selling their products here. Thanks again and I'll update this post when I'm done.

Thank you all, again! Les-I love your idea...it was one of the first plans that I tried when we got the new furniture. The EC was a bit large for that corner unfortunately. (It's been in both corners and along the couch wall already!) I also tried the couch on the wall where the EC is, but that wall is shorter and the couch pretty much went from end to end (from what I remember), so no room for a table. But I'll measure and try again. While this is the room that we do watch tv, I agree with you...I do not like it looking as though it's the center of our lives, b/c it's not! I'm wondering if maybe I put the tv on a smaller table (I have one or two that may work) and put it in the corner you said, then move the couch, either to the windows or the back wall, if it works. Thanks for your help! kswl: I love your idea about chairs with legs, for a more roomy look. That never occurred to me. I like the idea of a slipper chair as well. I'm considering turning our DR into a reading room, since with small kids, we don't use that room much at all! We have a morning room with a table large enough for us and more, so losing the DR is not really an issue. So if we change the DR, the overstuffed chair would go in that room. I don't love the EC...it's a Sauder piece that we bought years ago. The *only* nice thing about it is that is has great storage for dvds/cds/kids puzzles & games and even the sides have tons of storage for books etc. Our plan is to send it to the basement, if and when we ever finish it. In this market, we don't want to do it, b/c we may move in the next few years and would never recover the $$. One more question?? Can I do decorative curtains on the two far ends of the windows? So the middle window would be open? I do want to add some color, softness, coziness, but it seems like curtains on all 3 windows is way too much. I've tried valances on all three, but they did nothing for the room and made it seem very choppy to me, if that makes sense? Thank you again, everyone...I wish I knew what I was doing...this is really helpful. At least I know for sure to measure next time before I make a purchase this big. :)

I love the drapes you have! I think the problem is the wall color. The soft gold in your great room would work well with both your drapes and the fireplace tile. Or maybe a warm, soft terra rosa, glazed or color-washed? But personally I like the gold. Ivory or a paler version of the gold would also work. Do some big sample boards - just some old cardboard will do - but at least 2'x4' or 3'x3'. Your windows read very high-set - that stands out as not being the usual placement - you can experiment with the height the drapes are mounted and see if a different proportion pleases you better - maybe a little higher, even almost to the ceiling. The drapes are puddling, and maybe they have a hem that could be let out - they could go higher. Or sew on a contrasting band of terracotta on the bottom. (or whatever color the inner curtains are - hard to tell in pictures sometimes.) The bit of wall between the window and the crown molding is so narrow that it might be better not to treat it as the wall but as panelling, like over the mantel. All you would have to do is frame it with short vertical pieces of flat molding over the window casing verticals, just glue it on. Paint the molding to match your trim and either do the recesses the same or to match your over-mantel recesses. A bigger rug out to six inches of the walls. Something easy to clean and with a pattern - you have children eating there. My youngest is nine, we still have spills. Low pile, no loops, not fuzzy. Something to occupy the walls will make the room feel cozier - a long window seat with a bench cushion and pillows, and cabinets underneath. Do you ever have many people to a sit-down dinner - an L-shaped banquette would give you lots of seating. Kids could play there, do their homework, look out the window, keep you company as you worked in the kitchen - put away homework and toys in the cabinets - presto clean. Also your linens and servingware not used every day. Accessories with more weight and color, more dimensionality than the plates on the wall and the pictures and things over the hearth. It really is a good dining room, good bones, good molding, good view, good fireplace, good flooring, spacious. It won't be hard to love. The fireplace is your starting point because you can't change the tiles. Then either wall color, rug, or rug, wall color, working with the tiles. THEN drapes and upholstery. Then accessories. Paint is your cheapest element. Even if you hire someone to paint, you can buy the cans and do big sample boards yourself or directly on the wall. You don't like the color? Worst that happens is you're out the cost of the sample can. So it's worth experimenting, because it will set the mood of the room.