haley45: Thanks for your kind words. trailrunner: Caroline, yes obviously I go for the tropical look. If a plant doesn't have that exotic, tropical look about it, I usually don't buy it. I'm sure those who like a more structured, well designed landscape think mine looks like an overgrown, out of control mess, but I love the dense, jungle-like appearance. Always room to squeeze in one nore plant..LOL. The green bananas are Musa 'basjoo' & the one with the reddish tint in the 4th & 5th pic is Ensete 'maurelii'. The basjoos are heavily mulched & left in the ground. The Ensete is cut back, dug & stored bare root in my garage. The palms are windmill (Trachycarpus fortunei), sabal minor, sabal palmetto, sabal birmingham, needle (Rhapidophyllum hystrix), and pindo (butia capitata), all very hardy here when established.

Thanks for all the nice comments. Feels good to finally post something vs always coming her to ask questions. I actually only used spray paint on the iron scrolly part. I sprayed it but then went over it with the paint roller so it would be the same black as the bench. I used a 4" roller to paint the bench slats and a cheap throw away 1" paint brush to paint in between the slats and to paint the arms, legs and all other metal. It was such an easy project. Took me just a few hrs, maybe 2-3) over a few days (b/c I had to let it dry between coats). Cost under $20 for the paint, drop cloth and brush/roller. I love to go outside and look at it. Makes me feel so proud!

Well the room is morphing into something else. Son likes this cheap "O" jazz mirrored mural, its sorta cool and cheesy at the same time. The furniture was looking a little too mature so I think the mural adds some 20yr old youth and it ties in the black and light gray carpet to the room. It will be spaced and placed behind the sofa and take up a big area. He has a long narrow room that's now limited on space due to the big a$$ chair, difficult having any symmetry so thinking of two matching small bench/stool/ottoman type seating across from chair. I did a layout to scale and sm bench/stools are the only way to get extra seating without blocking the TV viewing. Of course I am now hung up on seating again. I found a sight online called m!dnight velvet; don't know anything about them except they have some low cost slightly unusual stuff. Son doesn't have much room for more side tables (see large coffee table in above post) so we are thinking of the sm head or the tufted ceramic stool/tables below to use as a table and possibly doubling as extra seating (but not sure). The rooms accent colors will need to change as well but we are waiting for the mirror mural for inspiration. Right now we are thinking a purple/blue accent but that could change. Also think we need texture but not sure how to add that unless it's just in some pillows or I come up with another idea for stools/tables/bench. We also decided against black curtains in the living area, might be too much black with the black carpet and black in mirror mural so we bought these pale gold ones from sm@rtbargins. The window is across the room from the big a$$ chair so I was thinking it would look better to have a similar color on the window to balance it out a bit. I'm trying to buy all the furniture from craigslist to stay in my $1,200 budget (not including accessories) but still need a 48" round used dining set. I'm so sick sick sick of looking on CL but have too to keep the cost down. If I see one more ad that says "designer" I'm going to flip a lid! Of course it's designer, someone designed it!!! And don't get me started on "custom" ads. P.S, I'm sorry about these pictures but I'm having trouble with my cable or photobucket and also my overloaded brain so please forgive as I will figure it out later. P.S.S, thank you my friend for helping me look for canvas art, I feel really bad I didn't post the cheesy mural earlier ( but I REALLY thank you all for help and kind words!!! http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af170/jterrilynn/e88f54b5.jpg" target="_blank">http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af170/jterrilynn/4d8bbec8-1.jpg" target="_blank">http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af170/jterrilynn/b7267bed-1.jpg" target="_blank">http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af170/jterrilynn/48ca1471.jpg" target="_blank">http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af170/jterrilynn/c9fd2ac2.jpg" target="_blank">http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af170/jterrilynn/c8a527cd.jpg" target="_blank">http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af170/jterrilynn/c420cee8.jpg" target="_blank">

Oh..I love the before look...but I love country... I think I know what you mean, Patti. When I first moved into this house 35 years ago, my favorite look was Shaker--graceful, but very spare. This is probably why I was content to live without a rug under the table for so long. My preferences have evolved over the years, and my appreciation for comfort has grown. So the look of the interior is softer and warmer than it used to be. I think it's still "country," though. I hope so, since the house sits on 31 acres of rural land. Not to mention all the money I've sunk into Country Living subscriptions. :-) Thanks, all!!